Common Nuisance Violations

Yard Waste

Place brush behind the curb or ditch along the street. Do not block the street or sidewalk.
Limbs should be no longer than 10 feet and no larger than 3 inches in diameter.
Do not place brush beneath a power line or in a place that prevents the safe operation of City equipment.
Do not place any grass and small trimmings, leaves or any other items in the brush pile example: trash, flower pots, metal poles, railroad ties etc.
Grass and small trimmings and leaves should be bagged for collection on Fridays, and bags should not exceed 35 pounds. Excessive weight bags will require a $25.00 charge
Loose grass and small trimmings will require a $25.00 charge (February through September) for out of vacuum service season
Excessive loads, stumps, logs or dirt will/may be collected at the direction of the Director of Public Works. Special handling fees and all of burke county landfill disposal fees will be charged to the resident for this service.
Brush created by tree trimming services, logging operations or other tree cutting operations provided by private contractors must be collected and disposed of by the contractor and not placed at curb side for pick up by the City.

Bulky and Junk Items

Public Works will provide bulk trash pick-up (larger items or appliances), and collect other uncommon household trash items for a fee. The base fee is $25.00 per collection. Call 828-438-5248 to schedule a bulk waste pickup.

Burke County charges for the disposal of bulk items in the County landfill. The County also bans the disposal of white goods (appliances) and cardboard. Burke County accepts white goods for recycling. These fees and bans are to encourage recycling and discourage disposal. This is one of the reasons the City of Morganton charges a $25.00 fee for collection of these items.

Neglect of Premise

Neglect of property is considered as causing or allowing unsightly litter, tall weeds, and grass, yard waste, foul odor, dead animals, junk, unsecured appliances or potentially dangerous devices to remain on or emanate from the property. You may also receive a violation if you discard, abandon or cause these issues on public property, private property, vacant lots or any pond, stream or body of water or banks thereof within the city limits and/or property that is in a littered condition -- such as dilapidated furniture, appliances, machinery, equipment, building materials, automotive parts, tires or any other items which are in a wholly or partially rusted, wrecked, junked, dismantled or inoperative condition and are not completely enclosed within a building or dwelling -- will result in a violation.

Illegal Dumping

Disposing of or discarding any litter on private or public property without the owner's permission will result in a violation and a $500.00 fine.

Tall Grass and Weeds

Failure to cut weeds or grass and overgrowth exceeding 12 inches will result in a violation.

Abandoned Vehicles

Vehicles will be in violation if they are:

On any public street or highway longer than seven days
On property owned or operated by the City for longer than 24 hours
On private property without the consent of the owner, occupant or lessee for longer than two hours

Junk Vehicles

Junked motor vehicle means a vehicle that does not display a current license plate lawfully upon that vehicle and that:

Is partially dismantled or wrecked; or
Cannot be self-propelled or moved in the manner in which it originally was intended to move; or
Is more than five (5) years old and appears to be worth less than one hundred dollars ($100.00).