Pearland

Pearland, Texas is 46.3 square miles and has 125,848 residents. Pearland is located outside of Houston. The City of Pearland requires dumpster enclosures on all dumpsters. The enclosures must be approved by the city before they are constructed. A building permit will only be granted once the enclosure complies. The city requires the enclosure to be constructed of durable material and that there be incorporated landscaping around the parameter. The fence must be facing away from the sidewalk if the dumpster is located near one.

In 2020, Pearland created a new position within the city government. The position is an inspector. The inspector is one designated person that is responsible for ensuring compliance with city code. The City of Pearland decided to assign one person to the position to create consistency with code compliance through the city. If the inspector locates a non-conforming enclosure, or a location that does not have an enclosure, they report to the planning department.

To ensure developers have access to the information they need in order to fulfill the requirements, the City of Pearland has a Container Closure Plan that is distributed to all new developers working within the city. The guide includes illustrations of ideal closures with measurements and material. The guide also includes information on placement to ensure service trucks can access the dumpster.

Image 37. Pearland’s Container Closure Plan. Source: (City of Pearland).

This tenet is important to Pearland for various reasons. It is a simple way to improve the daily lives of residents by taking away unpleasant encounters. The city is also committed to ensuring public health and safety. The dumpster screening works toward this by minimizing unprotected trash and by keeping trash in a single position. The dumpster screens protect the city’s sense of place by lowering risk of trash taking away from something else. Most importantly, the screens ensure equity because they are required everywhere.