It's that time of year when the trees that we all love become the reason for hours spent working in the yard.  Rounding up and disposing of leaves is an annual chore that requires responsibility and cooperation of all property owners and tenants.

Here are some helpful do's and don'ts for leaf disposal in the Town of Mint Hill:

DO

• Bag leaves in clear yard waste bags and place them at the curb for normal yard waste collection by the Town's garbage collection contractor (WastePro).  Up to 10 bags per week are included in residents' standard garbage collection.
• Mulch your leaves and reuse them for landscaping compost.
• Haul your leaves to a yard waste collection facility Yard Debris Self-Haul Information (mecknc.gov)

DON'T

• Blow your leaves into the street or pile them at the curb without bagging.
• Dump your leaves into ditches, streams or storm drains.
• Dump your leaves illegally.
• Burn your leaves -- Mecklenburg County ordinances prohibit burning any yard waste.

Residents often mistake Mint Hill's street sweeping trucks as leaf removal services.  While those vehicles are intended to remove debris from our roadways, they are not designed to collect large piles of leaves.  Leaf piles in the streets cause delays in the sweeping schedule and can potentially damage expensive tax payer equipment.

Leaves left in the roadway (including the concrete curb and gutter) cause several problems:

• The roadway becomes impeded and vehicles must navigate around them.
• Stormwater runoff becomes blocked and pushes out into the travel lanes, creating a greater risk to vehicles during storms.  Even worse, wet leaves create an extremely slick roadway surface.
• Excessive amounts of leaves are carried by stormwater runoff into drains, pipes, ditches, and streams causing blockages that require taxpayer money to clean and repair.
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