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Councilman Woods offers amendment to Mobile trash ordinance to add fines, remove jail penalty
Summary
At the May 6 Mobile City Council meeting, Councilman Woods offered an amendment to a planned change to Chapter 25 (garbage and trash) that would add a tiered fine structure for violations of cart rules, remove a three‑month jail penalty, and require clearer timing rules for cart placement; the measure was discussed but not decided.
Councilman Woods offered an amendment to a proposed revision of Chapter 25 of the Mobile City Code related to household garbage and trash rules at the May 6 Mobile City Council meeting.
In the amendment to the amendment, Woods said the changes aim to “spell out a time you put your card in and what a time your card needs to be backed by,” add specific fines rather than a flat $350 penalty, and remove the three‑month jail term that appeared in the draft code. He described the proposed fines as a $50 ticket for a first violation and, if the matter goes to court, fines up to $350 or community service.
The changes would also add a new fifth provision under the section on garbage carts to cover “failure to comply with any provision here,” Woods said. He told the council he had worked with “Miss Smith” to simplify language and that the amendment is one step in a continuing review of Chapter 25.
Vice President Gregory and other council members discussed related chapter 25 items and past issues such as scrap tires, which Woods said had been settled at the state level and will require further local code adjustments. The record shows Woods framed this amendment as a cleanup and an initial step rather than a final or comprehensive rewrite: “This isn't going to be the last time we look at chapter 25,” he said.
No formal vote on Woods’ amendment to the amendment was recorded in the meeting transcript. The council discussed additional chapter 25 items but did not adopt the specific language Woods described during the remarks captured in the record.
If adopted later, the changes Woods described would replace a single large fine and a jail exposure with a tiered penalty structure and clearer timing requirements for garbage carts; the council indicated more work and additional code revisions are expected.
Meeting context: the item arose during consideration of proposed amendments to the city’s garbage and trash code; council members flagged other pending Chapter 25 issues for future meetings.
