Do You Need a Permit for a Dumpster in Murfreesboro, TN?

Published 2026-09-30 by Stones River Dumpsters

The short answer

If the container sits on your own driveway, yard or private parking lot, the City of Murfreesboro has no dumpster permit for you to get. The City’s rule is about the public right-of-way. If any part of the container sits on a street, the sidewalk or any other public right-of-way, you need a permit before it arrives, and warning devices around it while it is there.

The rule: City Code § 28-11

Murfreesboro City Code § 28-11 says no one may occupy or obstruct, or place any obstruction of any kind, in or upon any portion of a public right-of-way without first obtaining a permit. Whoever does must put out day and night warning devices that comply with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. There is no dumpster-specific ordinance and no fixed number of days; the permit sets the completion date you applied for.

Who issues it and what it costs

The permit comes from the City Engineer through the Engineering Department at 111 West Vine Street, Murfreesboro TN 37130. The Right-of-Way Coordinator is on 615-893-6441 ext. 1626, and applications go through the City’s project portal at murfreesborotn.gov/projectportal. Under § 28-103 the fee is $50 per street, and it doubles if the work starts before the permit is issued. The application (§ 28-102) asks for your name and address, the nature and location of the obstruction, its purpose and the start and completion dates. The City asks for work dates no later than the end of business on the Thursday before the work begins.

Two more things can apply. Section 28-117 sets insurance at $500,000 per person and per accident and $100,000 property damage, and the City’s instructions ask for a certificate naming the City of Murfreesboro as additional insured. Section 28-104 sets a minimum running bond of $50,000 for right-of-way work; the City says a surety may be required depending on the type of work, and whether it applies to a container is not published, so ask the Coordinator. On a state route the Tennessee Department of Transportation permit is needed as well as the City’s.

What it costs to skip it

Each day an obstruction sits in the right-of-way without a permit is a separate offence under § 28-118 and § 1-8. The fine per offence is small on paper, up to $50 in the general penalty clause and up to $250 under the City’s private act, but it runs every day, the City can have the container removed, and the permit fee doubles once you have started. Given the price of a rental, the maths is simple: keep it on private property or get the permit first.

Demolition jobs have their own permits

A right-of-way permit is not a demolition permit. Demolition in Murfreesboro goes through the Building and Codes Department on the 2nd floor of City Hall, 111 West Vine Street, 615-893-3750, buildingpermits@murfreesborotn.gov. The application needs a site sketch and a letter saying how the debris will be removed and where it will be disposed of; that is where the dumpster company and the landfill are named. Fees under Resolution 26-R-10, effective 1 June 2026: $100 to demolish a one- or two-family dwelling, half the building-permit fee with a $100 minimum for other structures, a $500 refundable final-inspection deposit and a 3% technology fee, and double the fee if work starts before the permit. Inside the East Main Street Historic Zone (H-1) the Historic Zoning Commission, which meets on the third Tuesday, must issue a Certificate of Appropriateness before a demolition permit. Tennessee also requires an asbestos notification to TDEC ten working days before any demolition, with or without asbestos.

The towns around Murfreesboro are different

None of the other places we serve publishes a dumpster permit, but each has its own right-of-way rule, so a container in the street is never automatic. Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville have their own obstruction ordinances and public-works offices to call. Christiana, Rockvale and Lascassas are unincorporated and fall under Rutherford County. Woodbury, Shelbyville, Manchester and Lebanon have their own codes, and Lebanon publishes a right-of-way excavation permit that is not a dumpster permit but shows how the city treats work in its streets. Our service-area pages give the details and the phone number for each one, and where a place publishes nothing we say so rather than invent a rule.

What we do for you

When you book, we ask where the container will sit. If it is a driveway or lot, we deliver. If it has to be in a Murfreesboro street, we tell you about the Thursday-before deadline, help you put the application together, and schedule delivery for the day the permit starts. Call (615) 956-2374 and we will sort it out in one conversation.

Stones River Dumpsters · 831 Park Ave, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 · (615) 956-2374, answered 24/7.