Do I need a permit to place a dumpster in Henryville?
Not for the dumpster itself, on private land. We word it carefully, because the conclusion comes from an absence of provision: the word “conteneur” appears neither in construction by-law 60-2006, nor in by-law 231-2025, nor in the three RM by-laws, and the fee table of by-law 153-2015 (s. 8.1) has no line for a container, a temporary drop or an occupancy of public property. Two reserves make it worth confirming the spot with the municipality: the list of certificates of authorization is “non-limitative”, and zoning places a residential “conteneur de déchets” in the rear margin only, without defining the word. A call to the building and environment inspector at 450 346-4106 settles it before delivery. The job site, however, almost always needs a permit or a certificate: there is no dollar threshold in Henryville.
Can I have the dumpster placed on the street or in the ditch in front of my house?
No. “It is prohibited for any person to obstruct or encroach, in any way whatsoever, on sidewalks, on street rights-of-way and on any public land” (by-law 92-2008, s. 6.2). And in Henryville the right-of-way includes the ditch: the traffic by-law defines the public roadway as comprising “the roadway, the sidewalk, the green strips, the shoulders, the bike paths, the medians, the ditches”. That same section 6.2 also prohibits depositing soil, gravel or stone in a ditch, on the street or on the sidewalk, and clean-up is done at the responsible party's expense. So the spot is on your land — that is where we deliver, once the location is confirmed with the municipality.
Is it true that Henryville's by-law REQUIRES a container on a job site?
Yes, and it is written in plain terms. Section 4.8 of by-law 153-2015 on permits and certificates: “Any building on which work is carried out must be free of all construction waste and other waste. Waste must be placed in metal containers from the start of the job site and must be disposed of in a place that complies with the law.” Not at the end of the work: from the start. Construction by-law 60-2006 adds that “every construction site must, at all times, be clean and well kept”, and the nuisance by-law lists construction refuse left on a lot among prohibited nuisances. In Henryville the dumpster is not a convenience: it is what makes a job site compliant.
Can the drop-off centre replace a dumpster in Henryville?
For a car trunk, yes. For a job site, no, and the arithmetic shows it. Each address gets 3 free accesses of 75 cu. ft. per calendar year, or 225 cu. ft. in all — less than a single 10 yard dumpster, which holds 270 cu. ft. (a 20 yard holds 540, a 40 yard 1,080). Using them takes three separate trips to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu or Lacolle, and everything comes out by hand. Soil, sand and peat are refused for every user at all times; concrete and asphalt must be separated and are capped at 75 cu. ft. per load; for asphalt shingles, 75 cu. ft. counts as 2 accesses. Add that the garbage bin and the monthly bulky waste collection both refuse construction materials, and the count is quickly done.
I am a contractor: can I use my client's free accesses?
No, and Compo-Haut-Richelieu writes it both ways round. “A contractor (registered or not) may not come to the drop-off centre with their client so that the client uses their free accesses”, and “a user may not come with their contractor […] and benefit from their free accesses”. Transfers of accesses are prohibited, the citizen must be present on site, and company vehicles or trailers are subject to the “Entrepreneurs” rates at all times — without the required documents, those rates apply automatically. Contractors are admitted at Iberville and Lacolle at all times, at Saint-Luc except on Saturdays, and never at Saint-Rémi. A dumpster on the job site avoids the detour, and satisfies section 4.8 of the permit by-law.
My house is on a concession road, outside the village: where does the dumpster go?
Three things get looked at, and none of them is a by-law — these are delivery precautions. First the culvert: outside the village the driveway crosses a ditch, and it has to carry a loaded truck. Then the well and septic field: Henryville's water main and sewer exist only in the village (sewer 1959, water 1969), so every property on the concession roads has both somewhere on the lot, and a loaded dumpster weighs several tonnes. Finally branch height: the municipal by-law guarantees only 3 metres above the roadway and 2 metres above a ditch, and a truck raising its dump bed needs more. On Route 133, zoning further requires that vehicles be able to enter and exit in forward gear: the truck does not back onto the 133.
Will the dumpster damage my gravel or asphalt driveway?
Every one of our dumpsters is delivered with the PROTEC-O-SOL system, built-in planks that spread the load and protect the surface, gravel included. Nothing to supply, nothing extra to pay. The principle is hardly exotic in Henryville: the nuisance by-law already prohibits crossing a paved street with a machine on steel tracks “unless tires laid flat on the street or any other device of the same nature protecting the street surface are used”. Our drivers' tip, for full protection: lay four flattened cardboard boxes, or a thin sheet of plywood, on the chosen spot before the truck arrives.
What hours do you deliver, and does winter change anything?
We deliver and work between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. That is not a commercial choice: two municipal by-laws in force give two different windows — 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. under the noise by-law, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. under the nuisance by-law — and we hold to the narrower one, which satisfies both. In winter, two things change in the driveway. Overnight parking is prohibited between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. from November 15 to April 1 across the whole territory, which covers our truck and the car the dumpster displaces. And the temporary car shelter, allowed from October 15 to April 15, occupies exactly where the box would go for six months of the year. That is why the spot gets planned when you book.