Leaf Collection Help

2022 Curbside Leaf Collection Schedule

The City Needs Your Help For A Smooth Leaf Collection

The large number of trees in Royal Oak make the fall leaf collection a major task; to make it happen the City uses 13 dump trucks, two sweepers and a front-end loader with an attached clam bucket. Crews work long hours to cover the 212 miles of streets twice during the 6 week pick-up season.

The City has to wait until late October to begin the process to make sure most of the leaves are down, unfortunately Mother Nature doesn't cooperate some years.

Also, the City starts at a different end of the City each year as a matter of fairness.

No Street Parking

Royal Oak will post signs in neighborhood streets, just off of major thoroughfares, notifying residents that leaf pick-up will be in the neighborhood the following day. The signs ask residents to park cars off the street because cars in the street can slow down the trucks and make it impossible to pick-up leaves in front of the residence where the car is parked.

"It's important to be considerate of your neighbors," said Aaron Filipski, Director of Public Service. "A parked car left out front doesn't just affect one house, the trucks have to go around and sometimes they also can't pick-up neighbors' leaves."

Temporary no-parking signs (limit 2) are available at the Department of Public Service (DPS), 1600 North Campbell Road (located on the East side of Campbell, just South of 12 Mile Rd) M - F 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The signs are not enforceable but may help remind people to park off the street.

When

Schedules are available at the Department of Public Service, cable channel 17 on Comcast or channel 10 on WOW, the Insight magazine and on the City’s website. Information is also available by calling the DPS during regular business hours, M - F, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at (248) 246-3300 select option 2, then option 1.

Other Ways of Disposal

Leaves, any soft yard waste and woody material up to 2" in diameter may be placed at curbside in a 32-gallon container with a yard waste decal facing the street or a brown paper landscape bag for pick-up on your regular rubbish day thru the third week of December. Please set to the curb by 7:00 a.m.

Please Help - Only Put Leaves Out!!

Just as important as keeping cars off the streets on leaf pick-up days is removing sticks, rocks, pieces of wood and other hard objects from leaf piles because they can damage propellers in the leaf vacuums which could cause downtime thus delaying leaf pick-up.

Where They Go

Leaves go to the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) compost facility in Rochester Hills where they are turned into humus-rich compost. The compost is then offered to residents in SOCRRA member communities.

Reminders

All sticks, rocks and other debris must be kept out of leaf piles.
Do not make the rows larger than 3 feet high by 4 feet wide.
Do not park your car on or near the leaves (trucks need at least a "house length" after a parked car to get near the curb). Please work with your neighbors to remove parked cars from the street.
If the City does run ahead of schedule, a truck will be by on your regularly scheduled day.
Plastic bags are no longer acceptable for yard waste, including leaves. Please use the appropriate containers.
Please don't rake leaves just ahead of crews and expect them to wait until you're done.
Please leave a 3" to 4" space from the curb for water drainage.
Residents should note that schedules are subject to change due to weather conditions, mechanical breakdowns or other factors beyond the City's control.

What to Do After Leaf Pickup

The entire city is covered twice in the six-week leaf collection period. Every attempt will be made to make a third pick-up, however, this is strictly dependent upon the weather. After the third week in December leaves will not be picked-up either curbside or on your regularly scheduled refuse day. Resident need to hold onto their yard waste until the program begins April 1st of each year.