Raleigh is ending its troublesome loose-leaf program. These are the new rules.
After decades of complaints from residents, the city of Raleigh will end its loose-leaf pick-up program next year.
Raleigh homeowners will no longer be allowed to rake their leaves to the curb to be collected twice a year in the fall and winter months.
Instead, starting in fall 2026, residents will have to either bag their leaves; put them in their bright green, yard-waste carts; take them to the city’s yard-waste center; or leave them in the yard.
Yard-waste crews will move from picking up carts every other week to once a week when loose-leaf pick-up ends.
Mayor the lone holdout
The City Council voted 7-1 to end the program Tuesday afternoon, with Mayor Janet Cowell voting against it.
“I’m still not ready to depart from this service, so I’ll probably be a lone no, but do appreciate that this is a very thoughtful proposal,” she said.
Residents have consistently complained about when the city picks up the leaves in its general passes. Either the city picks up the leaves too soon before all the leaves have fallen or it takes too long to get the leaves up after they’ve been raked to the curb.
Delays are often caused by snow, ice or rain. Leaves at the curb block street parking, bike paths and sidewalks and spill into storm drains. The city also hasn’t added much staff to the program despite Raleigh’s population growth.
“We’ve not only gotten emails recently because we brought this up, but I would put this in the top three complaints I’ve gotten in my inbox from day one on council,” said council member Megan Patton. “So people have opinions about it right now, but they sure have opinions about it during the season.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 4:14 PM.
