Alameda Municipal Code § 18-31 Title, Purpose and General Provisions

a. The purpose of the Water Quality and Flood Protection Fee is to conserve and protect the City's essential values of maintaining our aging storm drainage infrastructure, making improvements to meet future challenges such as climatic and land use changes, and maintaining a sustainable environment in accordance with the Clean Water Act, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and the City's National Pollutant Discharge Systems (NPDES) permits.

b. The specific purpose of the Water Quality and Flood Protection Fee established pursuant to this chapter is to derive fee revenue, which shall only be used for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and operation of the storm drainage and flood control system of the City or related green infrastructure or other activities required by the City's NPDES permits, to repay principal and interest on any bonds which may hereafter be issued for said purposes, to repay loans or advances which may hereafter be made for said purposes.

c. The Water Quality and Flood Protection fee is imposed pursuant to Articles XIIID of the California Constitution, Government Code Sections 38900—38901 and 53755—53756, and Health and Safety Code Sections 5471—5473.11.

d. Proceeds from the Water Quality and Flood Protection Fee will be deposited in an account entitled the Clean Water and Flood Protection Fund.

(Ord. No. 3258 N.S., § 1, 12-17-19)

Except where the context otherwise requires, the following definitions in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter:

a. City means and includes all territory lying within the municipal boundaries of the City of Alameda as presently existing plus all territory which may be added thereto during the effective term of the ordinance codified herein.

b. Condominium means a parcel that is an individually-owned single residential unit attached to an undivided or joint ownership of the remaining portion of the property. The "Condominium-Medium Density" category refers to a condominium complex where each residential unit has no other units above or below it. The "Condominium High-Density" category refers to a condominium complex where residential units are built above or below other residential units.

c. Public Works Director means the Public Works Director and his/her duly authorized agents and representatives.

d. Fee Report means the report prepared by SCI Consulting Group dated July 2019 which was approved by the City Council on July 16, 2019 in Section 2 of Resolution No. 15574. The Fee Report sets forth the rate structure and methodology of apportionment of the fee to various categories of parcels and shall be the basis for the Water Quality and Flood Protection fee.

e. Finance Director means the Finance Director and his/her duly authorized agents and representatives.

f. Impervious area means any part of any parcel that has been modified by the action of any person in a manner which reduces the land's natural ability to absorb and hold storm and surface water. This includes, but is not limited to, activities such as: grading of property, the creation of any hard surface area which either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle, or the hardening of an existing surface which causes water to flow at an increased rate. Common impervious areas include, but are not limited to, roof tops, walk-ways, patios, driveways, parking lots or storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, or any cleared, graded, paved, graveled, or compacted surface or paved earthen materials used for vehicular travel, or areas covered with surfaces which similarly impede the natural infiltration of surface water into the soil mantle. Impervious area can be expressed as a percentage of a parcel's total size.

g. Maintenance and operation means the administration, operation, maintenance and repair of any facility in the City's storm drain system, including, but not limited to:

1. Items ordinarily recognized as capital items (e.g., interests in land) when reasonably necessary;

2. Street sweeping, catch basin cleaning, and capture and removal of trash from the storm drain system;

3. Replacement of portions of existing facilities damaged or destroyed as a result of accident or natural disasters or found to be of inadequate size or condition;

4. Damages or settlements paid in the course of, or because of, threatened or actual legal actions to the City's storm drain system or non-point source program;

5. Regional monitoring, permit fees, public education and awareness programs regarding the City's storm drain system and the City's nonpoint source program;

6. Management of the City's non-point source program including, but not limited to, BMP manuals, public outreach, printed materials, City staff and legal costs related thereto.

h. Multi-family residential means parcels improved or used for a residence for five (5) or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking and which is not separately assessed by the county tax assessor for each such family dwelling. This term is synonymous with "apartment" and is categorized as non-residential in this ordinance.

i. Open space means land that is substantially in a natural condition and includes agricultural or other lands that demonstrate stormwater absorption equal to or greater than natural conditions.

j. Parcel means a unit of land which is designated by the tax assessor of Alameda County for property tax purposes.

k. Rate category means a group of parcels that are of similar imperviousness characteristics and are charged the same rate. Residential parcels are categorized by size; non-residential parcels are categorized by impervious percentage ranges.

l. Residential means parcels, other than multi-family parcels, improved or used solely as a residence for one (1), two (2), three (3) or four (4) families living separately in separate dwelling units.

m. Storm drainage system means any pipe, conduit, or sewer of the City designed or used for the collection, conveyance and management of storm and surface waters and drainage including unpolluted cooling water and unpolluted industrial process water but excluding any community sanitary sewer system.

n. Vacant (developed) means a parcel which has been altered from its natural condition through grading or compaction activity or in another manner which reduces the land's natural ability to absorb and hold storm and surface water without any structure existing upon it.

(Ord. No. 3258 N.S., § 1, 12-17-19)