Article 4 — Reconstruction Program

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Sewer Reconstruction Law of the City of Artesia.

(Ord. 97, A 1, § 1; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

Most of the existing sewers in the City were constructed years ago and were designed to serve residential and agriculture properties. However, due to the ever-increasing population density within the City, the erection of many multi-family dwelling units, and the growth of the commercial and industrial areas, the City sewerage system is no longer adequate to accommodate the increased volume of sewage generated by such development. The purpose of this article is to establish a means of providing adequate sewers required by development in the City and other tributary areas; to establish a charge to be collected from all the properties that discharge to the public sewers quantities of sewage in excess of the quantity for which the existing sewerage system was designed; and to establish a fund into which such charges may be deposited and from which moneys will be available for the sewer reconstruction program. (Ord. 97 A 1, § 2; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this article are defined as follows:

"City manager" shall mean the City Engineer of the City, or his or her deputy, agent, or representative.

"Floor area" shall mean the area included within the exterior walls of a building, or portion thereof, exclusive of open vent shafts and courts.

"Lot" shall mean, any piece or parcel of land bounded, described, or shown upon a map, plot, or deed recorded in the office of the County Recorder, or shown as a separate parcel on the last equalized assessment roll which parcel conforms to the boundaries of such lot as shown upon such recorded map, plot, deed, or roll; provided, however, in the event any building or structure or intended use covers more area than a lot, as defined in this subsection, "lot" shall include all such pieces or parcels of land upon which such building, structure, or intended use is wholly or partly located, together with the yards, courts, and other unoccupied spaces legally required for the building or structure.

"Owner" shall mean the person, firm, partnership, corporation, organization, or anyone having an interest in any lot or parcel of land in the City or in other tributary areas.

"Peak flow" shall mean the instantaneous maximum rate of flow of sewage to be discharged to the sewers and shall be as provided in this article.

"Public sewer" shall mean the main line public sanitary sewer, including sewers under the jurisdiction of a public entity other than the City.

"Tributary area" shall mean all that area outside the boundaries of the City that would, as determined by an area study approved by the City Engineer, normally drain or can economically be made to drain sewage into the public sewers within the boundaries of the City. (Ord. 97, A 1, §§ 6—12; Ord. 176, § 1; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The sewer reconstruction program shall be carried out basically in accordance with the Sewer Reconstruction Plan on file in the office of the City Engineer. If compliance with the Sewer Reconstruction Plan is impossible or impractical because of peculiar or unforeseen conditions and the purposes of this article may be accomplished and the public health and safety assured by an alternate construction, and the City Engineer so finds, he or she may grant an exception to the Sewer Reconstruction Plan permitting such alternate construction, subject to the approval of the Council.

(Ord. 97, A 1, § 3; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

No person within the City shall erect, construct, enlarge, or alter any building or structure, or cause the same to be done, without first having complied with the provisions of this article. (Ord. 97, A 3, § 1; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The City Engineer shall enforce and administer all the provisions of this article. (Ord. 97, A 3, § 3; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The City Engineer shall determine what capacity is necessary in each public sewer to provide for the proper collection of sewage in the City. In the event a lot in the City is to undergo development or redevelopment, and the anticipated sewage from the proposed use is found by the City Engineer to exceed the capacity available in the public sewer, a building permit for such development or redevelopment shall not be issued until such time as the capacity in the public sewer is available or can be made available before the building is occupied. (Ord. 97, A 3, § 4; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The size and grade of each public sewer shall be such as to provide at all times sufficient capacity for peak flow rates of discharge. In order to establish estimates of sanitary sewage at peak flow, the owner or developer of a building shall submit plans of the intended construction, and such other information as the City Engineer may require, on printed forms provided for that purpose. The following peak flows for the following occupancies shall be used as the basis for computing the discharge rates to the public sanitary sewers:

All other uses shall be classified by the occupancy it most nearly resembles as determined by the

City Engineer or as computed by the City Engineer in accordance with the anticipated use.

The peak flow to the sanitary sewers for a building containing mixed occupancies shall be determined by adding the peak flow characteristics of the mixed occupancies as set forth in the table set forth in this section.

In the event an area of occupancy in use prior to December 13, 1971, is to undergo structural innovations, and such innovations shall not increase the peak flow from the lot to the public sewer as it existed immediately prior to December 13, 1971, the owner shall submit to the City Engineer an affidavit or statement in duplicate, pursuant to the provisions of Section 2015.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the State, verifying the actual occupancy load prior to December 13, 1971.

(Ord. 97, A 4, § 1; Ord. 176, § 2; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The applicant for a permit to build in the City shall declare all the information necessary, as determined by the City Engineer, to comply with the provisions of this article and shall pay to the City at the time of the issuance of a building permit a charge based on the anticipated additional peak flow created by the new construction, or change of use, at the rate of fifteen ($0.15) cents per gallon per day of additional peak flow, less any credit which might be allowed as provided in Section 6-4.311 of this article.

In the event a public entity other than the City requires a connection charge or fee for the use of its sewer prior to the issuance of a permit by the City, the charge required by this section shall be reduced by the amount of the charge or connection fee made by the public entity or shall be waived if such other charge or fee is greater than the amount set forth in this section. (Ord. 97, A 4, § 2; Ord. 176, § 3; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The applicant for a permit to connect any tributary area to a public sewer shall declare all the information necessary, as determined by the City Engineer, to comply with the provisions of this article and shall pay a charge at the rate set forth in Section 6-4.309 of this article, excluding credit as set forth in Section 6-5.311 of this article, provided the City Engineer determines that sufficient capacity is available or can be made available in the public sewer to serve the anticipated development. The cost of the area study to determine capacity shall be borne by the applicant, and the area study shall be made by the City Engineer or a registered engineer.

If sufficient capacity is not available or cannot be made available in the public sewer, such connection shall not be made.

(Ord. 97, A 4, § 3; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

In calculating the chargeable peak flow of sewage, each lot within the City shall be given a credit of not less than 600 gallons per day per 5,000 square feet of lot area. Such credit shall not be applied more than once to the same lot, except where the building on the lot has been demolished.

(Ord. 97, A 4, § 4; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

In the event any person shall have paid the applicable sewer charge based on the anticipated additional peak flow created by the new construction as provided in this article, and no portion of the new construction shall have been commenced, and the permit for such construction shall have been canceled or expired, such person, upon a written request therefor, shall be entitled to a refund in an amount equal to 100% of the sewer charge paid by such person, less 1% of such charge; provided, however, the amount retained shall not be less than $10 nor more than $100. (Ord. 97, A 4, § 7; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

The moneys collected pursuant to the provisions of Sections 6-4.309 and 6.4-310 of this article shall be deposited with the City Treasurer and shall be credited to the Sewer Reconstruction Fund.

(Ord. 97, A 4, § 5; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)

Moneys deposited in the Sewer Reconstruction Fund may be expended by the Council to accomplish any lawful purpose set forth in Section 6-4.302 of this article, or as set forth in Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code of the State, or for such other sewer purposes as the Council may lawfully authorize. All engineering costs, refunds as provided for in Section 6-4.312 of this article, mileage, overhead, incidentals, and construction costs necessarily incurred in the reconstruction of sewers shall be charged to such fund to the extent allowed by law.

(Ord. 97, A 4, § 6; Ord. 09-744U, § 3)