Atascadero Municipal Code Ch. 2 Definitions

"Accessory dwelling unit" ("ADU")

means a secondary living unit, either attached or detached, associated with a single-family residence, as defined and used in Section 65852.2 or the Government Code and approved and permitted by the City.

"Apartment"

means a residence, as herein defined, which is part of or located in a multiple-family dwelling as herein defined.

"Applicant"

means the person submitting an application for a permit for a sewer or plumbing installation and shall be the owner of the premises to be served by the sewer for which a permit is requested, or the authorized agent or the owner of the premises.

"Bar" or "pub"

means a building or portion thereof used for, or intended for use for, selling and consuming alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, cider, and spirits, but not including eating establishments or production facilities such as breweries, wineries, and distilleries.

"Bath"

means a room containing one or more water closets, bathtubs, shower stalls, and wash basins which are intended and suitable for human use and are connected to the sewer system.

"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)"

means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter, after five days, using standard laboratory procedures and expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l).

"Building"

means any structure used for human habitation or a place of business, recreation, or other activity and containing sanitary facilities.

"Building sewer"

means that portion of any sewer beginning two feet from any building and extending to and including its connection to a public sewer. Building sewers are considered privately-owned and maintained by the owner of the property or project it serves.

"Carwash unit"

means a building or portion thereof used for, or intended for use for, the routine cleaning of motor vehicles comprised of a single bay or stall intended to accommodate a single vehicle at a time, whether or not part of a gas station.

"City"

means the City of Atascadero.

"Cleanout"

means a branch fitting installed in a sewer or pipe for the purpose of providing access for cleaning.

"Commercial unit"

means a building or portion thereof used for, or intended for use for, commercial, business or governmental purposes, including, but not limited to, stores, markets, business offices, government offices and other places of business, but not including eating establishments, laundromats, theaters, grocery stores, or other business establishments previously defined herein.

"Condominium unit"

means a residence occupied or suitable for occupancy in whole or in part as a home or living quarters either permanently or temporarily by a single family, their guests and servants, but not including an apartment or other unit of multiple-family dwelling as defined herein.

"Customer"

means a person, property, or entity that owns a property that is connected to the City's wastewater system or who benefits from discharging sewage to the wastewater system.

"Department"

means the City of Atascadero Department of Public Works.

"Director"

means the Director of Public Works for the City of Atascadero.

"Domestic wastewater"

means water bearing only those wastes derived from the ordinary living processes and of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal to, and treatment at the City wastewater treatment plant.

"Dwelling unit" ("DU")

means a single-family, duplex, or multifamily living unit, as approved and permitted by the City.

"Eating establishment"

means a building or portion thereof, upon the premises of which are provided facilities for dining, eating and/or beverage consumption by the public, and which is held out by the owner or operator thereof as a place where food and/or beverages may be purchased for consumption upon the premises, including establishments designated as restaurants, cafés, drive-ins, coffee shops, ice cream parlors, and bowling alleys, and other such establishments where food or drink is served.

"Encroachment permit"

means a permit to excavate, occupy, block, construct, or perform other work in the public right-of-way or public easement. Encroachment permit applications are processed by the Public Works Department and approved by the Director.

"Equivalent dwelling unit" ("EDU")

means the equivalent sewer flow and strength from a single-family dwelling unit (one EDU) used for calculating proportionate sewer charges and fees for all other residential, commercial, and industrial uses. EDU assignment for industrial users and other unclassified uses, or connections with unusual sewer flow and strength, shall be determined by means deemed appropriate by the City Engineer.

"Extension"

means expansion of a service area or extension of a main sewer.

"Financial institutions"

means a building or portion thereof used for, or intended for use for, financial market purposes, including, but not limited to, banks, credit unions, trust companies, mortgage lenders, and similar business.

"Fixture"

means any sink, tub, shower, toilet, or other facility components connected by drain to the sewer.

"Fixture unit"

means a quantity in terms of which the load-producing effects on the plumbing system connected to the sewer from different kinds of fixtures.

"Garbage"

means solid wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage, and sale of agricultural products.

"Garbage grinder"

means a unit designed and used to grind or otherwise treat garbage so that it can be disposed of through the sewer system.

"Gas station"

means a building or portion thereof used for, or intended for use for, the on-site selling of gasoline and diesel fuel for motor vehicles and might include as ancillary uses the on-site selling of convenience goods including prepacked food, snacks, and drinks, and basic restroom facilities.

"Grease"

means all fat, grease, oil, wax or other trichloro-trifluoroethane soluble matter of animal, vegetable, petroleum or mineral origin.

"Hotel"

means a building or group of buildings containing six or more sleeping rooms or suites of rooms designed as, and occupied or suitable for occupation as, a temporary abiding or sleeping place for persons who, for compensation, are lodged with or without meals, including buildings designed as hotels and boarding, lodging houses, rooming houses, but not including those defined herein as multiple-family dwellings, motels, trailer courts, or dormitories, sanitariums, hospitals, asylums, orphanages, or buildings where persons are housed under restraint.

"Hotel room"

means a room or suite of rooms in a hotel as herein defined, designed as, and occupied or suitable for occupation as, one sleeping or living unit.

"House trailer" or "mobile home"

means a transportable structure designed, built and equipped as, and occupied or suitable for occupation as, a home or living quarters, either permanently or temporarily, by a single family and their guests and servants.

"Industrial user"

means a person, business, or entity who discharges nondomestic wastewater into the City sewer system.

"Kitchen"

means a room, all or any part of which is designed, built and equipped as, and is used or is intended to be used for the cooking and/or other preparation of food for human consumption.

"Lateral sewer", "sewer lateral", or "lateral"

means that portion of a building sewer lying within a public right-of-way or easement, which connects, or is intended to connect, a building sewer to a main sewer.

"Laundromat"

means a building or portion thereof designed, equipped, and used or intended for use as a self-service laundry, where there is no pickup or delivery service and no steam or hand laundry of any type.

"Lot"

means any piece or parcel of land, bounded, defined, or shown upon a plot or deed recorded in the office of the County Recorder of San Luis Obispo County; provided, however, that in the event any structure is located upon more than one parcel of land all under one ownership and as herein defined, the term "lot" shall include all such parcels of land.

"Main sewer" or "sewer main"

means that sewer, excluding lateral sewers, whose main purpose is to accept wastewater from lateral sewers and convey it to the wastewater treatment plant.

"Manhole"

means a structure for the purpose of providing access of a man to a buried sewer.

"Motel"

means a building or group of buildings containing two or more rooms or suites of rooms, and designed, intended, or used primarily for the accommodation of transient automobile travelers, including establishments designated as motels, auto courts, tourist cabins, motor lodges, motor courts, and by similar designations.

"Motel unit"

means a room or suite of rooms in a motel as herein defined, designed as, and occupied or suitable for occupation as, one sleeping or living unit.

"Multiple-family dwelling"

means a building or group of buildings designed as, and occupied or suitable for occupation as, a home or living quarters, either permanently or temporarily, by more than a single family, including buildings, designated as apartment houses, apartment buildings, duplexes, triplexes and condominiums, but not including motels, hotels, dormitories, or trailer courts as herein defined.

"Office unit"

means a commercial unit that is occupied for, or intended for, office use.

"pH."

The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.

"Permit"

means any written authorization required pursuant to this municipal code.

"Person"

means any individual, firm, company, association, society, private or public corporation, group, governmental agency or educational institution.

"Private main sewer"

means that portion of a main sewer lying within a public right-of-way or easement, or on private property, that discharges wastewater to the City's wastewater system but is not owned or maintained by the City's Public Works Department.

"Public main sewer"

means that portion of a main sewer lying within a public right-of-way or easement, and maintained by, and subject to the jurisdiction of the City's Public Works Department.

"Residence"

means a building or portion thereof, or a group of buildings, designed as and occupied or suitable for occupation in whole or in part as a home or living quarters, either permanently or temporarily, by a single family and their guests and servants, including a house and an apartment or other unit of multi-ple-family dwelling as herein defined.

"Rest home"

means a building or portion thereof, or a group of buildings, designed as and occupied or suitable for occupancy in whole or in part as an establishment that provides housing and general care for the aged or the convalescent.

"School"

means an institution of learning which offers instruction in the several branches of learning and study required to be taught in the public schools by the Education Code of the State of California, including preschool or nursery, elementary, junior and senior high and parochial and private schools and junior colleges, colleges, and universities.

"Senior apartment unit"

means a dwelling unit residence designed as and occupied or suitable for occupation in whole or in part as a home or living quarters, either permanently or temporarily, by persons in the senior community.

"Sewer" or "sanitary sewer"

means a pipe or conduit for carrying wastewater.

"Sewer capacity charge" or "wastewater capacity charge"

means a charge for wastewater facilities in existence at the time a charge is imposed or charges for new wastewater facilities to be acquired or constructed in the future that are of proportionate benefit to the person or property being charged. Capacity charges are one-time charges paid as a capital contribution for capacity in the wastewater system by new customers connecting to the wastewater system and existing customers that require increased capacity due to changes from development, use, or occupancy.

"Sewer collection system" or "wastewater collection system" or "public sewer system"

means the network of public main sewers, manholes, lift stations, forcemains, and other components that collects wastewater from the various laterals and conveys it to the wastewater treatment plant.

"Sewer connection"

means the connection of a structure or project to a public sewer system.

"Sewer connection fee" or "wastewater connection fee"

means a fee related to the physical facilities necessary to make a sewer connection comprised of costs incurred by the City to process permit application, review plans, inspect construction of others, and other related expenses. Sewer connection fees are paid through the City's permit application process and associated fee schedules, including, but not limited to, sewer connection, encroachment, and building permits.

"Sewer connection inspection fee"

means a fee by the City for inspecting the actual physical connection of a building sewer to either the City's main sewer or the lateral sewer stub-out at the property line. This charge does not include City inspection costs associated with any construction of building sewers involving trenching, backfilling, pipe installation, removals, restoration, or other work.

"Sewer connection processing fee"

means a fee by the City for administrative processing of sewer connection permit applications for new connections to the wastewater system, and existing connections that require a change in capacity due to changes from development or building occupancy.

"Sewer extension reimbursement cost"

means the proportional share of the cost of a sewer extension per Section 7-5.003. This charge applies to new sewer connections to sewer extensions covered by a current reimbursement agreement approved by the City in accordance with Section 7-5.004.

"Sewer service charge" or "wastewater service charge"

means the monthly service charge levied and imposed upon any occupied premises within the City having any sewer connection with the sewerage system of the City, or otherwise discharging wastewater which ultimately passes through the City's sewerage system or to which a public sewer is available according to Section 7-3.001 of this title, and upon the owner or occupant thereof.

"Shall"

is mandatory; "may" is permissive.

"Trailer court"

means an area containing two or more trailer spaces as herein defined, including areas designed as trailer courts, trailer camps, and by similar designations.

"Trailer space"

means an area which is laid out and provided with facilities including a sewer connection for, and is occupied or is suitable for occupation by, a house trailer as herein defined.

"User classification" or "user category" or "customer classification"

means the type of occupancy for a sewer connection to a building or project that discharges to the wastewater system.

"Wastewater" or "sewage"

means any water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, public buildings, institutions, and industrial facilities.

"Wastewater system"

means the combined wastewater collection system and wastewater treatment plant with the purpose of collecting and treating wastewater discharges.

"Wastewater treatment plant" ("WWTP") and "water reclamation facility" ("WRF")

means the arrangement of devices and structures used for treating wastewater generated within the City.

(Ord. 181 § 2, 1988; Ord. 246 § 1 (Exh. A ), 1993; Ord. 438 § 2, 2004; Ord. 628 § 2, 2019)