Emeryville Municipal Code Art. 3 Sewer Connections

The sewer connection fee fund is hereby established. Money collected by the City for sewer connection fees shall be deposited in the sewer connection fee fund and shall be used only to increase the capacity of the sanitary sewer system by construction of additions or modifications to the sanitary sewer system. Any interest earned on the fund shall remain in the fund.

(Formerly 7-8.201; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)

The owner of every premises, such as a house, building, or property used for human occupancy, employment, commercial or industrial purposes, recreation, or other purpose, situated within the City and abutting on any street, alley, or right-of-way in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public sanitary sewer, is required to install, at his own expense and as soon as practicable, suitable toilet facilities therein or thereon, and to connect, without any undue delay, and, in no event at a date later than ninety (90) days following official notice from the Director, such premises directly with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(Formerly 7-8.202; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)

Applications for connections to a City sewer shall, in every case, be made by the owner or his agent on a form furnished by the City. Each application shall be supplemented by such plans, specifications, analyses of strength and quantity of wastewater to be produced, flow data, or other information as shall, in the judgment of the Director, be considered pertinent. In the case of every industrial sewer service connection, irrespective of whether a new physical connection is to be made, a new or amended application shall be filed with the City (1) upon change of ownership of the property served, (2) upon change of occupancy, or (3) upon change of any activity resulting in changes in type of industrial waste. The holders of all permits issued hereunder shall be subject at all times to all applicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations. At no time and in no way shall the holder of any permit acquire or be regarded as having acquired a vested or continuing right to maintain or to have continued any connection to the public sewer.

(Formerly 7-8.203; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)

The connection to the public sewer, including the piping within any public street right-of-way, shall be properly installed in accordance with applicable codes at the sole expense of the owner of the property served. Such connections shall not be made without required approved permits issued by the Director, upon receipt of an acceptable, complete application and payment of all applicable fees and charges.

(Formerly 7-8.204; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)

A sewer connection fee shall be paid as a condition of the issuance of a building permit. A sewer connection fee shall be levied whenever the use of the property changes and is expected by the City to discharge a greater amount of sewage than was discharged under the previous use. The charge shall be calculated as a single-family dwelling equivalent.

A single-family dwelling equivalent (SFDE) shall be defined as the average volume of wastewater discharged from an average single-family dwelling over a thirty (30) day period of time. For the purposes of this chapter, one (1) SFDE shall equal five thousand (5,000) gallons. Each single-family living unit in a multiple-family dwelling, apartment house, condominium, or any other multiple-family structure shall be considered one (1) SFDE, except units which contain two (2) rooms or less or one (1) bedroom or less. Each living unit which contains one (1) bedroom or less or not more than two (2) rooms total shall be considered a one-half (1/2) SFDE. All nonresidential use shall be charged based on the anticipated volume of water use. The City may verify actual water use after issuance of the building permit and assess a supplemental sewer connection charge in the event that actual water use is greater than the original estimate upon which the sewer connection charge was calculated.

(Formerly 7-8.205; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)

The sewer connection charge for an SFDE is set at five hundred seventy dollars ($570.00). This rate shall be adjusted annually on July 1 by resolution of the City Council to reflect the change in the Engineering News Record (ENR) Connection Cost Index during the preceding twelve (12) months. The March ENR Construction Cost Index value shall be used as the basis of adjustment.

(Formerly 7-8.206; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 1, Ord. 90-7, eff. Aug. 9, 1990; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)

The sewer connection fee may be waived where the applicant agrees to construct, at no cost to the City, a new trunk sanitary sewer from his development or interceptor sewer which is determined to have adequate capacity.

All facilities constructed by the applicant must be designed by a registered professional engineer and must be constructed to City standards.

(Formerly 7-8.207; Sec. 3 (part), Ord. 11-004, eff. June 2, 2011; Sec. 2, Ord. 82-013, eff. Nov. 25, 1982)