Lancaster Municipal Code Art. 2 Fees and Deposits

Any person desiring to connect any lot to a public sewer shall, as a prerequisite to obtaining the permits required by the Plumbing Code set out at Chapter 15.20, pay all fees or charges which may be required by the city of Lancaster.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

Before granting any permit for the construction of main-line sewer, house lateral sewer, sewage pumping plant, and whenever a permit for any industrial waste treatment or disposal facility is required by the director the director shall collect the appropriate fees as established from time to time by the city council in the fee resolution, from the applicant to cover the cost of field inspection of the proposed construction, procuring or preparing record plans, and all overhead and indirect costs.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

Connection Charge. No permit shall be issued for the direct connection of any lot to a public sewer which has been constructed at no cost to such lot or to a trunk sewer in which capacity has been assigned by the owner thereof to the city of Lancaster until, in addition to any other fees required by this chapter and by any other ordinance or resolution, there has been paid a connection charge for the lot sought to be connected if said lot is rectangular and has an average depth of one hundred feet or more. If the shape of lot is other than the usual rectangular shape or unusual in area and the strict adherence to the above-mentioned provision would require payment of an amount not commensurate with the benefits to be received, the provisions of this chapter as the amount to be charged may be modified as determined by the director. The connection charge shall be determined by the city. The city shall, by resolution, from time to time establish the connection charge required under the provisions of this chapter.

Property owned by a public entity and being used by such entity in the performance of a governmental function is not exempt from the requirements of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

A. If any property is in a sewer reimbursement district which was formed by the board of supervisors of the county of Los Angeles or the Council prior to July 1, 2008 or by the council after July 1, 2008, no permit shall be issued for the connection of such property to a public sewer until, in addition to any other fees required by this chapter and by the Plumbing Code set out at Chapter 15.20, all area charges and frontage charges required by this section have been paid.

B. An area charge computed by the area rates established for the reimbursement district shall be collected, whether or not additional public sewer is being constructed to serve the property. If the property is in more than one reimbursement district, an area charge shall be collected for each district.

C. Additionally, if the reimbursement agreement provides for frontage reimbursement, any lot located in the frontage reimbursement area and seeking direct house connection to any public sewer shall pay a reimbursement district connection charge in the amount specified below.

D. The reimbursement district connection charge shall be computed at the rate as established from time to time by the city council in the fee resolution. If a reimbursement district connection charge is collected as provided in this section, then the connection charge required by Section 13.08.70 shall not be collected.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

No permit shall be issued for the direct connection of any lot to a trunk sewer until the applicant has first obtained a permit for such connection from the agency or owner of such trunk sewer.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

No permit shall be issued for the direct connection of any lot to a public sewer which was not designed for and intended to directly serve such lot unless the director first determines that there is additional capacity available in such sewer beyond that required to serve the property for which it was designed.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

Whenever a sewer connection permit is requested for only a portion of a lot and the director finds that only such portion will be benefited by a sewer connection, and that both the area of such portion and the remaining area of such lot conform to the requirements of the Title 17, Zoning, a house sewer connection permit may be issued for such portion and all charges required shall be based on the dimensions of such portion as determined by the director.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

The director shall collect from the applicant a fee as established by resolution of the council to tap the public sewer.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

A. A permit shall be obtained from the director wherever construction, reconstruction or adjustment is to be performed adjacent to an existing sewer manhole, to ascertain that the sewer lines and manholes have been thoroughly cleaned and the manholes have been satisfactorily constructed, reconstructed or adjusted to city standards.

B. This inspection is also required for construction of industrial waste measuring manholes, reconstruction or adjustment of any portion of a manhole due to service connections or grading or paving operation, or any other work which in the opinion of the director may cause damage to a manhole.

C. The fee shall be as established by resolution of the council. These fees shall cover the costs of field inspection, and all overhead and indirect costs.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

In the event that any lot which has paid any charges required under this chapter receives additional benefit from any public or trunk sewer, nothing contained in this chapter shall relieve the property owner from future payment of charges as herein provided nor from a special assessment levied under a statute of the state of California for such additional benefit.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

Any person required by this chapter to have plans checked and processed shall pay the fee established by the city council for this service and as required by Chapter 16.28 of this code.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

For each private contract requiring the processing of sewer easements, the director shall collect from the applicant the fee established by the city council for this service and as required by Chapter 16.28 of this code. For each private contract requiring the vacation of a sewer easement, the director of public works shall collect from the applicant the fee established by the city council for this service and as required by Chapter 16.28 of this code.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

A. Before proceeding with the preparation of a sewer area, reimbursement, or other special study, the director shall collect from the person making the request for the work the fee established by the city council for this service and as required by Chapter 16.28 of this code.

B. If the cost of doing the work exceeds the fee originally collected; a supplemental fee shall be collected to cover the additional cost as determined by the director.

C. If the director determines that a flow measurement of this existing system is required, there will be an additional cost as determined by the director.

D. Studies prepared by others and submitted for checking by the director shall be subject to the fee requirements stated above.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

For each private contract requiring reimbursement under Section 13.07.280, the applicant shall pay, in addition to the plan checking fee, the fee established by the city council for this service and as required by Chapter 16.28 of this code.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

A. Any person who desires to place a newly constructed public sewer system in operation prior to the availability of sewer maintenance revenue from the property to be served by such sewer system, shall pay a sewer maintenance charge in an amount determined by the director to cover such cost of maintaining such system from the time the sewer is placed in operation until the property so benefited is included on the next available property tax rolls and revenue becomes available.

B. Such charge shall be computed by multiplying the sewage service charge, as annually determined by the city council, times the number of sewage units determined in Chapter 13.09 to be discharging from the subject property.

C. If a sewage pumping plant is included in the computations, an additional sum shall be paid as determined by the director to cover the maintenance and operation costs until the property benefited can be included in a maintenance district and revenue becomes available.

D. If the newly constructed sewers are in an area served by an existing sewage pumping plant an additional sum shall be paid as determined by the director to cover the additional maintenance and operation costs of the pumping station until the property benefited can be included on the next available property tax rolls and revenue becomes available.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

All money received pursuant to 13.07, 13.08 and 13.09 except as otherwise provide for in this chapter shall be deposited with the director of finance and credited to the city sewer fund.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

Money deposited in the city sewer fund, as provided in Section 13.09.040, may be expended by the director, contingent upon receipt and availability of such funds, to accomplish the purpose set forth in Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code, for which no other provisions have been made or for such other sewer purposes that the council may authorize not in conflict with existing laws.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)

The director and the director of finance shall keep a permanent record of all applications and a permanent and accurate account of all payments received under this chapter.

(Ord. No. 910, § 1 (Exh. A), 1-13-09)