Monterey Park Municipal Code Ch. 14.06 Sewer Reconstruction

Most sewers in the city of Monterey Park were constructed many years ago and were designed to serve residential properties. Due to the increasing population density within the city, the erection of many multifamily dwelling units and growth of the commercial and industrial areas, the city sewage system is no longer adequate to accommodate the increased volume of sewage generated by such developments. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a means of providing adequate sewers required by development in the city and to establish a charge to be collected from all the properties that propose to discharge, to the public sewer, quantities of sewage in excess of the quantity for which the existing sewage system was designed, and to establish a fund into which these charges may be deposited and from which moneys will be available for the sanitary sewer reconstruction program.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings set forth in this section:

"Floor area"

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

"Lot"

means a lot or parcel of land as defined in Section 21.04.535.

"Owner"

means an individual human being, firm, partnership, corporation, organization or anyone having an interest in any lot or parcel of land in the city of Monterey Park.

"Peak flow"

means the instantaneous maximum rate of flow of sewage to be discharged to the sewer and shall be as provided herein.

"Public sewer"

means the main line public sanitary sewer, excepting therefrom sewers under the jurisdiction of a public entity other than the city of Monterey Park.

"Sewer system master plan"

means the sewer system master plan for the city of Monterey Park approved by the city council, which establishes various districts within the city and contains a map of such districts showing the deficient public sewers.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

No person 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 chapter.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

No building permit shall be issued for any development or redevelopment within any district identified in the sewer system master plan as containing a sewer system deficiency until fees required by this chapter have been paid.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

(a) The size and grade of each public sewer must be such as to provide at all times sufficient capacity for peak flow rates of discharge. To establish estimates of sanitary sewage at peak flow, the owner or developer of a lot shall submit plans of intended construction and such other information as the city engineer may require on printed forms provided for that purpose.

(b) The following establishes the peak flows for the various occupancies and shall be the basis for computing the discharge rates to the public sanitary sewer:

(c) All others 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.

(d) The peak flow to the sanitary sewer for a building containing mixed occupancies shall be determined by adding the peak flow characteristics of the various occupancies as set forth in the table in subsection (b) of this section.

(e) If an area of occupancy in use prior to the enactment of this chapter is to undergo structural innovations and such innovations shall not increase the peak flow to the public sewer as it existed from the lot immediately prior to said date of enactment, the owner shall submit to the city engineer an affidavit or statement pursuant to Section 2015.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, verifying the actual occupancy load prior to said date of enactment.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

The applicant for a permit to build in the city shall pay, at the time of issuance of a building permit, a fee based on the anticipated additional peak flow created by the new construction at the rate as established by the city council and adopted by resolution, less any credit which might be allowed as provided in Section 14.06.070.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981; Ord. 1724 § 1, 1987)

In calculating the chargeable peak flow of sewage, each lot shall be given a credit of six hundred gallons per day per five thousand square feet of lot area. The amount of peak sewage generated by any existing facilities on the lot shall be deducted from this credit. This credit shall not be applied more than once to the same lot, except when the building on the lot has been demolished.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

Fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in a separate fund to be designated as the sewer reconstruction fund. These funds may be used only for the construction, reconstruction and repair of deficient portions of the sewer system as identified in the sewer system master plan. All engineering costs, refunds as provided in Section 14.06.090, overhead, incidentals, and construction costs necessarily incurred in the reconstruction of sewers shall be charged to the fund.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)

If any person shall have paid the applicable sewer charge based on the anticipated additional peak flow created by the new construction as provided herein and no portion of the new construction shall have been commenced and the permit for such construction shall have been canceled or expired, that person shall be entitled, upon written request, to a refund in an amount equal to one hundred percent of the sewer charges paid minus one percent of said charge. However, the amount retained shall not be less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.

(Ord. 1554 § 1, 1981)