Chapter 13.08 — SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL

• A. There is hereby adopted as a Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste Ordinance of the City, Title 20, Utilities, Division 2 of the Los Angeles County Code, commonly referred to as the Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste Ordinance as amended July 27, 1989.

• B. Three copies of the Los Angeles County Code, Title 20, Utilities, Division 2, Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste Ordinance, as amended, have been deposited with the City Clerk and shall at all times be maintained by the City Clerk for use and examination by the public.

(Prior code § 35-1)

Whenever any of the following names or terms are used in Ordinance No. 6130 of the County, as adopted by this chapter, each such name or term shall be deemed and construed to have the meaning ascribed to it in this section as follows:

Board. The City Council.

County Engineer. The City Engineer.

County Health Officer. The City Health Officer.

County of Los Angeles. The City of Paramount except in such instances where the County of Los Angeles is a correct notation due to circumstances.

County sewer maintenance district. The County sewer maintenance district except in the instance where the territory concerned either is not within or has been withdrawn from a County sewer maintenance district. In any such instance County sewer maintenance district means the City.

Ordinance. An ordinance of the City except in such instances where the reference is to a stated ordinance of the County.

Public sewer. All sanitary sewers and appurtenances thereto, lying within streets or easements dedicated to the City, which are under the sole jurisdiction of the City.

Trunk sewer. A sewer under the jurisdiction of a public entity other than the City.

Unincorporated area of the County of Los Angeles. Whenever, in Ordinance No. 6130 reference is made to the unincorporated area of the County of Los Angeles, such area shall be deemed to include in its true geographical location the area of the City of Paramount. (Prior code § 35-2)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

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

Lot. 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 conforms to the boundaries of such lot as shown upon such recorded map, plot or deed or roll; provided, that in the event any building or structure or intended use covers more area than a lot as herein defined, the term "lot" shall include all such pieces or parcels of land upon which the building or 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. An individual human being, a firm, partnership, corporation, organization or anyone having an interest in any lot or parcel of land in the City.

Peak flow. The instantaneous maximum rate of flow of sewage to be discharged to the sewer and, for the purpose of this chapter, shall be as provided herein.

Public sewer. The main line public sanitary sewer, excepting therefrom sewers under the jurisdiction of a public entity other than the City. (Prior code § 35-4)

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 multifamily dwelling units and growth of the commercial and industrial areas the City sewerage system is no longer adequate to accommodate the increased volume of sewerage 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 sewerage system was designed; and to establish a fund into which these charges may be deposited and from which money will be available for the City sewer reconstruction program. (Prior code § 35-5)

The sewer reconstruction program shall be carried out basically in accordance with the City sewer reconstruction plan which is on file in the office of the City Engineer. If compliance with the reconstruction plan is impossible or impractical because of peculiar or unforeseen conditions and the purposes of this chapter 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 reconstruction plan permitting such alternate construction, subject to approval of City Council. (Prior code § 35-6)

No person shall, within the City, 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. (Prior code § 35-7)

The City Engineer shall enforce and administer all the provisions of this chapter. (Prior code § 35-8)

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, the building permit for such development or redevelopment shall not be issued until such time as capacity in the public sewer is available or can be made available before the building is occupied. (Prior code § 35-9)

• A. 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 intended construction and such other information as the City Engineer may require on printed forms provided for that purpose.

• B. The following table is established as the peak flows for the various occupancies and shall be used as the basis for computing the discharge rates to the public sanitary sewer:

Text read from an image; its layout may differ:
Occupancy Peak Flow
Apartment or multiple dwelling 600 gal./day/dwelling unit
Assembly areas 15 gal./day/person
Auditorium 15 gal./day/seat
Automobile wash:
Regular 86,400 gal./day/wash lane
Coin operated 2,500 gal./day/stall
Bar and cocktail lounges 60 gal./day/seat
Gas station:
Without wash rack 1,500 gal./day
With wash rack 3,000 gal./day
Hospitals 1,500 gal./day/bed
Hospital (convalescent) 300 gal./day/bed
Hotels 600 gal./day/room
Ice plant 1,200 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area
Industry, light (no water processes) 600 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area
Laundry, automatic (public) 225 gal./day/machine
Medical office 900 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area
Mobile homes and trailer courts 600 gal./day/unit
Motels 600 gal./day/unit

Text read from an image; its layout may differ:
Occupancy Peak Flow
Office 600 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area
Restaurant 150 gal./day/seat
Schools:
Elementary 27 gal./day/capita
Other 75 gal./day/capita
Single-family dwelling 600 gal./day/dwelling unit
Stand or drive-in for sale of lunches, ice 900 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area
cream, beverages and similar items
Storage garages and warehouses 75 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area
Stores, commercial and display 300 gal./day/1,000 sq. ft. of floor area

• 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 above table.

• E. In the event that 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 as it existed from the lot immediately prior to such date of enactment to the public sewer, the owner shall submit to the City Engineer an affidavit or statement pursuant to Section 2015.5 of the Code of Civil procedure, in duplicate, verifying the actual occupancy load prior to such date of enactment.

(Prior code § 35-10)

The applicant for a permit to build in the City shall declare all information necessary, as determined by the City Engineer, to comply with the provisions of this chapter and shall pay to the City at the time of 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 $0.20 per gallon per day of additional peak flow less any credit which might be allowed as provided in this chapter. (Prior code § 35-11)

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. This credit shall not be applied more than once to the same lot, except when the building on the lot has been demolished. (Prior code § 35-12)

The money collected under Section 13.08.100 shall be deposited with the City Treasurer, and credited to the City sewer reconstruction fund. (Prior code § 35-13)

Money deposited in the City sewer reconstruction fund, as provided in this chapter, may be expended by the City Council to accomplish any lawful purpose as provided in this chapter and as set forth in Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code of the State, or for such other sewer purpose that the City Council may lawfully authorize. All engineering costs, refunds as provided in this chapter, mileage, overhead, incidentals and construction cost necessarily incurred in the reconstruction of sewers shall be charged to the fund, to the extent allowed by law. (Prior code § 35-14)

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 chapter, 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 shall be entitled upon written request to a refund in an amount equal to 100% of the sewer charges paid by the person minus one percent of such charge. However, the amount retained shall not be less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00. (Prior code § 35-15)

• A. Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

Reimbursement district. That territory which may benefit from utilization of further or additional sewer facilities constructed or agreed to be constructed at the expense of the County general fund, pursuant to contracts entered into between subdividers and the County, in accordance with Section 11543 of the Business and Professions Code of the State.

The exterior boundaries of such reimbursement districts have been heretofore established and are reflected in reimbursement maps on file with the County and with the City.

Reimbursement fees. Those charges, the imposition of which is authorized by the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act of the State, imposed on territory within reimbursement districts, to recoup the cost of further and additional facilities constructed at the cost of the County. Such fees are reflected on those reimbursement maps heretofore referred to in this section.

Reimbursement maps. Those maps on file with the County, and the City, designating the exterior boundaries of reimbursement districts and reflecting the reimbursement fees chargeable to included territory as a condition of utilization of the sewer facilities for which County funds were expended.

• B. Payment of Reimbursement Fees. No permit shall be issued for the connection of property lying within a reimbursement district to a public sewer until the applicant shall have first paid to the County all reimbursement fees attributable to the connecting property as indicated on the reimbursement map. Reimbursement fees shall be paid to the County Engineer, and payments so made shall become the property of the County in accordance with the provisions of contracts entered into pursuant to Section 11544 of the Business and Professions Code.

(Prior code §§ 35-16, 35-17)