Redwood City Municipal Code § 27.53 Inter-Area Connections

For the purposes of this Article, and in addition to the definitions set forth in Section 27.3 et seq., the following words and phrases shall have the meaning respectively ascribed thereto.

BUILDING OFFICIAL: The Building Inspector of the City, including his or her authorized deputies or representatives.

HEALTH OFFICER: The San Mateo County Director of Environmental Services, including his or her authorized deputies or representatives.

PRIVATE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM: A privately owned, installed and maintained sewage disposal system, including a septic tank, cesspool, seepage pit, drainage field or leaching system, designed to serve private premises and the occupants of buildings thereon for the sanitary disposal of sewage.

SEWER LATERAL: That portion of a building sewer located in the public right-of-way which extends from the sewerage facilities to the street property line or limit of public right-of-way or easement.

SEWER SERVICE AREA A: All premises located within the City's Sphere of Influence, and not located within Sewer Service Area B. Sphere of Influence is defined as the plan for the boundaries of an agency as determined by the San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission.

SEWER SERVICE AREA B: All premises located within Redwood City General Improvement District No. 1-64, a general improvement district duly organized and existing under the Redwood City General Improvement District Ordinance, and all territory annexed to said District.

SEWER SERVICE AREA C: All premises located outside the City's Sphere of Influence.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93; Ord. No. 2334, § 1, 7-7-08)

Except as provided in Section 27.55, all plumbing which receives waste discharged from a building, a structure or place of business within the corporate limits of the City shall be connected to the sewerage facilities.

All sewage disposal piping connected to a private sewerage disposal system at the time of the adoption of the ordinance enacting this Article or on the effective date of the annexation to the City of the territory where such private sewage disposal system is located shall be connected to the sewerage facilities within nine (9) months after such adoption or effective date of annexation.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

A. Permit Required: The sewer connection permit required hereunder shall be in addition to the discharge permits issued by the Authority pursuant to Sections 27.10B, 27.11 and Article IV hereof; provided, that two (2) or more such permits may be combined in one form as may be provided by the Authority and City.

B. Sewer Laterals: If no sewer lateral exists between the sewerage facilities and the property line of the adjacent premises to be served thereby, a sewer lateral shall be installed by the City or by the owner of the premises under terms and conditions specified by the City's Director, upon approval of an application therefor by the City's Director for the installation of such lateral. The applicant shall, at the time the application is made, pay to the City the sum specified in Article IX of this Chapter for recovering the cost of installation of such laterals. No building, plumbing or sewer connection permit involving the installation of plumbing facilities for connection to the sewerage facilities shall be issued until the application has been approved by the City's Director and the above-mentioned sum and all other applicable charges and fees have been paid or otherwise provided for.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

A. Prohibition: No sewer connection permit shall be issued after the effective date of this Article to serve any premises located in Sewer Service Area C, or to serve any premises located in one sewer service area from sewerage facilities located in another sewer service area.

B. Exceptions: Notwithstanding the foregoing prohibition, and upon application, the City Council may authorize the issuance of a sewer connection permit to serve premises located in Sewer Service Area C, or to serve premises located in one sewer service area from sewerage facilities located in another sewer service area when it finds the existence of exceptional or extraordinary conditions affecting such premises. The authorization shall be made by resolution and may be made subject to such terms, conditions and fees as the Council deems necessary or appropriate.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

Where that portion of the sewerage facilities to which connection is to be made is located in any right-of-way where open trenching is prohibited, either by the City or any other agency having jurisdiction over such right-of-way, the applicant for the sewer lateral shall obtain a permit from the City's Director for the installation of such lateral by a licensed contractor of the applicant's choice under terms and conditions designated by the City's Director, and upon payment of a deposit required by the City's Director to cover inspection and/or staking costs.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

The Building Official is hereby authorized to grant revocable variances from the strict application of Section 27.51 when all of the following conditions exist:

A. When, in the opinion of the Health Officer of the City, a private sewerage disposal system would be adequate and safe for the disposal of the waste discharge from such building or structure and would not constitute a menace to the public health. An applicant may be required to submit any pertinent information deemed necessary by the Health Officer to the making of a determination under this subsection. The Health Officer may charge the applicant a reasonable fee for services rendered under this subsection, not to exceed the fee charged by the Health Officer for comparable services rendered in unincorporated areas of the County.

B. When the Building Official finds, that because of special circumstances applicable to such building or structure, including its size, shape, location, surroundings and topography of the premises upon which it is located, the strict application of Section 27.51 would constitute an undue hardship upon the owner of such premises.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

Any person denied a variance pursuant to Section 27.55 by virtue of the failure of the Building Official to find the facts required by subsection B of Section 27.55 may, within fifteen (15) days after the date of the notice of such determination of the Building Official, appeal the denial thereof to the Board of Building Appeals in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1 of this Municipal Code.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

(Ord. No. 2374, § 17, 1-9-12)

Any variance from the strict application of this Article granted pursuant to Section 27.55, shall be revoked by the Building Official:

A. Upon receipt by him or her of notice from the Health Officer that the private sewage disposal system constructed in lieu of compliance with Section 27.55 constitutes a menace to public health; or

B. Upon a determination by him or her that the special circumstances considered in granting the variance have changed to the extent that strict application of Section 27.55 would no longer constitute an undue hardship upon the owner of the premises to which the variance pertained.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

Any private sewage disposal system permitted pursuant to Section 27.55 shall be designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 27.58.2 through 27.58.5.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

It shall be unlawful for any person to construct, alter, repair, maintain, replace, put into use, or cause to be used, any private sewage disposal system, septic tank or cesspool, seepage pit, drainage field or leaching field system within the City without first obtaining a variance from the strict application of Section 27.51 in accordance with the procedure established in Section 27.55, and without then obtaining from the Building Official a written permit to construct, maintain and use such private sewerage disposal system and payment of a fee by the applicant for such permit in the amount established pursuant to the provisions of Article IX.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

The Building Official, before issuing any permit required by the preceding Section, shall require a written application to be made and filed, which shall include the following:

A. The name, address and telephone number of the person making the application.

B. Identification of the premises proposed to be served by a private sewage disposal system by legal description, street, location and a description of the work to be done and the facilities to be used or maintained.

C. Applications or forms, provided by the Building Division of City's Community Development Department, must be accompanied by four (4) copies of an accurate site plan drawn to scale showing property boundaries and dimensions, street and driveway locations, buildings outline and location, sewage disposal septic tank and drain field dimensions and locations of property contours at five foot (5′) intervals and a description of any proposed grading or excavation work.

D. Any other information deemed necessary by the Director, Building Official or Health Officer to determine whether the proposed work or use complies with the provisions of this Article and other ordinances of the City regulating the construction of sewage disposal systems on private property.

Notwithstanding the provisions Section 27.103, the Health Officer may establish a reasonable fee to be charged the applicant to defray the costs of services rendered under this Section, not to exceed the fee charged by the Health Officer for comparable services rendered in unincorporated areas of the County.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

Before using the permit required under Section 27.58.2, the Building Official may require the applicant to furnish a report prepared by a registered, practicing civil engineer, which report shall include the results of such soils tests, percolation tests, geological data and the design of a sewage disposal system based on such data, which indicates that such system will provide adequate capacity and percolation or leaching.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

Upon receipt of the written application required under Section 27.58.3, payment of all required fees and charges, verification of granting of the variance authorized under Section 27.55, and approval of the application in accordance with the provision of Sections 27.55 through this Section 27.58.5, the Building Official shall issue a written permit to construct and/or use the private sewage disposal system described therein.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

Whenever any premises is not connected to the sewerage facilities, and the owner of such premises has not been issued a variance from the strict application of Section 27.51, the Building Official or Health Officer may, or if ordered by the City Council shall, serve written notice upon the owner of such premises to connect all plumbing thereon to the sewerage facilities. If such owner, after thirty (30) days from service of said notice, has refused, neglected or otherwise failed to connect such plumbing, together with all toilets, sinks and other plumbing fixtures within such premises, properly vented and in a sanitary manner, to the nearest available point of connection to the public sewerage facilities, the City may construct the same, and the person doing such work at the request of the Health Officer shall have a lien upon such premises for the work done and materials or equipment furnished, and such work, materials and equipment furnished shall be deemed to have been done and furnished at the instance of such owner or reputed owner, or person claiming or having any interest in the premises.

The City may pay all persons who furnished labor, materials or equipment for such work, and to the extent that the City shall have paid the cost or price of such connection, the City shall succeed to and have all the rights, including the lien provided for above, of such person against the premises and the owner thereof.

As an alternative power to the enforcement of the lien provided for in this Section, the City Council may, by order entered upon its minutes, declare that the amount of the costs of such work and the administrative expenses incurred by the City incident to the proceedings, together with other charges uniformly applicable within the jurisdiction of the City Council for the connection of the premises to the sewerage facilities, shall be transmitted to the County Assessor and the County Tax Collector by copy of the order so providing, certified by the City Clerk. Upon making such order, the unpaid amount shall constitute a lien upon the premises, and the amount thereof shall be added to the next succeeding tax bill against the premises, and shall be collected at the time and in the same manner as general municipal taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and procedure in case of delinquency.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

When a sewer lateral is constructed and connected to the sewerage facilities to serve premises, and a septic tank or cesspool exists which previously received sewage from the structure or structures on said premises, the septic tank or cesspool shall be abandoned and no portion of the building sewer shall then pass through or connect to such septic tank or cesspool.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)

When any private sewage disposal system is abandoned, the top of the septic tank portion of said system shall be removed and the tank drained and filled with well-compacted fine soil or sand. The abandonment of the private sewage disposal system as described herein shall be completed to the satisfaction of the Health Officer or Building Official within ten (10) days after connection to the sewerage facilities has been approved and completed.

(Ord. No. 2065, § 2, 8-16-93)