San Fernando Municipal Code Div. 1 Generally

The purpose of this division and of the sewer service and use charges established in division 2 of this article is to derive revenue which shall be used only for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and operation of the city's sanitary sewer system; to repay principal and interest on any bonds which may be issued for the construction or reconstruction of such sanitary or sewer facilities; and to repay federal or state loans or advances which may be made to the city for the construction or reconstruction of sanitary or sewer facilities. However, no such revenue shall be used for the acquisition or construction of new local street sewers or laterals as distinguished from main trunk interceptor and outfall sewers.

(Code 1957, § 22A.1)

Any person violating any of the sections of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable as provided in section 1-10.

(Code 1957, § 22A.2)

The definitions set forth in this section shall govern the construction and application of this article and any council resolutions adopted pursuant to this article, unless otherwise specified in this article or any such resolution. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Club or lodge means any association primarily organized for some common nonprofit purpose, including lodges, fraternal orders, patriotic organizations, service clubs, and chambers of commerce, but not including groups organized primarily to render service which is customarily carried on as a business.

Commercial, industrial and miscellaneous premises means a premises, other than a single-family premises, multiple-family premises, other residential premises, or institutional premises, designed, improved, or used for any purpose other than a single-family, multiple-family, other residential, or institutional purpose.

Institutional premises means any public, private, or nonprofit school, church, hospital, lodge, club, library, memorial building, and any other public or nonprofit facility.

Multiple-family premises means a premises which is designed, improved, or used as a residence for two or more families, living separately, in separate dwelling units, and which is not designed, improved, or used for any other purpose.

Other residential premises means a premises having a building or group of buildings containing individual guestrooms for one or more guests and no provision is made for cooking in any individual room or suite of rooms, including but not limited to motels, boardinghouses, hotels, roominghouses, dormitories, fraternities, and sororities.

Person means any person, firm, company, corporation, partnership, association, institutional owner, or any public corporation.

Premises means a separate lot or parcel of land, improved or unimproved, which is connected, directly or indirectly, to the sanitary sewer system or any portion thereof or from which any sewage is discharged or conducted, directly or indirectly, into the sewer system.

Public corporation means the city or any political subdivision, city, county, district, the state, or the United States of America, or any department or agency of any thereof.

Sanitary sewer system means all of the sewers, treatment plants, and other facilities owned or operated or partly owned or operated or leased by the city for carrying, collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sanitary sewage and industrial waste.

Separate dwelling unit means a premises or portion thereof designed for occupancy for residential purposes by one family, with sleeping, kitchen, and bathroom facilities provided therein for the exclusive use of such family.

Sewage refers to a combination of liquid or human waste carried away from residences, business buildings, and institutions, which is known as domestic sewage, together with the liquid or water-carried waste resulting from the manufacturing process employed in commercial and industrial establishments, including the washing, cleaning, or drain water from such process and/or establishments, which is known as industrial waste.

Single-family premises means a premises which is designed, improved, or used as a residence for one family only and which is not designed, improved, or used for any other purpose.

(Code 1957, § 22A.3)

Cross reference— Definitions generally, § 1-2.

(a) Generally. Each person having a premises with an existing sewer connection with the city's sewer system is granted a permit to discharge domestic sewage from the premises. All other persons in the city who shall require service connection with the city sewer system whereby the domestic sewage or commercial or industrial waste or both is disposed of by the city must pay a capital facility charge to the city and must obtain from the public works director or the city engineer or his authorized representative a permit to discharge such sewage and/or industrial waste into the sewer system.

(b) Capital facility charge. Before any sewer connection permit shall be issued, the applicant therefor shall pay to the city a capital facility charge in accordance with a schedule of charges adopted by resolution of the city council. No connection to the city sewer system shall be made until after the charges have been paid.

(c) Permit application. Application for a permit to discharge such domestic sewage or commercial or industrial waste shall be in writing and shall contain, among other things, the following information:

(1) The name and address of the applicant.

(2) The proposed location of the connections.

(3) The character of waste or sewage proposed to be discharged.

(4) Other information that may be deemed to be necessary by the public works director or city engineer.

(d) Criteria for issuance of permit. The public works director or city engineer shall issue a permit to the applicant as requested if the public works director or city engineer finds and determines that:

(1) Such waste will not result in damage to the sewer system.

(2) The pipeline in which the connection has discharged or is to discharge has sufficient capacity for the disposition of those wastes and the discharge will not cause undue burden on the sewer system or treatment plant or the parts thereof owned and/or under lease by the city or be in violation of any contracts relative to the disposal of sewage with other public entities.

(3) The capital facility charge described in subsection (b) of this section has been paid by the applicant.

then the public works director or city engineer shall issue a permit to the applicant as requested.

(e) Compliance with rules and regulations. The permit shall be subject to the rules and regulations herein imposed and such other rules and regulations as may be adopted by resolutions of the city council from time to time.

(f) Conditions of permit. In issuing any permit, the public works director or city engineer may impose conditions to the use thereunder that may be reasonably required to protect the city sewer system.

(g) Construction standards. Plans for sewerage construction shall meet all design requirements of the City of Los Angeles and this city. Inspection of all sewerage construction shall be made by the city engineer.

(h) Prohibited waste discharges. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any rainwater, stormwater, groundwater, street drainage, subsurface drainage, yard drainage, including evaporative-type air cooler discharge water into any sewer facility which is directly or indirectly connected to the sewer facilities of the city.

(i) Prohibited toxic discharges. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into any public sewer which directly or indirectly connects to the city's sewer system any toxic or other hazardous waste, if in the opinion of the engineer such waste may have an adverse or harmful effect on sewers, maintenance personnel, wastewater treatment plant personnel or equipment, treatment plant effluent quality, public or private property, or that may otherwise endanger the public, the local environment or create a public nuisance. The engineer, in determining acceptability of specific wastes, shall consider the nature of the waste and the adequacy and nature of the collection, treatment and disposal system available to accept the waste.

(Code 1957, § 22A.4)

The public works director and city engineer, with the approval of the city administrative officer, may revoke any permit issued to any person who discharges sewage into the city sewer system for any of the grounds upon which the city or public works director and city engineer could refuse a permit in the first instance or upon any of the grounds upon which the city or public works director and city engineer could refuse or discontinue sewer services after first notifying in writing the person in whose name such permit is issued, specifying the violation and giving such permittee not less than five days' prior notice, after deposit of such notice in the United States mail at the city, addressed to the permittee, of the hearing on such proposed revocation. Such notice may be served personally or may be mailed through United States mail.

(Code 1957, § 22A.5)

The city may refuse to furnish sanitary sewer service and may discontinue all services to any premises where the sewage from such premises is found by the public works director and city engineer to be detrimental or injurious to the city sanitary sewer system or to other premises or where the public works director and city engineer find that negligent or wasteful use of water exists on any premises which adversely affects the city's sanitary sewer system or where the public works director and city engineer find that the discharge of sewage from any premises would have originally constituted grounds for refusal of the issuance of a permit. The city shall have the right to refuse or disconnect sewer service to any premises if necessary to protect the city against fraud or abuse. The public works director and city engineer are charged with the enforcement of all of the sections of this division and division 2 of this article, except that the city clerk shall handle all billings and collections.

(Code 1957, § 22A.17)

If a violation, other than nonpayment of sewer service charges, of any section of this division or division 2 of this article or any resolution adopted pursuant to this division or division 2 occurs, the public works director and city engineer may, with the prior approval of the city administrative officer, disconnect any premises from the sanitary sewer system after first notifying in writing the person causing, allowing, or committing such violation; specifying the violation; and, if applicable, the time after which, upon the failure of such person to prevent or rectify the violation, the public works director and city engineer will exercise their authority to disconnect the premises from the sanitary sewer system. However, such time shall not be less than five days after the deposit of such notice in the United States mail at the city, addressed to the person to whom notice is given. If such violation results in a public nuisance, hazard, or menace, the public works director and city engineer may, with the approval of the city administrative officer, enter upon the premises without notice and do such things and expend such sums as may be necessary to abate such nuisance, hazard, or menace, and the reasonable value of the things done and the amounts expended in so doing shall be a charge against the person or owner of the property so in violation.

(Code 1957, § 22A.18)

Upon failure of the owner of any premises to pay any sewer service or use charges prior to delinquency or if the owner or occupant of any premises shall violate any other section of this division or division 2 of this article or any resolution adopted by the city council pursuant to this division or division 2 of this article, any one or more of the following actions authorized by this section may or, where required, must be taken by the city to enforce such payment or correct such violation:

(1) When all or any part of any bill remains unpaid after the date on which it becomes delinquent, a penalty of ten percent of the total amount of such bill shall be added to such bill upon its becoming delinquent.

(2) When any bill for sewer service remains unpaid after such bill becomes delinquent and when a violation of any other section of this division or division 2 of this article shall continue for a period of 60 days, the public works director and city engineer may also disconnect the premises from the sanitary sewer system, subject to the notice required in section 94-32 of this division. Whenever the premises has been disconnected from the sanitary sewer system for nonpayment of sewer service and use charge or for other violations of this division or division 2 of this article, such premises shall not be reconnected to the sanitary sewer system until all delinquent charges and penalties have been paid and until a connection permit shall have been obtained and until such of the following charges as are applicable shall have been paid: a sewer disconnection fee equal to the actual cost to the city of such disconnection and a sewer reconnection fee equal to the actual cost to the city of such reconnection, and until the owner and/or occupant of such premises shall otherwise have complied with this division or division 2 of this article.

(3) When premises are disconnected from the sanitary sewer system, the public works director and city engineer may take or request any authorized public officer to take such steps as may be legally taken to abate any nuisance on such premises and to prohibit occupancy of such premises until they shall be reconnected to the sanitary sewer system.

(4) The city clerk may institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect any charges which may be due and payable in the same manner as any other debts owing to the city may be collected.

(Code 1957, § 22A.19)

(a) Any person who shall be dissatisfied with the action of the public works director and city engineer in denying a permit or granting a permit wherein conditions are imposed or in modifying or revoking a permit or with any other order of the public works director and city engineer or city administrative officer by which such person may be affected pursuant to this division or division 2 of this article may, within five days from the date of such action on the part of the public works director and city engineer or city administrative officer or both, appeal to the council by filing notice thereof, in triplicate, with the city clerk. The city clerk shall immediately forward a copy of such appeal to the public works director and city engineer and city administrative officer. After such appeal, the public works director and city engineer and/or administrative officer shall transmit to the council a report setting forth the reason for denying the permit, requiring a change therein, imposing conditions prior to granting the permit, modifying or revoking the permit, or the reason for any other order made by the public works director and city engineer and/or the administrative officer affecting the person appealing.

(b) The council shall have full power to review any action on the part of the public works director and city engineer and/or the administrative officer or any order made by them, and the determination of the council shall be final.

(Code 1957, § 22A.20)