Santa Maria Municipal Code Ch. 8-1 Application for Public Services

For the purposes of this chapter and Chapters 8-9, 8-10, 8-11 and 8-13, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

"Auto courts and motels"

means buildings or spaces provided for the occupancy of human beings for short periods of time and not as permanent residences.

"Automated container"

means a refuse or recycling receptacle used by automated (mechanized) solid waste collection equipment; refuse must fall freely from receptacle when serviced.

"Bin container"

means a refuse or recycling receptacle with cover designed to be serviced by a front-end-loader truck.

"Can container"

means a refuse or recycling receptacle of lightweight, galvanized metal or other rustproof material, with cover, with a capacity between 10 and 32 gallons, and conforming to the specifications set forth in this Code.

"Commercial houses"

means structures used for retail stores, gasoline and oil distributing stations, restaurants and other food and drink dispensing businesses, theaters, funeral homes, cleaning and dyeing establishments, garages, repair shops, wholesale stores, barbershops, beauty shops and any other business establishment not otherwise defined in this chapter.

"Garbage"

means all vegetable, fruit and animal waste, resulting from the cooking, handling, storage, sale, preparation, use or consumption of foodstuffs.

"Hotels, rooming houses, boardinghouses and rest homes"

means structures used for the renting of rooms for occupancy by human beings which rooms do not offer the complete living facilities usually contained in apartments and dwellings.

"Industrial waste"

means liquids and solids contained in a liquid, or either of them, which are the result of or a by-product of or a waste product of any industrial, chemical or mechanical process, or the manufacture or treatment or the cleansing of any material.

"Industries"

means any person or establishment manufacturing, treating, processing or cleaning any material. The following are expressly excluded from the definition of "industries": cleaning and dyeing establishments, restaurants and other food-and-drink dispensing businesses, automobile garages, car wash businesses, gasoline and oil distributing stations.

"Multifamily dwelling"

means a structure designed to be occupied as a residence by more than one family, including duplexes, triplexes, apartments and residential courts.

"Office buildings"

means structures in which rooms or suites of rooms are rented or used for business or professional purposes, excluding spaces rented for industrial or retail purposes.

"Refuse"

means all garbage and rubbish.

"Rubbish"

means any and all matter other than garbage, as defined in this section, which has been discarded, rejected or abandoned or has become useless, including brush and garden trimmings, or which by its presence or accumulation is or may become a menace to health or a fire hazard or otherwise dangerous or offensive, including, but without limitation, wood, paper, metal, but not including earth, sod, lumber, brick, stone, mortar or debris incident to the construction or demolition of buildings.

"Sewage"

means wastewater together with such industrial wastes, groundwater and surface runoff as may be mixed with it.

"Sewer service"

means the acceptance of sewage into City sewer lines for treatment.

"Single-family dwelling"

means a structure designed to be occupied as a residence and actually so occupied by not more than one family.

"Solid waste service"

means the collection and disposal of all garbage, refuse and rubbish.

"Trailer parks"

means parks or yards providing space for the parking of trailers containing living accommodations on either a permanent or temporary rental basis.

"Unit,"

as used in connection with multifamily dwellings, auto courts, trailer parks, motels, hotels, rooming houses, boardinghouses and rest homes, shall be any portion of such establishment which is designed to be or is offered for rent separately from other parts of the establishment. As to hotels, rooming houses, boardinghouses and rest homes, it is the room which is designed to be or is actually rented to the guest or lodger.

"Water service"

means the delivery of water through City water lines to a user.

(Prior Code § 20-1; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89; Ord. 2005-01, eff. 3/3/05)

Each applicant for initial water, solid waste or sewage service shall be required to sign an application form provided by the City or make application by letter showing the date of application, location of premises to be served, plumbing fixtures and other pertinent uses to be served, mailing address, date applicant desires service and such other information as may be required.

(Prior Code § 20-1; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89)

After water or disposal service has been shut off from any premises, it shall not be resumed until the City has received written application therefor. Such application shall be on forms furnished by the City and shall be signed by the prospective consumer or his agent, which consumer shall be liable for all services furnished thereto.

(Prior Code § 20-3; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89)

An application for service may not be honored unless payment in full has been made for water, solid waste and sewage service previously rendered by the City to the applicant.

(Prior Code § 20-4; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89)

All charges established by this chapter and Chapters 8-9, 8-10, 8-11 and 8-13 shall be on a monthly basis. Billing and payment may be on a monthly or bimonthly basis as determined by the Council.

(Prior Code § 20-5; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89)

There shall be no splitting of bills as regards charges for water, solid waste and sewage service; that is to say, the total charges to any one person for water, solid waste and sewage service shall be considered as a single charge and shall be billed as such, and nonpayment of any portion of such bill shall be nonpayment of all such bills, notwithstanding the fact that for administrative purposes such charges may be shown separately on the bill.

(Prior Code § 20-6; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89)

In the event that any user or consumer is aggrieved by any ruling of the Director of Utilities made pursuant to any of the provisions of this chapter and Chapters 8-9, 8-10, 8-11 and 8-13, such consumer or user may appeal from such ruling to the City Manager within the time and in the manner set forth in Section 8-12.1406. The City Manager's action on such appeal shall likewise be made and become final pursuant to the provisions of Section 8-12.1406.

(Prior Code § 20-7; Ord. 89-11 § 1, eff. 5/4/89; Ord. 2005-01, eff. 3/3/05; Ord. 2024-05, eff. 5/16/2024)