Ord 83ORDINANCE NO. 83
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF POWAY, CALIFORNIA
REVISING PROCEDURES FOR THE RESERVATION
OF SEWERAGE CAPACITY AND THE PAYMENT OF
CONNECTION FEES FOR SERVICE AND RESCINDING
ALL OTHER ORDINANCES RELATIVE THERETO
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POWAY DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section~.>l: PUREOSE: The purpose of this ordinance is to establish
procedures for the reservation of sewerage capacity and promote the completion
of projects with due diligence and to discourage speculation in, and/or the
nonuse of, reserved sewerage capacity, a valuable public resource.
Section 1.1: LETTERS OF AVAILABILITY: A Letter of Availability (LOA)
shall be issued committing the City of Poway to reserve sewerage availability
to a parcel with an approved project as herein defined. Said letter shall
only be issued for and after the applicant has received approval of a tenta-
tive tract map, tentative parcel map, use permit, or development review
application. The applicant shall, within 30 days thereafter, apply for an
LOA and make concurrent payment to the City, a nonrefundable reservation fee
equal to 20% of the appropriate sewerage connection fee in effect at the time
the LOA is issued.
Section 1.2: The LOA shall represent that sewerage capacity is avail-
able to complete applicant's project, but in no circumstance for a period to
exceed 2 years from the date applicant makes the initial 20% reservation fee
payment pursuant to Section 1.1.
Section 1.3: within the two (2) year period designated in Section 1.2, the
Applicant shall pay the City the balance of the sewerage connection fee of the
City then in effect, and thereafter the City shall provide such sewerage capacity
paid for Applicant's Project. In no case shall building permits be issued prior
to the payment of the balance of the sewerage connection fee then in effect.
Section 2: Where applicant's project is a tentative tract or parcel map,
it shall be subject to all provisions of this ordinance except the time limita-
tions of Section 1.2. In such case, the City shall represent in the LOA that
sewerage availability is assured for applicant's project for a period of time
equal to the time of expiration of the tentative map.
Section 2.1: If, upon approval of a tentative map time extension, the
adoption of a General Plan Amendment, approval of a use permit or develop-
ment review application, the applicant's then approved or adopted project
density is less than that previously approved for said project, the sewerage
capacity units no longer required, shall revert back to the City's use.
All fees charged for reservation of the excess units shall be credited
to the fees then charged for reservation of units to serve the new project
density.
Ordinance No. 83
Page 2
Section 2.2: Within 30 days of the date, applicant records the final
map for a previously approved tentative map, the applicant shall pay to the
City, a nonrefundable reservation fee equal to 30% of the sewerage connection
fee then in effect. Upon paying this second fee, the City shall reserve
sewerage capacity for applicant's project for a period not to exceed 36
months from date of recordation.
Section 2.3: Within the 36 month period designated in Section 2.~, the
applicant shall pay the City the balance of the sewerage connection fee then
in effect. Thereafter, the City shall provide such sewerage capacity paid for
to applicant's project. In no case, shall building permits be issued prior to
payment of the balance of the sewerage connection fee then in effect.
Section 3: Except for the provisions of Section 4, each reservation
of sewerage capacity obtained pursuant to this ordinance, shall expire
on the date provided therein. After the date of expiration, the applicant
shall lose all rights to the previously reserved sewerage capacity for that
project. Upon the expiration of a reservation of sewerage capacity, the
City shall retain any fees paid in consideration of the City's reservation
of sewerage capacity. Such fees shall not be credited against the payment
of future sewerage connection fees. The City's previous representation
to provide sewerage capacity shall, as to that project, be null and void.
After an expiration, the applicant shall be required to initiate a new
application for reservation of sewerage capacity, pursuant to the rules,
regulations and fees of the City then in effect. Payments made for
reservation of sewerage capacity are only refundable when reserved
sewerage capacity cannot be provided to a project otherwise qualified
to receive sewer capacity, City will not unreasonably withhold reserved
capacity to applicant. This refund shall be the only recourse against City
for City's inability to deliver reserved capacity. Applicant shall agree
to this as a condition of receiving the LOA.
Section 4: An applicant shall at all times proceed with due diligence
to complete a project. If an applicant is unable to meet any time limit
established pursuant to this ordinance, the applicant may, at any time,
apply to the City Council for an extension of such time limit. Any such
application shall not be made later than 30 days prior to the expiration
of the time limit for which an extension is being sought.
If an applicant provides satisfactory proof to the City that the
applicant has proceeded with due diligence to complete the project, the City
may grant an extension of time consistent with the provisions of this
ordinance. The City may condition the granting of an extension upon the
applicant's compliance with certain conditions, such as, but not limited to,
the payment of an annual, nonrefundable fee. The fee shall be that amount
determined by the City to reimburse the City for costs associated with ex-
tending the time during which the City reserves sewerage capacity for
applicant's project.
Ordinance No. 83
Page 3
Section 4.1: The decision as to (a) what is due diligence, (b) for
what period of time a particular time limit should be extended, and (c) what
conditions, if any, shall be placed upon the granting of the extension,
shall be matters within the discretion of the City. An applicant's failure
to proceed with due diligence shall be grounds for denial of an extension
of a time limit.
Section 4.2: If an extension of a time is granted, it shall not exceed
12 months. Upon grant of an extension, the applicant shall pay to the City,
within 10 days of the City Council approval, a nonrefundable fee equal to 10%
of the sewerage connection fee in effect at that time. Failure to make the
10% payment within the 10 day period shall render the LOA null and void. The
payment required by this Section shall be credited toward the final sewerage
connection fee. In addition, the applicant shall pay a nonrefundable charge
to the City equal to $5 for each project equivalent dwelling unit or $50, which-
ever is more. This latter charge shall not be credited toward the sewerage
connection fee as it represents compensation to the City for the costs
incurred in processing the time extension application.
Section 4.3: The connection fee shall not be paid in full at the time
of processing a tentative parcel map, tentative map, special use permit, or
development review application.
Section 5: Any transfer, sale or assignment of a project may transfer
the applicable LOA. If a transfer to the LOA is accomplished, the new owner
of the project will be subject to all the provisions of this ordinance and
shall have the same rights and obligations as the original applicant for the
project. To transfer the LOA, the transferee or assignee must immediately
notify the City in writing of such change in ownership of the project. The
City will not provide sewerage connection and capacity or recognize the
validity of the LOA until the provisions of this section are satisfied.
Section 5.1: An LOA shall pertain specifically to the project as
described within the LOA. The LOA is not transferrable to any other
project property or any changed condition of the applied project which
increases required sewer capacity. Any attempt to transfer, sell, assign,
or change as herein described, renders the LOA null and void.
Section 6: When the unobligated sewer capacity available to the
City reaches 30 equivalent dwelling units, the Director of Public Services
shall place that nun~ber of equivalent dwelling units into a reserve account.
Section 6.1: A Letter of Availability shall not be written against
the reserve account.
Ordinance No. 83
Page 4
Section 6.2: The Director of Public Services shall allocate the
reserve account to (a) failing septic systems and (b) single lateral,
single family dwellings.
Section 7: If the City has allocated all of its sewerage capacity,
approved projects will be placed on a waiting list. The waiting list
shall list only approved projects in the order of time they requested
to be placed upon the list and paid the 20% sewerage reservation fee.
Section 7.1: When capacity becomes available, projects on the
waiting list will be allocated capacity subject to Section 1.1 through 5,
as set forth above in order of their position on the waiting list.
Section 10: Ordinance Nos. 68, 72, and 74 of the Pomerado County
Water District are hereby rescinded.
Introduced and first read at a regular meetinq~of the City Council of
the City of Poway held the llth day of January, ~2 and thereafter PASSED
and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of said City Council held the 18th day of
January, 1~382~ by the following roll call note:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Emery, Kruse, Oravec, Tarzy, Shepardson
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
M~ry L. ~p~ds~ Mayor -
Marjorie:~. Wahlsten, City Clerk