Chapter 13.27
WASTEWATER TREATMENT CAPACITY ALLOCATION POLICY

Sections:

13.27.010    Objective.

13.27.020    Recommended wastewater treatment allocation policy.

Policy Implementation

13.27.030    Establish priority date.

13.27.040    Applicant to establish wastewater treatment capacity required.

13.27.050    Reserving and assigning capacity.

13.27.060    Transferability of assigned capacity.

13.27.070    Inventory and record keeping.

13.27.010 Objective.

Develop a policy and procedure for the city of Fairview to use in allocating temporary wastewater treatment capacity among development applicants.

A. Policy Requirements. The policy should be:

1. Equitable;

2. Conform to existing state and city of Fairview law;

3. Understandable to development applicants and general public; and

4. Result in maximum use of available treatment capacity.

B. Implementing Procedure Requirements. The implementing procedure should:

1. Not require qualitative judgments;

2. Coincide with the existing development approval process;

3. Impose relatively light administrative burden on staff and applicant;

4. Work as well with small development proposals as with large;

5. Permit reallocation of previously allocated but unused capacity; and

6. Apply as effectively no matter how much capacity is available to allocate. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)

13.27.020 Recommended wastewater treatment allocation policy.

A. It is the policy of the city of Fairview to assign wastewater treatment capacity from its inventory of available capacity on a “first in – first served” basis to development projects receiving preliminary plan approval. The date to be used in determining the development application’s “first in” date shall be the date the city executes a letter of completion evidencing successful completion of the development permit application for review and processing.

B. Exempted from the wastewater treatment allocation process are developments having received preliminary plan approval prior to the effective date of this policy. Included within this exception are previously approved developments where wastewater treatment capacity was a key finding in multiple development phases or in the overall planned unit development approval for a property. This exemption is consistent with city code and reflects the fact that preliminary plan approval includes a finding and establishment of sufficient sewer capacity to serve the development.

C. Also exempted from the wastewater treatment capacity allocation process are development permit or building permit applications requiring three or fewer equivalent dwelling units of wastewater treatment capacity. The city will endeavor to maintain in reserve sufficient unallocated wastewater treatment capacity to serve such exempted developments. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)

Policy Implementation

13.27.030 Establish priority date.

Priority for allocation of available wastewater treatment capacity will be based on the date the letter of completion for a development application is executed by the city planning department. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)

13.27.040 Applicant to establish wastewater treatment capacity required.

A. It is the responsibility of the development applicant to file a statement with the planning department expressing, in equivalent dwelling units, the total wastewater treatment capacity required by the development. The statement must be accompanied by supporting engineering evidence of same which is acceptable to the city. At the express written discretion of the city, the requirement to submit acceptable supporting engineering evidence may be waived for residential developments or the residential portion of mixed use developments. The applicant’s statement of required capacity and accompanying engineering evidence (unless waived) must be received and accepted by the city before a letter of completion may be executed.

B. The public works director will establish in writing the definition of an “equivalent dwelling unit” and express the result in terms of the unit of wastewater treatment capacity measurement used in the city’s lease for additional capacity. The definition of an “equivalent dwelling unit” will be provided to each applicant along with notification that the application process is not complete until the city has received the applicant’s statement of required capacity and has accepted the supporting engineering evidence. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)

13.27.050 Reserving and assigning capacity.

A. Assignment of capacity will be a two stage process. Not later than the date a letter of completion is to be prepared, the planning director will compare the then available wastewater treatment capacity with the amount of capacity required by the applicant development. If sufficient capacity is available, the required capacity will be tentatively reserved for the development, but not yet permanently assigned. Assignment occurs only after preliminary development approval by the planning commission or planning department (for expedited land divisions, etc.).

B. If less than the required capacity is available, the applicant will be notified and given the option of reserving up to the available amount and, subject to this wastewater treatment capacity limitation, proceeding to planning commission review. However, this will require a new application submittal with the development proposal “scaled down” or phased accordingly.

C. If there is no available treatment capacity or the applicant refuses the option to proceed with an application scaled to meet available capacity, the development permit review process stops due to the lack of capacity to serve the development.

D. If additional capacity becomes available for allocation, it will be offered for reservation or assignment to developments previously receiving a reservation or assignment of less than the full amount required. Offers of such additional available capacity will be made to developments in chronological order based on the date of their letter of completion.

E. Capacity reserved for a development is held only for the period in which the development application is under active review by the planning commission or while a planning commission decision is under legal appeal. If the development application is approved, the reserved quantity is assigned to the development.

F. If the development application does not receive final approval, the reserved capacity reverts to the inventory of available wastewater treatment capacity for reallocation.

G. Should the planning commission require changes in the development plan that reduces the amount of wastewater treatment capacity required, the “reserved” amount will be reduced. If the planning commission requires changes that increase the amount of capacity required, the additional amount will be reserved subject to the availability of the added amount required at the time of the planning commission action and assigned upon preliminary approval.

H. Capacity assigned to a development continues only as long as the development permits and/or building permits are valid. If the permits lapse and are not administratively renewed, the assigned but unused capacity reverts to the inventory of available capacity. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)

13.27.060 Transferability of assigned capacity.

Consistent with existing city policy, practice and legal framework, the wastewater treatment capacity assigned to a development is transferable and runs with the land. Any owner(s) wishing to transfer capacity to a different owner(s) must provide notice of such a transfer to the city. The purpose of the notice requirement is to permit the city to maintain accurate ownership records to use for future communication with owners regarding the assigned capacity. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)

13.27.070 Inventory and record keeping.

A. The planning director will establish and maintain an ongoing inventory of available wastewater treatment capacity. In establishing the amount of capacity available, the director will calculate and set aside from the total treatment capacity an amount sufficient to accommodate anticipated requests for capacity for subsequent development phases of previously approved developments as defined in the wastewater treatment allocation policy.

B. The director will also calculate and set aside an amount for anticipated requests for development approval or sewer hookup from developments of three or fewer equivalent dwelling units. The amount set aside for this type of use must be projected to last for the entire term of the city’s lease of treatment capacity. To determine a reasonable amount of capacity to set aside for this type of use, we recommend that the planning director annually calculate a three-year moving average of actual sewer hookup requests to serve developments of three or fewer equivalent dwelling units. This average annual projected requirement times the number of years (or fraction thereof) remaining in the lease is the amount to set-aside each year for projected demand from this type of exempt use.

C. The total treatment capacity remaining after combining set-asides for previously approved/reviewed development, plus the amount for three or fewer equivalent dwelling unit hookups, is the total available capacity for reservation and assignment to new development.

D. The planning department will promptly record in writing and provide to the planning director a record of:

1. Each amount reserved;

2. Amount moved from reserved to assigned;

3. Amounts allocated under the exempt set-aside provisions; and

4. Any reserved or assigned amounts reverting to the treatment capacity inventory.

E. Not less than monthly, the current amounts of wastewater treatment capacity reserved, assigned, set-aside for exempt uses and the resulting total treatment capacity available for future allocation will be reported in writing and made available for public inspection. (Ord. 4-1998 § 1)