Chapter 13.08 SANITARY SEWERS

This chapter shall be known as the “City of Cerritos Sewer Connection Ordinance,” may be cited as such and will be referred to herein as “this chapter.” (Ord. 121 § 1, 1963)

Within the city there are many existing sanitary sewers which have been constructed at no direct cost to all or some of the abutting property owners along the sewer. In the future, it is anticipated that additional such sewer lines will be constructed in the city. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a means to distribute the total cost of sanitary sewer construction over all users of the sewer system by establishing a charge to be collected from property owners desiring to connect to any sanitary sewer within the city when such properties have not participated in the construction of the sewer into which property will be connected, and to establish a fund into which these charges may be deposited and from which moneys will be available to the city to construct major size sewer lines to serve the city. (Ord. 121 § 2, 1963)

13.08.030 Definitions—Generally.

The definitions in Sections 13.08.040 through 13.08.130 shall govern the construction in this chapter and the administration of its provisions. (Ord. 121 Art. II (part), 1963)

13.08.040 City defined.

“City” means that portion of the state of California, county of Los Angeles, which is incorporated as the city of Cerritos and all areas subsequently annexed to the city of Cerritos. (Ord. 121 § 3, 1963)

13.08.050 City council defined.

“City council” means the city council of the city of Cerritos, county of Los Angeles, state of California. (Ord. 121 § 4, 1963)

13.08.060 City engineer defined.

“City engineer” means that individual, firm, partnership, corporation or organization which has been duly appointed or recognized by the city council as the city engineer of the city of Cerritos. (Ord. 121 § 5, 1963)

13.08.070 City treasurer defined.

“City treasurer” means the city treasurer of the city of Cerritos as appointed or recognized by the city council. (Ord. 121 § 6, 1963)

13.08.080 House lateral defined.

“House lateral” means that portion of the horizontal sewer piping beginning at the property line or sewer right-of-way and extending to its connection with the main line sewer. (Ord. 121 § 7, 1963)

13.08.090 Lot defined.

“Lot” means any parcel or piece of land bounded, defined, or shown upon a plat or deed recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county of Los Angeles, which conforms to the boundaries of such lot as shown upon such recorded map, plat or deed; provided, however, that in the event any building or structure covers more area than a lot as herein defined, the term “lot” shall include all such pieces or parcels of land upon which the building or structure is wholly or partly located, together with the yards, courts and other unoccupied spaces legally required for the building or structure. (Ord. 121 § 8, 1963)

13.08.100 Person defined.

“Person” means an individual human being, a firm, partnership or corporation, his or their heirs, executors, administrators, assigns, officers or agents; a municipal or quasi-municipal governmental agency or district or officers thereof. (Ord. 121 § 9, 1963)

13.08.110 Public sewer defined.

“Public sewer” means a sanitary sewer which has been dedicated to public use and includes sewers owned and operated by the city and by the county sanitation districts. (Ord. 121 § 10, 1963)

13.08.120 Section defined.

“Section” means a section of this chapter unless some other ordinance or statute is indicated by the text. (Ord. 121 § 11, 1963)

13.08.130 Trunk sewer defined.

“Trunk sewer” means those public sanitary sewers owned and maintained by the county sanitation districts of the county of Los Angeles, state of California. (Ord. 121 § 12, 1963)

13.08.140 Delegation of powers.

Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon the city engineer by provisions of this chapter, the power may be exercised or the duty may be performed by an agent or deputy who has been so authorized by the city engineer. (Ord. 121 § 14, 1963)

13.08.150 City engineer to enforce.

The city engineer shall enforce all the provisions of this chapter and for such purpose shall have the powers of a peace officer. (Ord. 121 § 15, 1963)

13.08.160 Records.

The city engineer shall keep, in proper books, a permanent and accurate account of all charges collected under the provisions of this chapter, giving the names and addresses of the persons on whose accounts the same were paid, the date and number thereof, and the number of permits issued, if any, which books shall be open to public inspection. The city engineer shall deposit all moneys collected by him under this chapter. (Ord. 121 § 16, 1963)

13.08.170 Permit to connect to sewer.

No person, unless specifically excepted by this chapter, shall erect, construct or make a house lateral or any connection to a public sewer, or cause the same to be done, within the city without first having obtained a permit from the city engineer so to do. (Ord. 121 § 18, 1963)

13.08.180 When permit not required.

The provisions of this chapter requiring permits shall not apply to the construction of house laterals, sewer connections or appurtenances under contracts awarded by the city council and entered into under statutes of the state of California for the construction of sewers and the assessment for the expense therefor against the lands benefited thereby. (Ord. 121 § 19, 1963)

13.08.190 Permits not transferable.

Permits issued under provisions of this chapter are not transferable from one person to another person or from one location to another location. (Ord. 121 § 20, 1963)

13.08.200 Application for connection permit.

Any person required by this chapter to obtain a sewer connection permit shall make written application to the city engineer giving a description of the lot or parcel to be served by the connection and such other information as the city engineer may require on printed forms to be furnished for that purpose. (Ord. 121 § 21, 1963)

13.08.210 Connection charge.

The city engineer may issue to an applicant a permit to make such connection to a public sewer. The sewer connection charge to be collected by the city engineer shall be an amount equal to six dollars per front foot of the lot or parcel sought to be connected to the sewer or such other sum as the city council may from time to time declare by resolution. The exact charge and the matter of its computation shall be determined by the city engineer, in accordance with the policy set forth in Resolution No. 67-29 adopted by the city council, as the same may be amended from time to time. (Ord. 307 § 1, 1971: Ord. 193 § 2, 1967: Ord. 121 § 22, 1963)

13.08.220 Appeal to the city council.

Any person aggrieved by the determination of the city engineer as to the charge for connecting to the sanitary sewer, or the amount, nature or extent of reimbursable improvements, may appeal to the city council in writing, within ten days after the decision of the city engineer. The determination of the city council shall be final and conclusive. (Ord. 193 § 3, 1967)

13.08.230 Refunds.

In the event any person shall have paid the applicable sewer connection charge as provided herein and no portion of the sewer connection shall have been commenced and the sewer connection permit shall have been canceled or expired, those persons shall be entitled, upon written request, to a refund in an amount equal to the total connection charge less ten dollars. (Ord. 121 § 24, 1963)

13.08.240 Off-site sewer facilities—Agreement—Cost.

Where the city requires that a person install off-site sanitary sewer facilities as a condition precedent to the issuance of a building permit or other approval, and when in the best interests of the city, the city may enter into an agreement with such person whereby the cost of such sanitary sewer facilities will be paid by the person under such terms as the parties may mutually agree upon, with reimbursement of such costs, or a portion thereof, to be paid to the person from such lawful charges as may be made and collected from other users of such facilities as may be agreed upon between the parties.

The city may by contract reimburse such person, who at his own expense has constructed the aforementioned sanitary sewer facilities, for that portion of the facilities which the city deems to have been constructed for the benefit of, or usable by, other persons in need of such facilities, provided such facilities are dedicated to the public. Such contract shall provide that the city may collect from any such other person using such sewer facilities, a charge as set forth in the agreement. (Ord. 102 § 1, 1962)

13.08.250 Agreement for off-site facilities—Moneys disposition.

The moneys collected pursuant to any such agreement shall be deposited in the city treasury under a private sewer construction account and be used to make reimbursement payments under the terms of such agreements and for such other sewer purposes as the city may authorize not in conflict with existing laws. (Ord. 102 § 2, 1962)

13.08.260 Sewer—Construction fund.

The moneys collected under Section 13.08.220 shall be deposited with the city treasurer and credited to the city sewer construction fund. (Ord. 121 § 25, 1963)

13.08.270 Use of city sewer construction fund.

Moneys deposited in the city sewer construction fund as provided herein may be expended by the city council to accomplish any purpose as set forth in Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code of the state of California, or for such other sewer purpose as the city council may lawfully authorize. All engineering costs, refunds as herein provided, mileage, overhead, incidentals and construction costs necessarily incurred in the construction of sewers which have been authorized by the city council shall be charged to the fund, to the extent allowed by law. (Ord. 121 § 26, 1963)