A. The owner of any premises containing sanitary sewer drains shall connect such drains to the city sewer system when the premises is located within city limits and fully abuts a public street or utility easement through which there is a city sewer main. Persons who fail to connect to the city sewer system as required herein shall pay a penalty in an amount equal to the charge that would be made for sewer service if the premises was connected to the city’s sewer system, which amount shall be paid to the city at the times and in the manner provided by ordinance for the payment and collection of sewer service charges. Amounts paid on unconnected premises on or after January 1, 2002, shall be credited toward sewer connection charges, including system development charges, applicable to the premises at such time as the premises connects to city sewer; provided, that the maximum amount of the credit authorized under this subsection shall be equal to the total amount of connection charges due at the time of connection. In the event of any nonpayment of the penalty imposed herein, the city shall have all remedies provided in this title and any other applicable law for the collection of delinquent sewer charges, including liens and shutting off water service. The public works director is authorized to waive the requirements of this subsection in those limited circumstances when topography or other physical characteristics of the land make it impracticable to connect the premises to the city sewer system.

B. When the premises is within city limits and abuts upon a street or city-owned utility easement through which there is a city sewer main, the premises’ owner may apply for service. Upon approval of the service application by the director of public works and upon such conditions as required by the director, the department of public works shall issue a permit authorizing the premises to be connected to the system. Decisions of the public works director on applications for sewer service under this subsection may be appealed to the hearing examiner. The written appeal and the appeal fee, if any, must be received by the public works department by no later than 5:00 p.m. on the fourteenth day following the date the decision was issued.

C. Any person desiring to have a premises connected with the city sewer system shall make application to the public works department on printed forms furnished for that purpose. Every such application shall be made by the owner or the purchaser under a real estate contract of the premises to be benefited, or by his authorized agent. The application must describe the property to be served, state fully the purposes for which the sewer service is required, and indicate that by signing the form, the applicant agrees to conform to the ordinances, rules, and regulations established as conditions for use of sewer services, and further agrees, as a condition to the furnishing of sewer services, that the city has the right to shut off the sewer service as required for such things as, by way of example, nonpayment, repairs, extensions, denial of reasonable and lawful access to measure and sample flow or doing other necessary work.

D. When the premises within the city limits for which service is sought does not fully abut upon a street or city-owned utility easement through which there is a city sewer main, the application for service may be accepted for review; however, the utility must be constructed and accepted by the city prior to approval of building permits for the adjacent land use. The public works director has the administrative authority to determine if the property requesting service is the last developable lot and may grant an exception for service without requiring a main extension. However, when the city of Bellingham has begun constructing a city sewer main that will allow an applicant’s premises to abut upon a street or city-owned utility easement through which there will be a city sewer main and the applicant has a commercial, multifamily or industrial project on the premises, the department of public works may, in its sole discretion, accept the application and issue a permit authorizing the premises to be connected to the system, provided a certificate of occupancy shall not be issued for the premises until the sewer connection is functioning and providing sewer service to the premises.

E. When the premises for which service is sought is within a critical service area under BMC 15.12.020, the application shall be rejected.

F. When the premises for which service is sought will discharge more waste than the available capacity of the sewer main, as determined by the department of public works, the application for service may be accepted for review; however, the deficiency of capacity must be improved prior to issuance of the permit.

G. Infill housing sites developed under Chapter 20.28 BMC may be divided into lots that do not abut a water main, provided:

H. As a condition of service all new sewer customers after January 1, 2013, shall be connected to city of Bellingham water system and shall have a water meter installed. [Ord. 2014-06-028; Ord. 2012-12-061 § 3; Ord. 2009-08-048; Ord. 2008-08-082; Ord. 2006-08-082; Ord. 2003-08-056; Ord. 8982 § 43, 1981].