Ord 2025-140Ordinance No. 140
AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COSTA MESA
SANITARY DISTRICT AMENDING CHAPTER 6.04 OF THE COSTA MESA SANITARY
DISTRICT OPERATIONS CODE
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District has adopted
an Operations Code containing provisions for various fees related to development;
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors, based on a study prepared by RDN consulting,
and as recommended by the Citizen's Advisory Committee and staff, have determined to
revise those fees; and
WHEREAS, this matter has been noticed as a public hearing and the Board of
Directors has conducted that public hearing and acted upon this ordinance at its June
23,2025 Board of Director's meeting.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Board of Directors of the Costa mesa Sanitary District
does hereby ORDAIN as follows:
Section 1. That Section 6.04 of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Operations Code is
amended to read:
Chapter 6.04 - Development and Miscellaneous Fees,
Permits and Charges
Section 6.04.010. Introduction. The Sanitary District collects various fees,
permits and charges related to development approvals and other miscellaneous services
the District provides. This Chapter shall describe those fees, permits and charges and
clarify why the same are paid and the limitations that may exist with respect to how such
fees and charges are collected, expended, and accounted.
Section 6.04.020. User Fees. These charges are meant to reasonably
approximate the cost to the District to provide a service to a person or company. These
would include, but not be limited to, charges for reviewing plans or inspecting a sewer, or
making copies of District documents. These charges may be pass -through costs of
District's engineer, inspector, or surveyor. Annexation fees would also be such a user fee.
This may also include the cost of making copies, as limited by the California Public
Records Act. These charges are always to be based on estimated costs to the District,
including, where appropriate, reasonable amounts of overhead. In appropriate cases an
estimate shall be made, and the person/company for whom the service is to be provided
shall be required to make a deposit of the estimated costs. The person providing the
service shall bill against the deposit, and a detailed accounting shall be made. Additional
sums may need to be paid or a refund may be appropriate. In other cases where the tasks
are reasonably routine, a per -service charge shall be the sole amount collected but shall
be based on time and motion estimates of the average charge for the service. These fees
are generally set forth in a separate resolution.
Section 6.04.030. Connection Fees. Generally, connection fees would be
charged in lieu of the developer or owner installing a sewer facility. Pursuant to statutory
and case law, these fees are the direct cost of installing the sewer. The District's
connection permit fee, by contrast, is a fee to cover the cost of issuing the permit.
Section 6.04.040. Fixture Fees. Fixture fees are capacity charges for public facilities in
existence at the time a charge is imposed or charges for new public facilities to be
acquired or constructed in the future that are of proportional benefit to the person or
property being charged, including supply or capacity contracts for rights or entitlements,
real property interests, and entitlements and other rights of the local agency involving
capital expense relating to its use of existing or new public facilities. The following applies
to those fees:
(a) Purpose. Fixture fees shall be used for the purposes identified in the engineer's
report, or engineering study commissioned by the District and overviewed by the
District Engineer, that establishes the facilities that are to be constructed or
rehabilitated or otherwise made available to serve the development upon which
the fees are imposed. Those facilities shall either be directly related to the
development or indirectly related, in which case the fixture fee shall only pay a fair
portion of the cost of the facilities.
(b) Facilities to be Identified in an Engineer's Report. The facilities for which the fees
are collected shall be identified in an engineer's report. Those facilities should, but
need not be, included in the District's Capital Improvement Plan.
(c) Reasonable Relationship between Development and Fee. The engineer's report
shall demonstrate a reasonable relationship between the type of development and
the use of the fee.
(d) Reasonable Relationship between Facility and Type of Development for which Fee
Imposed. The engineer's report shall demonstrate a reasonable relationship
between the type of development and the facility being proposed or demonstrated
a fair change for existing facilities.
(e) Reasonable Relationship between Amount of Fee and the Cost of the Facility or
Portion of the Facility. In any action imposing a fee on a development, the District
shall be able to justify the amount of the fee and the cost of the facility or portion
of the facility attributable to the development that is to be built or a fair change for
existing facilities.
(f) Deposit. Upon payment of the fees, the money shall be deposited in a separated
capital facilities account maintained in accordance with Government Code Section
66013(d). For each such separate account, the District shall, within one hundred
eight (180) days of the close of the fiscal year, make available to the public the
following information:
(1) A description of the charges deposited in the fund.
(2) The beginning and ending balance of the fund and the interest
earned from investment of money in the fund.
(3) The amount of charges collected in that fiscal year.
(4) An identification of all of the following:
(A) Each public improvement on which charges were expended the
amount of the expenditure for each improvement, including the
percentage of the total cost of the public improvement that was
funded with those charges if more than one source of funding was
used.
(B) Each public improvement on which charges were expended that was
completed during that fiscal year.
(C) Each public improvement that is anticipated to be undertaken in the
Following fiscal year.
(5) A description of each interfund transfer or loan made from the capital
facilities fund. The information provided, in the case of an interfund
transfer, shall identify the public improvements on which the
transferred moneys are, or will be, expended. The information, in the
case of an interfund loan, shall include the date on which the loan
will be repaid, and the rate of interest that the fund will receive on the
loan.
Section 6.04.050. Definitions. For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and
terms are defined as follows.
(a) Fixture Fee Charges. Are those District charges paid by or on behalf of the property
owner for the construction of public improvements or for existing infrastructure or
capacity that will benefit a development and that are justified by an engineering
and financial analysis in accordance with Government Code Section 66013 or
successor statute.
(a) Connection Manhole. Shall mean a manhole constructed in the main line of a
District sewer not as part of the original construction, or a manhole built adjacent
thereto, for the purpose of permitting sewage to flow into a District sewer.
(b) District Sewerage Facility. Shall mean any property belonging to District used in
the transportation or disposal of sewage or industrial waste.
(c) Domestic Sewage. Shall mean the waterborne wastes derived from the ordinary
living processes which are of such volume and character as to permit satisfactory
disposal into a public sewer.
(d) Dwelling Unit. A dwelling unit shall consist of one or more rooms in any building
designed for occupancy by one family and containing one kitchen unit.
(e) Industrial Waste. Shall mean any and all liquid or solid waste substance, not
sewage, from any producing, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever
nature.
(f) Industrial Waste Treatment Plant or Facility. Shall mean any works or device for
the treatment of industrial waste prior to its discharge into the District sewerage
facilities.
(g) Plumbing Fixture Unit. A plumbing fixture unit as used in this ordinance is defined
as being the same as set forth in the California Plumbing Code, a copy of which is
on file in the office of the Clerk of the District. All roughing -in for future fixtures will
be counted as fixture units to set charges.
(h) Pretreatment. Shall mean treatment prior to discharge into a District sewerage
facility by means of an industrial waste treatment plant or facility.
(i) Public Corporation. Shall mean any city, district or other public agency duly
authorized under the laws of the State of California.
(j) Sewerage Facilities. Shall mean any facilities used in the collection, transportation,
treatment or disposal of sewage and industrial waste.
(k) Sewer Manholes. Shall mean those manholes constructed as a part of the District
sewer system.
(1) Additional Dwelling Unit (ADU). Shall mean any domestic dwelling unit as defined
as such by the State of California.
Section 6.04.060. Permit Regulations.
(a) Requirements. No person or public corporation shall connect to, use or maintain a
connection to the sewerage facilities of the District without a valid permit, or fail to
comply with each and every condition of that permit.
(b) Condition Precedent. No permit shall be valid unless the real property to be
sewered by the use of the permit shall be included within the boundaries of the
District or is currently being annexed to the District or unless said property is
subject to or is being made subject to a service contract between real property
owner and the District.
(c) Permit. A sewer permit shall be comprised of two different components: (1) a permit
to connect to the District's system, and (2) a permit to use or discharge into the
system.
(1) Permit to Connect. A connection permit for the purpose of authorizing connection
to a District sewerage facility in accordance with District's regulations and under
conditions set forth in said permit is required before connection will be authorized.
(2) Permit to Use. The use permit will prescribe requirements as to a connection
manhole, an industrial waste treatment plant or facility, or pretreatment, all to
ensure compliance with the District regulations as to characteristics, quality and
quantity of sewage and industrial waste. Such requirements should be set forth in
the permit.
3) Surcharges for Use Permit. The District hereby establishes the quantity of twenty
thousand (20,000) cubic feet of sewage or industrial waste per month per acre of
real property served as the maximum allowable effluent to be discharged into the
District's sewerage facilities without the payment of surcharges. Each user
discharging more than twenty thousand (20,000) cubic feet of sewage or industrial
waste per month per acre shall be charged an amount per one thousand (1,000)
identified in the Permit Fee schedule. The surcharge fee as of May 2023 is Twelve
dollars ($12.00) per one thousand (1,000) cubic feet or any portion thereof in
excess of the twenty thousand (20,000) cubic feet maximum. Measurements may
be required by the permittee, or permittee's effluent may be considered equivalent
to the water (excepting irrigation water) purchased by permittee. Permittee upon
demand shall provide District with his or its water usage records, and District shall
bill excess users of the system monthly based upon the charges set forth herein.
In addition to said charges, users may also be charged fees for increased
development in accordance with Chapter 6.05.
(d) Suspension or Revocation of Use Permit. The permit to use may be suspended or
revoked if a permittee is acting in violation of any provision of the permit or of the
ordinances, rules or regulations of the District thirty (30) days after receiving a
formal written notice of such violation and a demand for correction thereof from the
District. Such formal written notice shall be given only upon recommendation of
the General Manager. Appropriate due process shall be provided before such
actions are taken, and the Board of Directors shall provide for a hearing if
requested in a timely manner.
(e) Violation. For each day or part of a day a permittee whose permit has been
suspended or revoked continues to discharge sewage or industrial waste into a
District sewerage facility in violation of the permit or of the ordinances, rules or
regulations of the District, he or it shall be charged as a civil penalty the sum equal
to ten (10) percent of the fixture fee charges per day. No formal written notice of
violation shall be authorized unless the General Manager of the District has first
given an informal written notice of violation to the subject permittee at least thirty
(30) days in advance of action of the Board of Directors. The same noticing
procedure set forth hereinabove shall apply for intermittent or sporadic violators
and in lieu of a suspension of permit, the Board of Directors may impose a civil fine
in accordance with the District's administrative citation provisions per day or any
part of a day for intermittent violations. The amount of the fine may be directly
related to increased handling costs occasioned to the District by reason of such
violations and/or damage caused to the sewerage facilities of this District by such
violations. In such cases the formal written notice of violation shall set forth the fine
to be imposed for violations after the thirty (30) day correction period.
(f) Criminal Penalty. Any person, firm or corporation that connects or discharges to
District's sewerage system without a valid connection permit or other legal right
shall also be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable as provided in Chapter
1.02.1 0 of this Code for each day's violation.
(g) Procedure to Acquire Permit. An applicant for a connection permit or his agent shall
make application on a form furnished by the District. The permit application shall
be supplemented by such plans, specifications or other information considered
pertinent in the judgment of the General Manager of the District. The permit fee
and charges as hereinafter described shall be paid to the District at the time the
permit application is filed.
(h) Disposition of Charges. All charges established under this Article, when collected,
shall be deposited in the appropriate fund, and accounted for in accordance with
the law.
(i) License Status. For sewer work that will be accepted into the District's system, or
that will involve excavation In the public right of way, or that will involve volve a
connection to the District's main line, the Contractor shall maintain C-34 or "A"
license, or such other license that the District Engineer shall determine is similar
based on state law. For all other general plumbing work involving only private
facilities on private property, the contractor shall have a C-36 license or such
license as the District Engineer determines is similar based on state law. District
personnel shall verify the status of the license before the permit will issue.
(j) Insurance. Insurance of at least One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) shall only be
required for permit issuance if work will involve District facilities or excavation work
in the right of way. For that work, no permit will be issued unless the contractor
doing the work has commercial general liability, with underground coverage, and
automobile coverage. Contractor shall also provide proof of workers compensation
coverage. The District and its officers, agents and employees shall be named as
an additional insured and provided with an endorsement evidencing such coverage
on District forms or on forms acceptable to District. Such coverage must provide
that it will not be cancelled without 30 days' notice to the District. Insurance shall
have a Best's Key Guide rating of A- VIII or better and must be issued by an
insurance company authorized to do business in California. Contractors
performing work for the District shall follow the insurance requirements of the
contract.
(k) Bonds. For insurance that will involve District facilities or work in the right of way
the District shall require a performance bond if the work is over $25,000 in value
and shall require a labor and materials bond before the permit will issue. The bonds
must be issued by an admitted surety. No permit will issue unless such bonds are
on file and have been verified. (Ord. 112, 2016).
Section 6.04.070. Permit Charges. Before any connection permit shall be issued,
the applicant shall pay to the District or its agent the charges specified in the District
resolution establishing fixture fees as set forth in a separate resolution.
(b) Connection Charge for Mobile Homes. For each mobile home parking space in
any mobile home park, the sewer connection charge shall be calculated at twelve
(12) fixture units, at a per fixture charge set by separate resolution.
(c) When Charge Is to Be Paid. Payment of connection permit charges shall be
required at the time of the issuance of the connection permit, and no connection
shall be made until said permit has been issued showing compliance with District
regulations and specifications. For that portion of the District within the City of
Newport Beach and within the unincorporated area of the County of Orange, said
fee shall nevertheless be paid through the offices of the Costa Mesa Sanitary
District, 290 Paulino Avenue, Costa Mesa, California.
(d) Schedule of Charges. A schedule of charges specified herein will be on file in the
office of the Clerk of the District and in the office of the Costa Mesa Sanitary
District.
(e) Interpretation of Permit Regulations. If the factual situations presented do not
follow precisely within the rules herein promulgated in this Article, the Board of
Directors shall interpret them in a reasonable matter and consistent with the intent
of this Chapter. In making such interpretations, the Board shall be guided by the
policy of the District to base fees and charges in accordance with the benefits and
uses supplies by the District. Those receiving the greatest benefit and most used
of the facilities provided by the District shall proportionately bear more of the costs
and expenses of the District.
Section 6.04.080. Certain fees established by the District, including, but not limited
to, plan check, inspection, permit and annexation fees, shall be established by
separate resolution.
(b) Annexation Fee. The Costa Mesa Sanitary District share of the annexation fee
shall be set by separate resolution and the total fee shall include the appropriate
charges from the Local Agency Formation Commission, the State Board of
Equalization, and the County of Orange. The District may charge actual additional
costs incurred in annexation which may be caused by, but not necessarily limited
to, annexation elections, the expenses of public hearings in no consent
annexations, litigation challenging the validity of Board action in the approval of
annexations and such other reasonable costs which may be incurred over and
above the permit fee provided for in this Article and subsection. Additional
assessments for annexation may be imposed by the District for costs and
expenses incurred by the District which are of an unusual nature not normally
incurred in the course of an annexation or any additional cost or expense incurred
by the District to correct any error or misrepresentation made by any applicant to
the District regarding any proposed annexation.
No refund will be made to any applicant abandoning any annexation where said
abandonment is not attributable to any fault of the District.
(d) Connection Fee. The permit fee set by separate resolution shall be charged where
applicant wishes to connect to and use District facilities without construction of
improvements. The fee shall be charged in any case where District administrative and
inspection services are required. (Ord. 75, 2010) (Reso. 2010-777, 2010)
Section 6.04.085. Credits. In the case of existing structures connected to the
District's system facilities, where new construction or alteration is made to change or
increase the capacity, the fixture fees shall be calculated and paid to the District on
the new use and in the amounts as set forth in Section 6.04.070, less a credit amount
for demolished fixtures. Fee credit amounts shall be uniformly calculated and shall
only be applied when proof of the existing structure and the number of plumbing
fixtures demolished is provided to the District. (Ord. 97, 2013)
Section 6.04.090. Penalties and Surcharges for Violations. Permits
Subsequently Obtained. Any person or public corporation connecting to a District
sewerage facility or connecting to a sewerage facility which discharges into a District
sewerage facility without first having obtained a permit as herein provided shall be
charged double the amount hereinabove described for his or its permit.
Section 6.04.100. Funds. All of the monies collected in this Chapter shall be
deposited, used and accounted for in accordance with the law by which those monies
were collected.
Section 6.04.110. Other Agency Fees. In addition to those fees provided
elsewhere in this Code, there shall be established and collected the following fees,
the amount of which shall be determined by the agency for which they are collected:
(a) Any fee collected for and remitted to the Orange County Sanitation District.
(b) State Board of Equalization annexation filing fees collected for and remitted to that
agency.
(c) County Surveyor for the County of Orange fee collected for and remitted to that
agency for annexation plan check.
(d) Fees collected and remitted to Orange County Local Agency Formation
Commission.
(e) Any other fee required to be collected and remitted to any other governmental
agency as a condition to annexation or use of said governmental agency's
facilities. (Ord. 20, 1989)
Section 6.04.120. Fee Changes. All of the fees established by this Ordinance may
be increased, decreased, or abolished, or otherwise modified at any time by resolution
duly adopted by the Board of Directors of the District and said resolution shall have
the same force and effect when adopted as though this Ordinance has been amended
to provide said changes. (Ord. 20, 1989)
Section 6.04.130. Annexation Requirements.
(a) When Deemed Annexed. Except as hereinafter provided, no sanitary sewer
service, including residential trash disposal service, shall be provided to any
applicant for service unless and until said applicant shall have applied for and been
approved for annexation to the District. Approval shall be deemed complete when
approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission.
(b) Exceptions: Sanitary sewer service, and trash collection, may be provided by
contract to applicants for service without annexation to the District, however
contracts for service may be entered into by the District only on those parcels lying
in County territory or within the geographical limits of an incorporated city other
than the City of Costa Mesa and after obtaining LAFCO's prior approval if required
by state law. All parcels lying within the geographical limits of the City of Costa
Mesa will be served only after annexation to the District as heretofore set forth.
(Ord. 20, 1989)
Section 6.04.140 Affordable Housing Priority.
(a) In accordance with Government Code Section 65589.7 or any successor statute,
the District shall ensure that developments that contain an affordable housing
component shall be provided with a sewer connection if the applicant complies
with all District laws and regulations unless the Board makes findings that there is
insufficient collection capacity, that the District is under an order that no further
connections be allowed, or unless the applicant fails to comply with District laws or
to enter into an agreement with District to comply with such laws. District shall
review the relevant housing elements at least every five years to determine that
sufficient collection capacity exists.
(b) State law shall be referred to for all definitions and to more fully describe District's
obligations under said law. (Ord. 56, 2006)
Section 2. Should any part, clause or section of this Ordinance be declared by any
Court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the remaining provisions of this Ordinance
shall nevertheless be and remain in full force and effect and the Board of Directors of the
Costa Mesa Sanitary District of Orange County, California, hereby declares that each and
every section, clause, provision or part of this Ordinance would have been adopted and
made a part of this Ordinance without the adoption of any portion thereof and that the
invalidity of any part or provision hereof shall not in any way affect the validity or
enforcement of the remaining provisions of this Ordinance that may stand on their own.
Section 3. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 6490 and 6491.3, the Clerk
shall cause this ordinance or a summary thereof to be published in a newspaper of
general circulation printed and published in the District according to law.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 23rd day of June 2025.
Secretary
Pre ' ent
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF ORANGE Ss
CITY OF COSTA MESA
1, NOELANI MIDDENWAY, Clerk of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, hereby
certify that the above and foregoing Ordinance No. 140 was duly and regularly passed
and adopted by said Board of Directors at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 23rd day
of June 2025 by the following votes:
AYES: Ooten, Scheafer, Perry, Wiltshire
NOES: None
ABSENT: Schafer
ABSTAIN: None
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Costa
Mesa Sanitary District, this 23rd day of June 2025.
Clerk of tho Cost q/Mesa `�hitaryibistrict