Any buildings within the city limits of the City of Reedley, including but not limited to all residential, industrial, educational, governmental, and commercial buildings, located on property adjacent to a water main, or in a block through which a water main extends, must apply for connection and connect to the city water system as provided herein, except as otherwise provided in subsection C below.
A. Connection To System: Every building permit issued either for the construction of a new building or for remodeling of an existing building, if the remodeling cost is twenty five percent (25%) or more of the current assessed valuation, shall require the building to be connected to the City water system. If the parcel being built on does not have water service, the building permit shall require the extension of a water main across the entire frontage of the property being improved and the installation of water service to serve the parcel. The person applying for the building permit shall install the water main and water service, or shall cause it to be installed, to the satisfaction of the City Engineer.
B. Required Connection: All buildings currently served by a well or other private systems, situated within the City, which have water mains available shall connect to the City water system within ninety (90) days after date of official notice to do so if one or more of the following applies:
1. The current well or private system servicing the building(s) has systemically failed.
2. The current well or private system servicing the building(s) does not test in conformance with required health and safety standards, as determined by the Director of Public Works and/or the appropriate County or State health official.
Connections to the City water system are all at the expense of the owner of said property. At any time, a property owner may elect to establish a City water system connection in accordance with section 8-1-7 of this chapter. At the time of connection, no well or private system connection may continue to serve the living areas or building(s) on-site. However, an existing well or private system may still be utilized for the purposes of agricultural irrigation alone, in accordance with section 8-1-9 of this chapter, barring that such system tests in conformance with required health and safety standards, as determined by the Director of Public Works and/or the appropriate County or State health official.
For purposes of this subsection, "available" shall mean having a water main in an easement or roadway abutting the parcel.
C. Relief From Water Service Connection Requirements: When the City Council determines that special circumstances make connection to the city water system an unreasonable hardship on a property owner, the City Council may, by resolution, suspend the requirement to connect to the city water system for a specific time or for the time the special circumstances exist. Additionally, a connection may be delayed or exempted by the Public Works Director on the grounds that the building is unoccupied and not used by any person(s) and no human needs are generated therein. (Ord. 2018-009, 1-8-2019; amd. Ord. 2019-009, 12-10-2019)