A sewer assessment fee shall be paid by every person or entity who makes a connection to the sanitary sewer system for the purpose of obtaining sewer service. The fees shall be collected by the Richmond Utilities prior to issuance of a building permit, in accordance with the following:
(A) Residential buildings. The sewer assessment fee for connection of a residential facility to the city sewer system shall be:
Facility | Fee |
Single-family residential | $900 each unit |
Multi-family 2 - 10 units | $500 each unit |
Multi-family over 10 units | $300 each unit |
(B) Commercial facility. For the purpose of this subchapter, COMMERCIAL UNIT is defined as each room or group of rooms used or to be used for separate commercial, professional, or non-residential undertaking, subject to exceptions listed in division (C) below. The sewer assessment fee for a commercial facility shall be $0.20 per square foot.
(C) Special commercial units. For the purpose of this subchapter, SPECIAL COMMERCIAL UNIT is defined as connections for use by hotels, restaurants, hi-rise buildings (over two stories), motels, hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, whether publicly or privately owned and whether or not operated for profit. The sewer assessment fee for a special commercial facility shall be $1,000 and $0.20 per square foot.
(D) Industrial units. Industrial units shall include any facility established for the purpose of manufacturing or processing goods. The sewer assessment fee for industrial facilities shall be $1,000 and $0.10 per square foot.
(E) Warehouse units. Warehouse units shall include any facility established for the purpose of warehouse activities, including but not limited to storage, in which no manufacturing, remanufacturing, packaging, or repackaging is conducted. In addition, the warehouse units shall require no heating (other than office space), unless required for the protection of stored materials, and shall require no water and sanitary sewerage services, other than those required for office space, not to exceed three restrooms for human sanitary waste disposal. In the event that a warehouse unit is changed to any other use, the owner shall be required to notify the Richmond Utilities and shall be required to pay the difference between the sewer assessment fee for a warehouse unit and the sewer assessment fee for the proposed use. The sewer assessment fee for warehouse units shall be $500 and $0.05 per square foot.
(F) Sewer assessment fee. Sewer assessment fees for all facilities shall be paid by the owner thereof prior to the facility being connected with the city sanitary sewer system.
(G) Destruction of established structure. Any owner of a structure destroyed by fire or demolished as a result of age and is reconstructing said structure to revitalize said property may request a waiver from the Richmond Utilities Board of the sewer assessment fee so long as new construction remains in the same zoning class. The Richmond Utilities Board shall approve all such requests so long as the Board determines in its sole discretion that said request does not place any additional undue burden on the Richmond Utilities sanitary sewer system.
(Ord. 95-09, passed 3-7-95; Am. Ord. 96-42, passed 6-4-96; Am. Ord. 97-13, passed 4-1-97; Am. Ord. 97-19, passed 5-6-97; Am. Ord. 06-52, passed 12-19-06; Am. Ord. 15-24, passed 10-27-15)