Sandy council directs staff to rewrite ordinance allowing alternate wastewater systems with safeguards

Sandy City Council on Aug. 18 directed staff to return with a rewritten ordinance that would allow alternative wastewater systems — including porta-potties, graywater systems and certain septic-type systems — for commercial and industrial properties only when the city cannot provide sufficient ERUs (equivalent residential units) at the time an application is filed. The council’s direction was a policy decision rather than a final vote; staff said they will prepare revised code language and hold a new public hearing before any adoption.

The change matters because Sandy is working through a long-running wastewater compliance and infrastructure program that has limited available ERUs; council members and several residents said permitting alternative systems could allow some development to proceed while sewer capacity remains constrained. At the same time, residents and some councilors pressed for safeguards to avoid long-term private septic fields or temporary solutions becoming permanent without appropriate oversight and payment of system development charges (SDCs).

City staff presented three draft options for code language. Option 1 would have been narrow — limited to industrial parcels and only short-term solutions such as porta-potties and graywater. Option 2 was the draft ordinance previously circulated. Option 3, which the council asked staff to refine, is the broadest: it would allow alternative wastewater systems on commercial and industrial…