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Depoe Bay council backs DEQ-approved Type 2 on-site systems for single-family homes on contested tract
Summary
After extended debate, the City Council adopted an interpretation and direction that on-site sewage for one-property builds on the tract must use DEQ-approved treatment-standard-2 systems (no untreated septic tank/drainfield), and property must hook up to city sewer when it becomes available.
DEPoe BAY, Ore. — The Depoe Bay City Council on Feb. 18 directed staff to interpret city code to allow alternative on-site sewage treatment only if systems meet Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) treatment-standard-2 requirements and if properties are single-family homes; the council also required that properties must connect to city sewer when sewer access is legally and physically available.
The council’s action follows a multi-hour agenda discussion about a tract where sewer pipework was left incomplete by an earlier developer and where a prospective buyer had proposed building with on-site treatment. The council’s decision clarifies that a conventional septic tank/drainfield that discharges untreated effluent will not meet the city’s standard for allowing on-site systems in that location.
City engineer John (last name not specified in transcript), explaining the staff interpretation, said in the meeting that “the word thereafter really screws up that whole definition,” referring to ambiguous code language that city staff recommended…
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