Council considers 180-day moratorium on new construction as sewer plants near capacity

City utilities staff told the Villa Rica City Council on Feb. 4 that approved and pending development would push the city's wastewater system beyond safe operating capacity within a few years without additional infrastructure or permitted discharge locations. Staff asked the council to consider a temporary moratorium on new construction to allow time for planning and regulatory approvals.

John Bain (utilities staff) and other members of the operations team said Villa Rica has two wastewater treatment facilities: the West plant (approximately 2.0 million gallons per day design capacity) and the North plant (about 0.5 million gallons per day). Using developers'submitted project lists and anticipated completion timing, staff reported the West plant's load had climbed from about 50% of capacity in 2021 toward over 60% in 2024, and that the North plant was at about 86% capacity in 2024. Based on current approvals and construction schedules, Bain said the West plant is projected to exceed 100% capacity (roughly 103%) by 2027.

Staff's concern: Growth already approved or in construction will increase wastewater flows faster than the city's current treatment and permitted discharge capacity. Staff said options include expanding treatment capacity at existing plants, identifying additional permitted discharge locations, or redirecting flows between plants; each option requires state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) approvals and design/construction time.

Proposed short-term step: Interim City Attorney/Staff proposed a resolution to enact a 180-day moratorium on new construction permits except for narrowly defined exceptions (public-safety or health-related projects and projects that increase system capacity). The moratorium would pause consideration of new applications until the city obtains a clearer roadmap from EPD on plant expansions, discharge approvals and timing; staff said the moratorium would not affect projects already approved through the permitting process.

What was said at the meeting: Utilities staff presented detailed usage and projection numbers and repeated that the city already purchases increasing amounts of drinking water (production remained roughly constant while purchases rose from about 35% of demand in 2021 to 45% in 2024 and projections above 50% by 2029). Council members expressed concern about the economic trade-offs of delaying new commercial projects, and asked for alternatives such as right-in/right-out driveway controls or developer contributions for needed turn lanes. Staff said a moratorium would include an exemption/appeal process for projects with vested rights or for narrow, documented public-safety needs.

Next steps: Staff is pursuing detailed EPD responses about options to expand treatment capacity and permitted discharge locations; EPD modeling responses for waste-load allocations commonly take 4'6 months, staff said. The moratorium was placed on the agenda for discussion and possible action; no formal vote or adoption of the moratorium was recorded at the Feb. 4 meeting.

Ending: Staff urged the council to allow time to obtain state guidance and prepare a funding and construction roadmap; council members asked staff to seek less-disruptive short-term alternatives and to return with costed options for board consideration.