Council directs staff to draft ordinance allowing regulated alternative wastewater systems during moratorium

Facing a development moratorium that limits issuance of equivalent residential units (ERUs), the Sandy City Council debated and then authorized staff to draft an ordinance and regulatory mechanisms to permit alternative wastewater treatment systems for selected commercial and industrial land uses.

Kelly presented options and cautioned that alternatives vary in risk and regulatory treatment; staff listed typical choices including septic systems, holding tanks, composting toilets, shared advanced pressurized systems and other modern decentralized systems. Kelly told council these options would likely require an ordinance and a variance/land-use process to specify allowed uses, conditions for abandonment and non-remonstrance agreements so future connections to the city sewer could proceed.

Councilors discussed environmental and long-term ownership concerns. One councilor proposed exploring publicly owned shared systems or pressurized packaged-treatment systems to avoid repeating historic septic maintenance failures and to provide a maintainable community asset. The council also emphasized that the approach under consideration was intended for commercial/industrial uses rather than to reopen residential development to private septics en masse.

Councilor moved to authorize city staff and the city attorney to draft the ordinance and mechanisms; the motion passed unanimously. Council asked staff to return with proposed ordinance language, safeguards for maintenance and monitoring, and recommended eligibility criteria for land uses.

Staff said future work would include consultation with attorneys, public works, DEQ and the development community, and would address ERU accounting so that, if ERUs later become available, projects using alternatives would still be required to connect and pay SDCs when sewer capacity exists.