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Council debates outside-UGA water connections, keeps three-ERU cap while staff refines hardship criteria
Summary
Council heard a lengthy staff briefing on ambiguity in the code governing water availability and connections for properties outside the UGA, discussed whether to retain a three-ERU annual cap or rely on tougher hardship criteria, and agreed to keep the cap temporarily while staff tightens language and proposes counting the ERU on council authorization.
City staff told the council that past practice left ambiguities about when an outside-UGA water authorization counts toward the city’s annual three-equivalent-residential-unit (ERU) limit and whether an authorization should expire. Staff proposed requiring applicants approved by council to complete a water connection permit and pay system-development charges within one year of council authorization; otherwise the authorization would be null and void.
The council debated alternatives — strengthening hardship criteria, allowing limited one-time permit extensions, or eliminating the numeric cap and enforcing stricter criteria. Councilors raised concerns about historical face-of-plat commitments (noting March 1996–1997 plat dates) and the legal and hydrologic complexities of water-right transfers. The staff proposal included counting an authorized outside-UGA connection on the date the council authorizes it, and giving applicants one year to pay fees and an additional year to complete the physical connection, with possible one-time extensions under clear standards. After discussion the council directed staff to revise the code language, leave the three-ERU limit in place temporarily, and return an ordinance for consideration.
