(a) It is the intent of this
section to discourage the development of facilities outside designated primary service
areas and to provide some assistance to a developer when facilities are constructed in
complete accordance with public sewer phasing and construction plans. Recognizing that the
developer will incur a certain level of expense to properly bring sewer service to a
development, the intent is not to reimburse the developer for that expense. In all cases
the developer must make an economic decision. The purpose of this section is to provide a
degree of certainty to the cost of sewer service and to set forth those conditions under
which the county will permit private construction of public sewer systems.
(b) Upon request and under certain
conditions, the county may share in the cost of providing public sewer when application
for construction is made by a developer. The extent to which the county participates will
be based on certain factors designed to maximize and channel limited public funds for
sewer construction into those areas where sewer can be provided most effectively to
promote the public health and welfare. Those factors are:
(1) The extent to which the sewer
facilities are oversized at the request of the county to provide future use capacity.
(2) The extent to which the
proposed development is within or
(3) The extent to which the
facilities consist of system facilities as opposed to local facilities.
(c) Within the limits of funds
available for sewer construction, the county will share costs if requested by the
developer as follows:
(1) The total cost of local
facilities shall in all cases be borne by the developer.
(2) When proposed development is to
be located within a primary service area, the county will pay the additional construction
cost of installing or oversizing system facilities required by the county for future use
capacity or other needs. The county may offset its cost by deducting any system facility
connection fees due to it from the developer. The county share shall be the difference
between the estimated cost of the facilities necessary for future use and the cost of
local facilities and system upgrades necessary to serve the development. The developer
shall bear all design costs. The estimated costs shall be based upon current unit charges
for sewer construction and shall be agreed to between the developer and the county.
(3) When proposed development is to
be located outside a primary service area, the cost of installing or oversizing system
facilities for future use capacity or other needs shall be borne by the developer. In
addition to the cost of construction, the developer will be liable for a connection charge
at the time of connection of the extension to public sewer facilities. Such fee shall be
equal to the total initial connection fees due from the development without credit or
reduction for the construction of local or system facilities or other costs paid by the
developer.
(4) If no primary service areas
have been established by the governing body, all proposed development shall be deemed to
be within a primary service area.
(d) If sufficient county funds are
not available for sewer construction to enable the county to contribute fully as set forth
in subsection (c) 2), then other sums may be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. In any
event, the final sum to be contributed by the county to the construction and/or the total
amount of connection fees due to the county, shall be set forth in the contract required
by section 18.1-53.
(e) Nothing in this section is to
be construed to prohibit or restrict the governing body from extending or participating in
the extension of the facilities of the county at the county's cost or on a different cost
sharing basis than set forth in this section should the governing body determine that such
an arrangement is in the county's best interest and furthers the goals of economic
development or providing affordable housing opportunities.