Commentary

Septic ordinance no financial burden

By Evan Baker

In an effort to improve underground and creek water quality in the region, and as part of the lawsuit settlement with San Francisco BayKeepers and the Friends of Santa Clara County Creeks, the Saratoga City Council adopted a septic abatement ordinance that applies to all properties within the city of Saratoga. The ordinance requires that septic systems in the city be abandoned and the properties be connected directly to the public sanitary sewer when a public sewer line is available within 200 feet of a property line.

A public sewer line is not considered "available" if existing grades do not permit a gravity flow connection, or if a legal easement or right-of-way to the sewer line does not exist. Property owners with properly operating septic systems may request up to a five-year extension of time to connect to the public sanitary sewer.

Qualifying property owners facing financial hardships are able to apply for a special exemption, or for Community Development Block Grant funds, to pay for the cost of the septic abatement and sewer connection. In addition, for property owners served by the West Valley Sanitation District, the cost of conversion and connection to the sewer system can be financed over 10 years on the property tax roll. The Cupertino Sanitary District does not offer this option.

Approximately 480 property owners were notified by the city in February of being within 200 feet of an existing public sewer line and therefore subject to this abatement program. Since then, roughly 200 of these properties have connected to the sanitary sewer. The remaining properties have either been exempted, been granted a five-year extension or are not in compliance with the program.

Several letters have been written recently to the Saratoga News editor that are critical of this program. Some of these letters have cited the city's creek lawsuit settlement agreement as being the only basis for this abatement program.

This is just not the case. Saratoga is a built-out suburban residential community with a large number of quarter-acre and half-acre, single-family lots. Many of these lots abut significant creeks or sit atop shallow water tables. The efforts that the city and its staff have made to abate these septic systems and keep this effluent out of our creeks, and out of the San Francisco Bay, are simply consistent with most resident's concerns for protecting public health and the environment.

And with the special exemptions and available financial assistance, the city was able to ensure that no property owner will be forced to sell his or her home due to the costs incurred by this connection.

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Evan Baker is a member of the Saratoga City Council.

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Sheriff's Report

Commentary: City Council member Evan Baker believes septic ordinance is not a financial burden

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