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 Sewer Allocation Policy & Application FormPrint version - Sewer Allocation Policy (PDF) Application Form (Interactive Form - Windows) (PDF)
The City of Jacksonville 
Sewer Allocation Policy
1. Introduction
The City of Jacksonville owns and operates the sanitary sewer system and Land Treatment Site (LTS). Recognizing that the capacity of the LTS is limited and adding additional capacity is expensive, this Sewer Allocation Policy has been established to create a plan whereby new development shall require allocation in an effort to track and manage this limited resource. The purpose of this policy is to effectively allocate sewer capacity available to new developments, as required herein, to maintain a reasonable balance of land-uses in a fair and equitable manner.
2. Definitions
Allocation: A conditional designation of estimated sewer treatment capacity to a specific owner and project, subject to the provisions of this policy and any document of approval.
Allocation Phase: A provision included as part of an allocation to a specific development that defines the amount of the total allocation which may be used at a specified time.
Applicant: Any individual, firm, partnership, company, association, corporation, governmental entity or any other legal entity whose development or improvement of land requires sewer allocation under this policy. The City may require disclosure of the names of all persons who have a financial interest in any project requesting or having been granted an allocation.
Application Requirements: All approvals, permits, and/or certifications required for an applicant to begin construction of the infrastructure necessary to serve a proposed development.
DWQ: The Division of Water Quality which is part of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or its successors.
Infill Development: Development that is served by existing City infrastructure and does not require a permit or permit modification from Division of Water Quality for new or existing sewer mains.
Infrastructure: The facilities and installations needed to support a proposed development such as transportation, water, sewer, recreation, and other improvements.
GPD: Typical measurement of the flow or discharge of wastewater in gallons per day.
NCDENR: The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources or its successors.
PWS: The Public Water Supply Section which is part of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or its successors.
Development: An undertaking involving real property improvement put forth for consideration or acceptance for which City and/or State approvals, authorizations, or permits are required. A division of real property improvements by phase and/or section lines does not constitute separate developments.
Reservation Fee: A fee for the allocation of sewage treatment capacity, specified as dollars per gpd, as established by the adopted fee schedule.
Reserve Capacity: The permitted sewer treatment capacity minus the actual wastewater flow being discharged to the treatment facility averaged over the preceding twelve months expressed in gallons per day or similar unit of measurement.
Sewer Allocation: A specified amount of sewage treatment capacity (typically measured in gallons per day, gpd) committed to a specific project through action by City staff or Council. An allocation may or may not include allocation phasing.
Uncommitted Reserve Capacity: Is that portion of the reserve capacity remaining after subtracting the development wastewater flow of all projects for which sewer allocation has be granted but have not yet begun discharging to the sewer collection system.
3. Allocation Plan
A. The approval of any Final Plat, Site Plan or Building Permit shall be contingent upon approval of sewer allocation adequate for the sewage flows expected to result from development. Under this policy, an approved allocation shall be a prerequisite to the approval of all Final Plats and Site Plans and the issuance of all building permits for those structures that are not part of a development with a previous allocation that has not reverted back to the City through revocation or expiration.
B. All sewer allocation requests shall be considered on a prioritized basis by category. Projects shall be grouped into one of the tiers below to determine the level of priority and level of consideration needed.
Tier 1 – Infill Development, Developments approved prior to effective date of this policy, and municipal projects.
Tier 2 – Requests that meet all City application requirements.
Tier 3 – Requests that do not meet all City application requirements.
C. Sewer allocation necessary to serve proposed developments shall be based on use capacities as identified in Section 15A of the North Carolina Administrative Code 02T .0114. All sewer capacity shall be considered, allocated, and tracked through the following categories.
- Residential
- Commercial
- Discretionary
4. Residential Allocation
A. Residential Allocation will be considered for all single family, duplex, townhome, and apartment projects and shall be allocated over two categories. These categories are Single Family Developments which includes single family and duplexes; and Multi-Family Developments such as triplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, and apartments.
- Single Family Development: Single family and duplex developments shall be eligible for a maximum allocation per development phase of 36,000 gpd per 12 month period or the equivalent of 100 three-bedroom units.
- Multi-Family Development: Developments such as triplex, quadplex, townhomes, and apartment projects shall be eligible for a maximum allocation per development phase of 57,600 gpd per 12 month period. For example an applicant would be eligible for up to 240 two-bedroom units per phase.
B. Residential Allocation shall be considered “used” when the City Engineering Division and NCDENR-DWQ and PWS Divisions receive and approve the “Engineer’s Certification of Construction” and “As-Built Record Drawings” for the water and sanitary sewer improvements serving the project development phase that was granted the sewer allocation. Release of allocation for a subsequent phase will not occur until the allocation for the prior phase has been used.
5. Commercial Allocation
A. The Commercial Category shall include all developments that are commercial or industrial in nature. The maximum development phase for projects in the Commercial Category is 15,000 gpd per 12 month period.
B. Sewer allocation granted from the Commercial Category shall be considered “used” when the water meter is installed for the structure to which the allocation was committed.
6. Discretionary Allocation
The Discretionary Category shall include all municipal projects and any other development as approved by City Council. There is no maximum allocation per development phase; however, Council reserves the right to set a maximum allocation available per phase if deemed appropriate.
7. Allocation Review and Approval
A. All sewer allocation requests shall be made in writing on the City’s standard form and shall be considered for a proposed development only after the project site has been annexed or an agreement for out-of-city services has been approved. The reservation of sewer allocation will be considered on a priority basis.
B. Tier 1 projects may be reviewed and approved by City Staff provided that application requirements have been satisfied and all applicable conditions have been met. Staff shall have the authority to grant allocation to infill developments, City projects requiring allocation of no more than 10,000 gpd and plans eligible for approval by City staff that do not require consideration by Council. In addition, staff may grant additional allocation to serve subsequent phases of developments approved prior to the effective date of this policy if:
- The approved plan is still valid;
- Previous allocations have been used; and
- The allocation being requested does not exceed the allocation limits per development phase as prescribed by this Policy.
Sewer allocation requests for Tier 1 projects that do not meet these criteria must be reviewed and approved by City Council.
C. Tier 2 projects shall include development proposals that have met all applicable City application requirements. Approval of allocation for these projects shall follow the same final approval process as required for development proposal. For example, site plans or subdivisions requiring City Council consideration shall require allocation to also be considered by Council. If a plan is eligible for approval by City staff then the allocation may also be granted at a staff level
D. Tier 3 projects are the lowest priority in consideration for reserving sewer allocation. Typically, these projects are speculative in nature since the applicant has not made a significant investment in the proposed project. Council will consider reserving allocation for these projects upon submittal of a preliminary plan and a reservation fee in accordance with this policy.
The preliminary plan for a Tier 3 allocation request shall meet the minimum requirements as established on the City’s standard application. The reservation fee shall be a nonrefundable per gallon charge based on fifteen percent (15%) of the sewer facility charge in effect at the time the allocation request is made. If, for any reason, the applicant fails to meet the milestones, as stated in this section, the reservation fee shall be forfeited and the allocation shall automatically revert back to the City. If the applicant meets the prescribed milestones, the reservation fee shall be credited to the sewer facility charge required for the proposed project.
Tier 3 projects shall have 18 months to receive all approvals, certifications, and/or permits to begin construction of the water and sewer infrastructure. Once the development has received all approvals and final sewer allocation, the allocation shall be used in accordance with the timeframe as established in the Expiration section of this Policy or the reservation fee and allocation shall be forfeited.
E. An applicant may request allocation sufficient to serve two phases of a development. Such request shall be for the initial phase and reservation of allocation for the successive phase. A request for phased allocation shall be accompanied by a development phasing schedule that clearly shows the planned phases of the development together with the allocations desired per phase.
- A request to release allocation for a subsequent phase may be made once an allocation for a previous phase has been used.
- Staff may release an approved allocation phase once the prior phase has been used and all provisions of this policy have been satisfied.
F. An applicant is only eligible to reserve allocation to serve the equivalent of two developments, for use per 12 month period, in any one category.
8. Expiration
Sewer allocation granted to a development shall be “used”, as defined herein, within 18 months of approval. Thereafter, any allocation reserved for a subsequent phase of development must be used within 12 months of the allocation being released for that phase. If allocation has not been used within the stipulated time periods it shall automatically revert to the City.
9. Extensions
A. City staff may grant a 6-month first extension to a development unable to use the initial allocation within the 18 month period. The request for such extension must be accompanied by documentation demonstrating use of allocation before the expiration date is unavoidable due to factors beyond the applicant’s control. The six month extension may be granted if, at the sole discretion of staff, the delay is a result of factors beyond the applicant’s control.
B. City Council may consider additional extensions for developments with valid plans in 12 month increments. Extension requests made to Council shall be accompanied by a non-refundable Processing Fee as identified in the adopted Fee Schedule.
10. Appeal Process
Staff decisions may be appealed to City Council. Appeal requests must be in writing and include a detailed description of the proposed development, allocation requested, and reason for the appeal. All decisions rendered by Council shall be final.
11. Reversion and Revocation
A. Sewer allocation is granted to a specific development to be located on a specific parcel or parcels of land and based on the approved development which received sewer allocation. Upon completion of the development or permit expiration, the unused allocation (adjusted to the actual development constructed, if necessary), will automatically revert to the City. Further, allocation granted to a development may be immediately revoked and the Reservation Fee forfeited immediately upon written notice to the applicant that City staff has determined the allocation was granted based on false or misleading information.
B. City Council reserves the right to revoke allocation, if deemed necessary, on projects (or portions thereof) with excess capacity or where facility charges have not been paid within 36 months of the original allocation.
C. Any sewer allocation granted outside the provisions of this Policy from the effective date forward shall be null and void unless granted by City Council pursuant to Section 13, Policy Review.
12. Transferability
Sewer Allocation may only be used for the specific development on the parcel(s) for which it was originally granted. Unused sewer allocation for a development may only be transferred from the individual, firm, partnership, company, association, corporation, governmental entity or other legal entity owning the development to another only after receiving written authorization from the City. Under no circumstances shall allocation be used for any other development.
13. Policy Review
City Council hereby reserves all rights to review, modify, or deviate from this policy at the sole discretion of the Council. This shall include, but is not limited to:
- Granting variances to the policy;
- Determining sewer capacity available per category to maintain a fair and equitable balance between categories and to promote growth deemed in the best interest of the City;
- The release of additional allocation recaptured through the City’s Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) detection and elimination program; and
- Other relevant factors as determined by Council.
14. Severability
If any portion of this Policy and any amendments made hereto are held unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Policy and any amendments made hereto shall not be affected and shall remain in full force and effect.
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