Atlanta sewer proposal would set distance tests for mandatory development connections

A held Atlanta ordinance would require new residential and commercial developments to connect to public sewer when service meets proposed availability tests. Under ordinance 26-O-1340, sewer would be considered available when a public sewer lies within 200 feet of any property line or 500 feet of existing or proposed premises, measured along the appropriate drainage course for gravity flow.

A building’s low elevation would not by itself make sewer unavailable: the proposal counts service as available if pumping can reach a part of the property that then drains into the public system by gravity. Pumped flow would be allowed within a parcel, but connections to the public sewer would have to use gravity flow.

Where sewer is unavailable under these criteria, septic systems could be used subject to applicable city, state and county rules. The City Utilities Committee’s Sept. 29 minutes leave the substituted ordinance on hold and list Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. as the next checkpoint. These are proposed criteria, not enacted requirements.