Atlanta’s proposed sewer-connection test counts lines within 200 or 500 feet

An Atlanta ordinance held by the City Utilities Committee on Sept. 15 would define when public sewer service counts as available for mandatory connections. It would count sewer within 200 feet of a property line or 500 feet of an existing or proposed premises or facility, measured along the appropriate drainage course. The hold did not establish a new citywide connection rule.

Under the proposed test, a structure being too low for a direct gravity connection would not alone make sewer unavailable: if pumping could reach part of the property that drains by gravity into the public system, sewer would be considered available to the property. The ordinance also contemplates septic systems where sewer is deemed unavailable, subject to other applicable laws and rules.