Note: Prior history: Prior code §§ 25.30—25.38 and Ord. 3238 § 28(a).
(A) 
No person shall commit, or cause or permit to be committed, any of the following acts unless a written permit, or permits, authorizing the act has been obtained from the City:
(1) 
Impair, impede or obstruct the natural flow of storm waters or other water running in a defined channel, natural or manmade, or in a pipe, or other component of any storm water drainage system;
(2) 
Deposit any material in any such channel, pipe or drainage system;
(3) 
Alter the surface of the land so as to reduce the capacity, or alter the flow characteristics of any such channel;
(4) 
Construct, alter or repair any stormwater drainage structure or facility;
(5) 
Commit any act within any easement acquired or dedicated, solely or in part, for drainage purposes which will impair the use of the easement for such purposes;
(6) 
Commit any act that impairs or impedes lawful access to, or maintenance of, any portion of any publicly owned or operated drainage system.
(B) 
The permit(s) required by this section shall be obtained prior to the commission of the act(s) or the commencement of any work associated with such act(s), except in cases of emergency work as described and permitted in Section 17-12.060.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
Driveway and private street culverts shall not cause a restriction of the flow of any adjoining street drainage system. The owners of property for which an appurtenant driveway or private street culvert causes, or contributes to, a restriction in flow of the adjoining street's drainage system shall, at their expense, maintain, clean or enlarge the existing culvert to the extent necessary to remove the restriction.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
The written permits required by this article are:
(1) 
Encroachment permits issued by the City Engineer/Director of Public Works for work on public property or public easements; and/or
(2) 
Grading permits issued by the City Engineer/ Community Development for work done on public easements or property and certain private property or the Chief Building Official for work done on private property.
(B) 
The required permits may be issued for any lawful use, subject to the conditions set forth in this article and the permits. The issuance of a permit shall not imply or impute any responsibility of, or liability to the City for any injuries to persons or damages to property resulting from any act or work regulated by this article.
(C) 
Applications for permits shall be in writing and shall provide the appropriate City Engineer and/or the Chief Building Official with such information as requested and required in order that all engineering and other technical information may be available to the City Engineer or Chief Building Official as may be necessary to locate, delineate, illustrate, identify, justify and substantiate the proposed act or work, and the right and necessity of the applicant to perform the act or work. The City Engineer or Chief Building Official may require the applicant to submit soil investigations, tests of material, engineering plans and investigations and technical reports as he or she deems necessary and proper.
(D) 
The application shall be accomplished by the executed written consent and a release and waiver of liability as to, and as approved by the City, executed by all persons whose property would be affected in any manner by the act(s) or work to be performed.
(E) 
In issuing a permit, the appropriate City Engineer and/or the Chief Building Official may impose conditions reasonably necessary to safeguard the performance of the work and other properties which may be affected. A permit may be issued for any term up to one year. The original term may be extended by the City for a period not to exceed the length of the original term, upon the filing of a written application therefor prior to the permit's expiration, if good cause is shown.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
Any permit issued pursuant to this article may be issued subject to the condition(s) that until the permittee has entered into a written agreement with the City to perform the act or work in accordance with the terms of the permit and has posted security with the City in an amount satisfactory to the issuing City Engineer or the Chief Building Official, in a form satisfactory to the City Attorney, for the faithful performance of the act or work and/or assuring the payment of laborers and materialmen. The amount of each type of security which may be required shall not exceed 100 percent of the Engineer's or the Chief Building Official's estimate of the cost of the act or work to be performed and/or its removal or reconstruction in the event of a default on the part of the permittee.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
No permit issued under this article may be transferred or assigned to another person or entity without the prior written consent of the City. The City may condition any consent it gives.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
The City Engineer or Chief Building Official may inspect or cause to be inspected, from time to time, any act or work being done pursuant to a permit, and no permittee shall be deemed to have complied with this article until a final inspection of the work has been made by the issuing City Engineer or Chief Building Official and a report made in writing by the City Engineer or Chief Building Official that the work appears to have been completed in accordance with the permit. Unsatisfactory work shall be corrected or reconstructed by the permittee, and should the issuing City official determine the work is unsatisfactory due to lack of diligence or a wilful act on the part of the permittee, that official may apply to the City Council for permission to contract with any licensed general contractor for the construction or completion of the act or work in conformance with the permit approval, or for the removal of the work, or portion thereof, which is nonconforming to the permit, and the cost thereof may be charged to the permittee upon the order of the City Council.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
This article shall not prevent any person from performing emergency maintenance or work within, upon, over, under or through any watercourse, channel, ditch, conduit or natural storm water drainageway as may be necessary and proper for the preservation of life or property when an urgent necessity therefor arises. Any person performing such emergency work shall notify the Department of Public Works as soon as possible of performance of such work and he or she shall apply for a written permit for such work within 10 calendar days of the beginning of the work.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
In addition to any other penalties or remedies provided by this article or by other law(s), the City Engineer or Chief Building Official may serve personally, or by certified mail, upon the owner of the property on which a violation of this article occurs, at the address of the property owner as it appears on the last equalized county assessment roll, a notice to abate the violation within 10 days after receipt of notice, and that if the owner fails to abate the violation within the time period, the City Engineer or Chief Building Official will cause the abatement thereof and that the cost of abatement may be charged to the property and to the owner thereof. If any such charge is not paid within 60 days of its billing to the property owner by the City, the amount of such charge may be placed as a lien on the property upon which the violation occurred and shall be collected in the manner fixed by law for the collection of special assessments; alternatively, the City may, at its option, recover the same in a civil action against the property and/or other person(s) responsible for the violation.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
If the Director of Public Works finds that a violation of this article has created an emergency condition seriously endangering the public health or safety, the Director of Public Works may, with the approval of the City Manager, abate the condition without the written notice required by Section 17-12.070. The cost of such abatement will be charged to the owner of the property on which the violation occurs and/or any other person responsible for the violation and the City may, at its option, recover such costs in a civil action.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
Every person who violates any provision of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(B) 
Every person who wilfully violates any term, condition, or requirement of any permit required by this article is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
The purpose of this article is to protect and enhance the water quality of the City's watercourses pursuant to, and consistent with, the Federal Clean Water Act and amendments thereto and to assure compliance with the conditions set forth by the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) as requirements of storm water discharge permits.
It is the intent of the City Council in enacting this article to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the City's citizens by:
(1) 
Controlling the discharge to the City's storm water system from spills and the dumping or disposal of materials other than storm water;
(2) 
Reducing pollutants in storm water discharges to the maximum extent practicable.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
The following words and phrases when used in this article shall have the meanings as defined herein. Words and phrases used in this article and not otherwise defined shall be interpreted as defined in the regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement the provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act and as defined by the State Water Resources Control Board to implement the Porter-Cologne Act in the State Water Code.
"Authorized city employee(s)"
means those individuals designated by the Director of Public Works to act as his or her designees.
"Best management practices" or "BMPs"
means schedules of activities, prohibitions or practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to watercourses, water bodies, and wetlands. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, design specifications, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.
"City's storm water system"
means those publicly owned or maintained storm water facilities that are situated within the City.
"Commercial facility"
means any nonresidential premises or any premises used as a site of commercial activity.
"Director of public works"
means the Santa Rosa Director of Public Works or his or her designee.
"Discharge"
means the flow of water and/or other materials to the storm water system from any distinguishable or identifiable source, other than from a vessel or other floating craft.
"Non-storm water discharge"
means any discharge that is not entirely composed of storm water or any release of pollutants that potentially or actually discharges to the City's stormwater system.
"Pollutant"
means any material other than water.
"Pollutant loading"
means the aggregate quantity of all pollutants.
"Polluted discharges"
means those discharges whose pollutant load is such as to detract from or place limits on any actual or potential beneficial use of the receiving waters.
"Premises"
means any building, lot, parcel, real estate, or land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
"Prohibited discharge"
means any polluted discharge or any discharge to the City's storm water system that is not composed entirely of storm water, except discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit, discharges resulting from emergency fire fighting activities and discharges further exempted at Section 17-12.140(B)(2).
"Significant noncompliance"
means noncompliance with any provision of this article that either:
(1) 
Poses or threatens to pose a significant danger to the environment or public health;
(2) 
Has not been abated in a reasonable period of time; or
(3) 
Has recurred.
"Storm water"
means storm water runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface water runoff and drainage.
"Storm water system"
means those facilities by which storm water may be collected and conveyed to any stream, watercourse, other body of water or wetlands, publicly or privately owned which are not part of a Publicly Owned Treatment Works ("POTW") as that term is defined in 40 C.F.R. Section 122.2.
"Unpolluted discharges"
means those discharges whose pollutant load does not detract from, or place limits on any actual or potential beneficial use of the receiving water.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
This article shall be construed in a manner which is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof, any applicable implementing regulations thereto and any NPDES Permit for storm water discharges from the Santa Rosa area issued by the State Water Resources Control Board or the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and any amendment, revision or reissuance of the permit.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
The release of non-stormwater discharges to the City's storm water system is prohibited.
(B) 
The following discharges are exempt from the prohibition set forth in subsection (A) of this section:
(1) 
Any discharge in compliance with a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to the discharger and administered by the State of California under the authority of the United States Environmental Protection Agency;
(2) 
Discharges from the following activities will not be considered a prohibited discharge to the City's storm water system when properly managed: flushing of potable water from potable water lines and other discharges from potable water sources, landscape irrigation and lawn watering, irrigation water, diverted stream flows, rising ground waters, uncontaminated ground water infiltration to storm drains, uncontaminated pumped ground water, foundation and footing drains, water from crawl space pumps, air conditioning condensation, springs, runoff from individual residential car washing, flows from riparian habitats and wetlands, dechlorinated swimming pool discharges or flows from emergency fire fighting, and other flows necessary for implementing BMPs directed or approved by the Director of Public Works.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
Any discharge that would result in, or contribute to, a violation of any NPDES permit for storm water discharges from the Santa Rosa area and any amendment, revision, or reissuance of such permit, either separately considered or when combined with other discharges, is prohibited. Liability for any such discharge shall be the responsibility of the person(s) causing or responsible for the discharge, and such persons shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the City, its officers, agents and employees in any administrative or judicial enforcement action relating to such discharge.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
It is unlawful to establish, use, maintain or continue unauthorized drainage connections to the City's stormwater system.
(B) 
It is unlawful to establish, use, maintain or continue drainage connections to the City's storm water system which are or may be a source of prohibited discharges.
(C) 
It is unlawful to commence or continue any unauthorized and/or prohibited discharges to the City's storm water system.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
Activities Resulting in Discharge of Pollutants. Any person engaging in activities which may result in pollutants entering the City's stormwater system shall undertake all practicable measures to reduce and/or eliminate such pollutants. All activities that do actually, or may potentially, result in the deposit of pollutants in or on the City's storm water system, in any tributary of this system, and all land which drains to either this system or any of its tributaries shall be construed as activities which may result in pollutants entering the City's stormwater system. Examples of such activities include, but are not limited to, ownership and use of premises which may be a source of pollutants such as parking lots, gasoline stations, industrial facilities, business enterprises and dwelling units.
(B) 
Pollutants and Littering. In addition to the prohibitions of Section 9-12.050, no person shall throw, deposit, leave, keep or permit to be thrown, deposited, placed, left or maintained, any refuse, household hazardous wastes or other hazardous wastes, garbage, debris, or other wastes, or other discarded or abandoned objects or articles in or upon any storm water system or upon any public or private plot of land in the City so that the same might become a pollutant, except in lawfully established waste disposal facilities.
(C) 
Sidewalks. The occupant or tenant, or in the absence of occupant or tenant, the owner or proprietor of any real property in the City in front of which there is a paved sidewalk shall maintain that portion of the sidewalk in front of the property free of dirt or litter to the maximum extent practicable. Sweepings from the sidewalk shall not be swept or otherwise made or allowed to go into the gutter or roadway or any element of any drainage system, but shall be disposed of in receptacles maintained as required for the disposal of solid waste.
(D) 
Construction Activities. Any construction contractor performing work in the City shall implement appropriate best management practices to prevent the discharge of construction wastes or debris or contaminants from construction materials, tools, and equipment from entering the storm water system.
(E) 
Bodies of Water. No person shall throw or deposit litter in any fountain, pool, lake, stream, river or any other body of water in a park or elsewhere within the City.
(F) 
Standard for Parking Lots, Paved Areas, and Related Storm Water Systems. Persons owning, operating, or maintaining a paved parking lot, the paved areas of a gas station, a paved private street, road, or driveway and related storm water systems shall clean those structures as frequently and thoroughly as practicable in a manner that does not result in discharge of pollutants to the storm water system.
(G) 
Notification of Intent and Compliance with General Permits. Each industrial discharger, discharger associated with construction activity or other discharger described in any general storm water permit addressing such discharges as may be adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, North Coast Region, shall provide the notice of intent, comply with, and undertake all other activities required by any general storm water permit applicable to such dischargers, and shall provide a copy of the notice of intent and of each annual report pursuant to any general storm water permit to the Director of Public Works, and shall pay any associated monitoring and enforcement fees to the City that may be set by the City Council. Each discharger identified in an individual NPDES permit relating to stormwater discharges shall comply with and undertake all activities required by such permit.
(H) 
Compliance with Best Management Practices. Where best management practice guidelines or requirements have been adopted or published by the Environmental Protection Agency, any State of California agency, any San Francisco Bay Area agency, or the City, for any activity, operation or facility which may cause or contribute to prohibited discharges, every person undertaking such activity or operation or owning or operating such commercial facility shall comply with such guideline or requirement.
(I) 
Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. The Director of Public Works may require any business in the City that is engaged in activities which may result in prohibited discharges to develop and implement a storm water pollution prevention plan, which must include an employee training program. Business activities which may require a storm water pollution prevention plan include, but are not limited to, maintenance, storage, manufacturing, assembly, equipment operations, vehicle loading or fueling, or cleanup procedures which are carried out partially or wholly out of doors.
(J) 
Coordination with Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and Inventory. Any business subject to the Hazardous Materials Release Response and Inventory Plan, Division 20, Chapter 6.95 of the California Health and Safety Code (commencing with Section 25500), shall include in that plan provision(s) for compliance with this article, including the prohibitions on non-storm water discharges and the requirement to reduce the release of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
Inspections. Routine or area inspections by the City shall be based upon such reasonable selection process as may be deemed necessary to carry out the objectives of this article, including, but not limited to, random sampling and/or sampling in areas where there is evidence of storm water contamination, discharge of non-storm water to the storm water system, or similar activities. Such inspections may also be done in conjunction with routine inspections conducted by other public agencies such as the industrial waste section of the City's Utilities Department, the City's Fire Department or the County's Department of Health Services.
(B) 
Authority to Sample and Establish Sampling Devices. With the consent of the owner or the occupant of property or pursuant to a search or inspection warrant, any authorized City employee may take such samples and meter such discharges as the Director of Public Works deems necessary to determine whether a non-storm water discharge has taken place or is taking place and to determine the magnitude of such discharges. Such City employee may establish on any property such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling or metering operations. During all inspections as provided herein, the Director of Public Works may take any samples deemed necessary to aid in the pursuit of the inquiry or in the recordation of the activities on-site.
(C) 
Training of Employees—Notification of Spills. The owner of a commercial facility or the persons responsible for emergency response for a commercial facility have the responsibility to train facility personnel and maintain notification procedures to assure:
(1) 
Immediate notification is provided to the City Department of Public Works of any suspected, confirmed or unconfirmed release of material, pollutants or waste creating a risk of discharge into the City storm water system;
(2) 
Immediate notification is given to the "911" emergency response system if said discharge poses an immediate threat to the public health or safety and/or the environment;
(3) 
Written notification is provided to the Director of Public Works within five working days.
(a) 
Training of personnel shall assure that all BMPs are being fully and correctly implemented and that all releases of any non-storm water discharge or of any pollutant that threatens to enter the City's storm water system are immediately recognized and that appropriate response is taken in the event of such release.
(b) 
As soon as any person in charge of a commercial facility or who is responsible for emergency response for a commercial facility has knowledge of, or reasonably could be expected to have knowledge of, any suspected, confirmed or unconfirmed release of a non-storm water discharge entering, or of any pollutant that is threatening to enter, the City storm water system from such facility, such person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the early discovery and containment and clean up such release and shall immediately notify the City Department of Public Works. In addition, written notification shall be given to the Director of Public Works within five working days. This written notification shall contain as a minimum a narrative describing the circumstances resulting in the release, or threatened release, the effort taken to clean up the release and the measures being taken to prevent reoccurrence. This notification requirement is in addition to, and not in lieu of, other required notifications.
(D) 
Requirement to Test or Monitor. Any authorized City employee may require that any person engaged in any activity or owning or operating any commercial facility which may cause or contribute to illicit discharges, undertake such monitoring activities and/or analysis and furnish such reports as the authorized employee may specify. The burden, including costs, of these activities, analysis and reports shall bear a reasonable relationship to the need for the monitoring and/or analysis and reports and the benefits to be obtained. The recipient of such a requirement shall undertake and provide the monitoring, analysis and reports required.
(E) 
Order to Cease and Desist. When the Director of Public Works finds that the discharge from a commercial facility is taking place, or is threatening to take place, in violation of the prohibitions of this article or any other discharge control requirements, the Director of Public Works may issue a written order to cease and desist and may direct the discharger to:
(1) 
Comply forthwith with the order and to cease those operations which result or threaten to result in discharges which violate any prohibition or limit of this article until such time as the Director states in writing that he or she is satisfied that BMPs which will remove the threat are in place;
(2) 
Comply with the order in accordance with a time schedule set by the Director; or
(3) 
In the event of a threatened violation take appropriate remedial or preventive action.
(F) 
Require that the Discharger Submit a Schedule of Remedial or Preventive Action. When the Director of Public Works finds that the discharge from a commercial facility is taking place, or is threatening to take place, in violation of the prohibitions of this article or any other discharge control requirements, the Director of Public Works may issue an order to cease and desist and may direct the discharger to submit for her or his approval a detailed time schedule of specific actions the discharger shall take to correct or prevent the violation of such prohibitions and requirements.
(G) 
Predischarge Facility. When source reduction BMPs are in the opinion of the Director of Public Works inadequate to prevent actual or potential prohibited discharges from a commercial facility to the City's storm water system, the Director of Public Works may require that the owner of the commercial facility shall provide, at the owner's expense, such predischarge facilities as may be necessary to reduce the pollutant load at a point prior to discharge from said facility or to any element of the City's storm water system. The Director of Public Works may further require that the owner of the commercial facility, at the owner's expense, provide a monitoring access hole so that the pollutant loading may be periodically measured. Examples of predischarge facilities are oil/grease interceptors and sand/silt interceptors.
Plans, specifications, and other pertinent factors related to the aforementioned predischarge facilities shall be submitted to the City for approval by the Director of Public Works. Construction of the proposed facilities shall not commence until the Director's approval is obtained in writing and use of the facilities shall not commence until the completed facilities are approved in writing by the Director. Such facilities, once approved, shall be continuously maintained in satisfactory operating condition to the satisfaction of the Director of Public Works.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
(A) 
Any non-storm water discharger found to be in significant noncompliance as defined in Section 17-12.110 in any calendar year may have its name published in the largest daily newspaper published in the Santa Rosa area.
(B) 
Any person who violates any order issued by the Director of Public Works for violation of the provisions of this article regulating or prohibiting discharge of non-storm water and which causes, or threatens to cause, non-storm waters to enter the City's storm water system may be liable civilly in a sum not to exceed the amount that the City may be fined by the State Water Resources Control Board or the amount of any civil liability imposed on the City for noncompliance with the municipal storm water discharge permit for the Santa Rosa area.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
If the Director of Public Works determines that a violation of this article has created an emergency condition which seriously endangers the public health or safety, the Director of Public Works may abate the condition. The cost of said abatement shall be charged to the discharger and the City may at its option recover the same in a civil action. Such charge shall be in addition to any penalty for a violation of the article under Sections 1712.190 or 17-12.200(B) of this article.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
Any person who submits a report required by this article, which she or he knows, or should have reason to know, contains falsified data shall be subject to a fine not to exceed the amount that the City may be fined by the State Water Resources Control Board or the amount of any civil liability imposed on the City for noncompliance with the municipal stormwater discharge permit for the Santa Rosa area.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
Concealing, aiding, or abetting a violation of any provision of this article shall constitute a violation of such provision.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
Any person who violates any provision of this article or who violates any cease and desist order or prohibition may also be in violation of the Federal Clean Water Act and/or the Porter-Cologne Act and may be subject to the sanction of those acts including civil and criminal penalties. Any enforcement actions authorized under this article may also include notice to the violator of such potential liability.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
In addition to the penalties provided herein, the City Council finds and determines that any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this article is a threat to the public health, safety and welfare, is declared to be a nuisance and may be abated as such.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of this article may be enforced by civil action brought by the City. In any such action, the City may seek, as appropriate, any or all of the following:
(A) 
A temporary restraining order, preliminary and permanent injunction;
(B) 
Reimbursement for the costs of any investigation, inspection, or monitoring survey which led to the establishment of the violation, and for the reasonable costs of preparing and bringing administrative action under this article;
(C) 
Costs incurred in removing, correcting, or terminating the adverse effect resulting from the violation;
(D) 
Compensatory damages for loss or destruction of water quality, wildlife, fish and aquatic life.
Costs and damages recovered under this section shall be paid to the City and shall be used exclusively for costs associated with monitoring and establishing storm water discharge pollution control system(s) and implementing or enforcing the provisions of this article.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
The remedies identified in this article are in addition to and do not supersede or limit any and all other remedies, civil or criminal. The remedies provided in this article shall be cumulative and not exclusive.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
If any discharger disputes an interpretation or application of this article, the discharger may request in writing a ruling by the Director of Public Works on the matter. The Director will set forth his or her determination(s) in writing.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)
If the discharger is dissatisfied with the determinations made by the Director of Public Works under Section 17-12.290, the discharger may, within 30 days after receipt of the ruling by the Director of Public Works, appeal the ruling to the City Council by filing a written notice of appeal with the City Clerk. The notice shall state each basis and the grounds for the appeal. The Council shall make a final determination of the issue(s) so submitted.
(Ord. 3272 § 1, 1996)