It shall be unlawful for any person to improperly place, deposit, or permit to be deposited in an unsanitary manner upon public or private property within the City, or in any area under the jurisdiction of said City, any human or animal excrement, garbage or other objectionable waste.
It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet, either directly or through any storm sewer, within the City, or in any area under the jurisdiction of said City, any sanitary sewage, industrial wastes, or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with subsequent provisions of this chapter. Use of separate storm sewers and sanitary sewers is mandatory, and no combined sewers will be allowed.
[Added 11-5-2025 by Ord. No. 7-2025]
A. 
Connection of sump pumps or rainwater drainage to the sanitary sewer system is prohibited.
No sump pump or other device which discharges drainage resulting from rainwater, springs, wells, or other ground water, including but not limited to downspouts, shall be connected to the City of Geneva sanitary sewer system.
B. 
Sump pump inspections and certificates.
(1) 
Inspection and certificate required upon sale. No owner shall sell a residential or nonresidential building in the City of Geneva without first obtaining from the City of Geneva Engineering Dept. a certificate stating that no sump pump or other device which discharges drainage resulting from rainwater, springs, wells or other ground water is connected to the sanitary sewer system in violation of Subsection A of this section. No purchaser shall purchase property unless the seller has obtained the required certificate of sump pump compliance prior to closing.
(a) 
Application for certificate upon sale procedures. Certificates of sump pump compliance shall be issued in accordance with the following procedures:
(b) 
Application fee. Applications for certificates of sump pump compliance upon sale, lease, rental, or change in occupancy shall be filed with the City Of Geneva Engineering Dept. by the seller of the property or the landlord as the case may be. Said application must be filed at least 10 business days prior to the change in ownership and/or occupancy. Applications shall be submitted on the form supplied by the Engineering Department and shall be accompanied by a fee in the amount of $50.
(c) 
Inspection. Upon receipt of a completed application for certificate upon sale, lease, rental, or change in occupancy, the City Of Geneva inspector shall conduct an inspection of the property to determine compliance with the standards set forth in this section.
(d) 
Notice of violation; time to remediate. If a violation is discovered during the inspection, the property owner shall be mailed a notice of violation within five business days of the inspection which shall clearly describe the violation and the remedial action needed for compliance, and which shall provide 21 calendar days for the sump pump connection to be brought into compliance.
(e) 
Penalties for failure to obtain certificate or to timely remediate violation. Any person who fails to apply for and obtain a certificate of sump pump compliance as required by this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in this section. Any person who timely applies for a certificate, is found to be in violation, and fails to remediate the violation within 21 calendar days shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Subsection D of this section. If a seller of a property fails to comply with this or any section of this section, the seller and the new owner after the sale will be jointly and severally responsible for said compliance and all resulting penalties.
(2) 
Inspection and certificate required upon the Engineer or Director of Public Works certifying that there is substantial evidence of an illicit connection to the sanitary sewer.
If at any time the Engineer or Director of Public Works believes there is substantial evidence that a sump pump (or other device which discharges drainage resulting from rainwater, springs, wells, or other ground water, including but not limited to downspouts) has been connected to the sanitary sewer system, the Engineer or Director of Public Works shall direct that the property in question be subject to immediate inspection by the Engineer, Code Enforcement Office or the authority having jurisdiction.
(a) 
Notice of inspection. Upon the filing of the certification referenced in Subsection B(2) above, the Engineer, Code Enforcement Officer or designee shall cause a notice to be sent via Certified Mail to the property address in question, and to the registered owner of said property on the City Of Geneva tax records, giving notice of inspection to take place at any time after seven business days from the mailing of said notice of inspection.
(b) 
Inspection. At any date seven business or more days after the notice of inspection has been mailed, the Code Enforcement Officer or the Engineer or their designee shall conduct an inspection of the property to determine compliance with the standards set forth in this section, and shall make an inspection report thereon, favorable or otherwise, within five business days after completing the inspection, which will be sent via regular mail and certified mail to the property owner. If the inspection was satisfactory, a certificate of sump pump compliance shall be issued, and shall be enclosed with the mailed inspection report.
(c) 
Notice of violation; time to remediate. If a violation is discovered during the inspection, the property owner shall within five business days of the inspection be sent a notice of violation via regular mail and certified mail or signed by the owner, landlord or agent of the record property identifying receipt of notice, which shall clearly describe the violation and the remedial action needed for compliance, and which shall provide 14 calendar days for the sump pump connection to be brought into compliance, and for the Department of Engineering and Public Works to be notified of compliance, upon which a re-inspection of the property shall take place.
(d) 
Penalties for failure to timely remediate violation and obtain certificate of compliance. Any person who fails to remedy a violation and obtain a certificate of sump pump compliance within 14 calendar days as set forth in the preceding subsection, such person shall be subject to the penalties set forth in this section. Any person who timely applies for a certificate, is found to be in violation, and fails to remediate the violation within 14 calendar days, shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Subsection D of this section.
C. 
Right of entry and right to inspect.
(1) 
The City of Geneva reserves the right to use whatever tests are available to determine the existence of illicit connections to the sanitary sewer system. The City of Geneva also reserves the right to inspect properties in order to enforce these prohibitions. If tests or inspections are conducted which might cause some inconvenience or discomfort if an illicit connection exists, it shall be recognized that any such inconvenience or discomfort, or other effect of the test or inspection, is of less value and importance than the effects of such illicit connection on the health, comfort and welfare of the residents of the City Of Geneva and, consequently, there shall be no cause for action against the City Of Geneva in law or in equity.
(2) 
No person shall obstruct, hinder, delay or interfere with by force or otherwise, the Director of Public Works, the Code Enforcement Officer, or their designees in their exercise of any power or discharge of any function or duty under the provisions of this section.
(3) 
No person shall provide any false statement, false report, false document, false plans, or false specifications to the, the Engineer, Code Enforcement Officer, or their designees to obstruct, hinder, delay or interfere with the provisions of this section.
D. 
Penalties for offenses.
(1) 
Any owner of a property found to have violated this section or to have caused, constructed, installed, permitted the construction or installation of an illicit connection to the sanitary sewer system of any sump pump or other device which discharges drainage resulting from rainwater, springs, wells, or other ground water, including but not limited to downspouts, shall be subject to the fines and penalties set forth in this section.
(2) 
The minimum fine shall be $100 per day for each violation, and an additional $100 per day for each day that an unlawful discharge continues, beyond the time limit provided for remediation in the notice of violation served by the City of Geneva pursuant to Subsection B(1)(d) or B(2)(c) of this section. Each day a violation continues beyond the time limit to remediate shall be deemed a separate offense, and each day in which a notice of violation continues to be unabated shall constitute an additional $100 a day penalty until the violation(s) has been abated.
(3) 
In addition, any person who makes or causes such discharges or constructs or permits any illicit connection shall be liable to the City of Geneva for expense, loss or damage incurred by the City of Geneva as a result of such violation.
(4) 
Lien to be placed on the property. All charges, prices, costs, expenses, rents, interest or penalties, or any of them, as established herein, shall be and remain a lien attaching to the property, the same as all other taxes and municipal charges upon real estate under the laws of the State of New York, for the collection of taxes and other municipal liens upon real estate.
(5) 
Penalties for continuing violations. Upon any repeated violation of any section of this section, the City of Geneva reserves the right to bring charges against the violator in Municipal Court, asking the Court to impose any penalties authorized.
(6) 
Requests for additional time to complete work. The reviewing body may grant an extension for any condition in Subsection D upon written request by the applicant. The applicant shall include in such request the desired time period for the extension, not to exceed 60 days, and the reasoning for requesting the extension. If an extension is granted as described above, but the work is still not complete by the end of said extension, and substantial progress toward completion of the work is made, the Code Enforcement Office shall administratively grant an additional extension of no more than 30 days, on the following conditions:
(a) 
"Substantial progress" shall be defined as the completion of no less than 75% of the work to be done.
(b) 
The owner shall agree to an administrative penalty to be assessed by the City of Geneva Engineering Department, in the event that work is not completed within the 30 days, said penalty not to exceed $100 for each day that the work remains incomplete.
(7) 
Hardship or infeasibility review.
(a) 
A property owner who asserts that remediation of a violation under this section is not feasible shall, within 15 days of service of a notice of violation, submit to the Code Enforcement Officer a written request for relief. The request shall include the basis for the claim of infeasibility, together with any supporting documentation.
(b) 
The Code Enforcement Officer, in consultation with the City Engineer as necessary, shall review the request and determine whether remediation is feasible, partially feasible, or infeasible, and may impose alternative compliance measures.
(c) 
If the property owner is aggrieved by the determination of the Code Enforcement Officer, the property owner may, within 15 days of the determination, petition for a hearing before the Sewer Complaint Review Board, which shall conduct proceedings consistent with § 277-69 of this Code.
(d) 
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to waive liability for costs, damages, or expenses incurred by the City as a result of the violation.
[Amended 9-4-2019 by Ord. No. 5-2019]
The owner of all houses, buildings or properties used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other purpose, situated within the City and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public sanitary sewer of the City, is hereby required at his expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein, and to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, within 90 days after the date of official notice to do so, provided that said public sewer is within 100 feet of the property line. Said owner shall maintain and repair all lateral sewers to such building or vacant lot.