[Adopted 9-20-1950 as Section 4-3.5 of Ch. 4 of the General Ordinances; amended in its entirety 5-5-2021 by L.L. No. 4-2021]
Where a public sewer is available and accessible in a street, alley, easement or thoroughfare to a building or premises abutting thereon, the liquid sewage wastes from any plumbing system in said building shall be discharged into the public sewer unless otherwise prohibited, except that where a place of residence is so located that a gravity connection from the plumbing above the first floor thereof to the street sewer is not possible or such place of residence is located more than 150 feet from the nearest public sewer, a separate sewerage system may be maintained which otherwise complies with City, county or state health laws, codes or regulations. Immediately after the construction of a sewer connection every sewage tank, cesspool or privy vault shall be emptied, cleaned, disinfected and filled with clean mineral soil, rock or gravel. Where a public sanitary sewer is not accessible, a building permit shall not be issued without submission of a copy of the written approval of the Westchester County Commissioner of Health, indicating that the premises may be adequately sewered by a separate sewage disposal system. The further approval of the Common Council of the City of Rye is required for such separate disposal systems. In addition thereto there shall be an annual inspection of all private sewage disposal systems by a contractor duly approved by the Westchester County Commissioner of Health on all properties bordering on all watercourses, including Long Island Sound, Milton Harbor and all tributaries thereto, and wherever else directed by the Sanitation Committee of the Common Council. A written certificate of such inspection shall be submitted to said Committee for such action thereon as it may direct.
A. 
Where an owner of any building is required to discharge sewage or other liquid wastes from any plumbing system into a public sewer as required by § 161-1 of this Code, he shall maintain such plumbing system within the building and from the building to the point of connection with the public sewer main, so as not to expose or discharge the sewage contents or other deleterious liquid or matter therefrom to the atmosphere, except through legally permissible vents, or on the surface of the ground, public or private, or into any storm sewer or drain or into any watercourse or body of water.
B. 
No property owners shall discharge or cause to be discharged any non-sewage flow into the City's public sewer including, but not limited to, any such flow from: pumped groundwater, foundation or footing drains, crawl space or basement sump pump discharges, rain gutters, and any other potential water source with non-sewage flow. Any such connection for non-sewage flow shall be deemed an unauthorized connection and the property owner shall be obligated to remove such connection at their own expense.
A. 
The City of Rye and all users of the city's sanitary sewer system shall be subject to all applicable rules and regulations contained in the Westchester County Environmental Facilities Sewer Ordinance No. 1, as amended. A copy of Sewer Ordinance No. 1, as last amended, is available for review in the office of the City Clerk of the City of Rye.
B. 
The City of Rye and its agents may conduct inspections of public sewer connections to identify any unauthorized connections and issue violations to property owners.
A. 
If the provisions of the foregoing sections are not complied with, the City Manager or the Building Inspector shall cause written notice to be served personally upon the owner or by mailing the same to the name of the last known owner of the premises where the building is located as the same appears on the assessment roll of the City of Rye for the last calendar year. If the owner fails, neglects or refuses to correct the conditions and remove the violations so as to comply with the provisions of this article within 10 days after service of such notice, then in that event, the City may cause the plumbing system to be repaired or replaced so as to comply with the provisions of this article, and the cost or expense of doing said work, plus an administrative charge of $100, shall be ascertained, and a report thereof shall be forthwith filed with the City Comptroller and City Assessor. The total cost of the same shall be paid by the owner to the City within 30 days after demand. The owner shall have the right to a hearing before the City Manager with respect to the total cost of the work as set forth in said report within 10 days after service by mail of a copy of said report.
B. 
The total cost of said work, as the same shall appear from the report on file with the City Comptroller, may be sued for and recovered from said owner in a civil suit.
C. 
The total cost of said work shall become and be a lien on the property benefited by the work done on the plumbing system, and, if the owner thereof shall fail to pay the total cost of the work within 30 days after demand, the City Assessor shall, in the preparation of the next assessment roll, assess such amount upon such property, and the same shall be levied, collected and enforced in the same manner as taxes upon said property for City purposes are levied, collected and enforced.
A. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day such violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
B. 
Where the City Engineer has, upon inspection, identified an unauthorized connection pursuant to § 161-2B, the City Engineer may issue a notice of violation and order property owners to remove any such unauthorized connections at the property owner's expense. If property owners do not comply with an order of the City Engineer to remove an unauthorized connection within a timely manner, i.e., within 15 days, the City, or any of its agents, may take administrative or judicial enforcement action, including impositions of penalties pursuant to § 161-4A.