[Adopted 1-15-1951 by Ord. No. 631]
This article is declared to be an ordinance to protect the public health and safety of the City of Royal Oak by preventing the overloading of sewers, with the consequent danger of contamination and flooding.
It shall hereafter be unlawful for any sewer connection to be made to or with any sanitary sewer, storm sewer, or combined sewer from any lot or parcel of land not located in the special assessment district created for the purpose of building such sewer and for which the property was specially assessed for the payment of the cost of said sewer, except in accordance with the provisions and conditions hereinafter set forth.
No such sewer connection shall be permitted without obtaining a special temporary sewer connection permit from the Inspection Department, as well as securing any permit or permits required by other ordinances of the City. Application for such permit shall be made to the Inspection Department of the City, and the applicant shall pay the service charge for such permit hereinafter provided.
Such special permit for temporary connection may be issued by the Inspection Department only after ascertaining that the same may be granted without danger of overloading the sewer to which such temporary connection is proposed to be made and only after the applicant has signed an agreement to discontinue said temporary connection whenever the property to which connection is made is included in a special assessment district created for the purpose of constructing a sanitary sewer, storm sewer, or combined sewer to serve said district; such contract shall also provide that the applicant will construct and maintain any temporary connections made by him at his own expense and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Engineering Department. Such contract shall also provide that the applicant waive any objections on behalf of the property served by the temporary connection to any future proceedings assessing said property for a permanent sanitary, storm or combined sewer constructed to serve the property in question and other properties. The special permit may be revoked at any time when a permanent service connection is available to the property affected, or when the continuance of such special permit is deemed prejudicial to the properties regularly served by the sewer affected.
The service charged for such temporary sewer permits shall be as follows:
A. 
Where the property of the applicant for which connection is desired is located outside of the special assessment district in which said sewer is located, the applicant shall pay a service charge equivalent to the amount paid by the property owners located in the district who received substantially the same benefit as the applicant.
B. 
If the connection is to be made to a main or lateral sanitary sewer or a main or lateral combined sewer which was financed by the City at large, the applicant shall pay a service charge equivalent to a benefit charge were there available for his use a special assessment lateral sanitary or combined sewer for which benefit assessments would be levied. In no case shall such charge be less than $100.
C. 
In case a connection is desired to a main or lateral sewer constructed by the City with the assistance of the Federal Works Process Administration, and for which the only cost to the City was the cost of materials for the construction of same, the applicant shall pay to the City a sum equivalent to that paid by others using the same sewer, which sum shall be ascertained by the Inspector by reference to the records. In case he is unable to ascertain the proper amount, the City Commission shall determine the charge upon recommendation by the City Manager.
D. 
In case a connection is desired to a main or lateral sewer constructed by the City at large, but paid for in part by special assessments or for which service charges have been paid by other property owners having connections to such main or lateral sewer, the applicant shall pay the amount equivalent to that paid by others using the same main or lateral sewer.
Whenever the use of a temporary connection permitted by the terms of this article is discontinued, and upon payment in full of any special assessment levied against the property or properties for a permanent sewer built to serve the district in which the property served by the temporary connection is located, a refund of the service charge shall be made as follows: such refund shall be payable to the person originally making payment if such person is still the owner of the property using the connection; in other cases such refund will be made to the person or persons owning said property at the time such service connection is discontinued; provided, however, the amount of refund due may be allowed as a credit against the special assessment levied against the property to the extent such credit is required, and the balance, if any, paid to the then owners of the property, provided the balance, if any, of the assessment for the permanent sewer is paid in full.
A. 
If the temporary service connection is used for a period not to exceed three years, and the property using such connection has become subject to a sewer assessment for the building of a permanent sanitary or combination lateral sewer, a credit equal to the full amount of the original deposit shall be allowed on the special assessment roll, and the balance of such deposit, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the property.
B. 
If said temporary connection under special permit from the Inspection Department has been used for a period of more than three years but less than 10 years, a refund shall be made as provided in Subsection A above, equal to 75% of the amount of the original service charge.
C. 
If such temporary connection has been used more than 10 years, but less than 25 years, a refund shall be made as provided in Subsection A, equal to 50% of the original service charge.
D. 
If such temporary connection is used more than 25 years, no refund shall be allowed.
When any application for connection to a sanitary or combined main or lateral sewer is made, it shall be the duty of the Chief Inspector, or other persons delegated by him, to ascertain whether the property for which such application is made is located within any special assessment district specially assessed for the purpose of paying the cost of constructing the sanitary or combined sewer for which a connection is desired. If he finds that the property is not located in such special assessment district, he shall ascertain whether such sewer connection will be feasible and practicable and would not overtax the capacity of the sewer to which connection is applied for. If he finds that said connection is practicable, he may authorize issuance of a special permit for such connection upon payment of the proper fee.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall make, authorize or permit a connection to be made to a public sewer in the City of Royal Oak in violation of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be fined not to exceed $100 or imprisoned not to exceed 30 days in the Oakland County Jail or Royal Oak City Prison, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Every day an unauthorized connection continues shall be deemed a separate offense.