§ 34-1111. Definitions.

Terms defined herein are specific to this article and shall not be construed as conflicting with similar terms in other parts of the City Code. Terms not otherwise defined herein shall be given the definitions contained in Chapter 552, Subchapter C of the Texas Local Government Code.

The Act shall mean the Municipal Drainage Utility Systems Act, codified in the Texas Local Government Code, Title 13 (Water and Utilities), Chapter 552 (Municipal Utilities), Subchapter C (Municipal Drainage Utility Systems).

Administrative charges shall mean miscellaneous fees, other than drainage utility charges, established by the city council to recover the actual cost associated with providing optional services to users.

Assistant director shall mean the assistant director of the department overseeing the drainage utility.

Benefitted property shall mean an improved lot or tract within the drainage service area to which drainage service is provided and that is subject to the assessment of drainage utility charges.

Cost of service shall mean the costs of providing drainage service to all benefitted properties, which shall be the total of:

(1)

Prorated cost of the acquisition, whether by eminent domain or otherwise, of land, rights-of-way, options to purchase land, easements, and interests in land relating to structures, equipment, and facilities used in draining the benefitted properties;

(2)

Prorated cost of the acquisition, construction, repair, and maintenance of structures, equipment, and facilities used in draining the benefitted properties;

(3)

Prorated cost of architectural, engineering, legal, and related services, plans and specifications, studies, surveys, estimates of cost and of revenue, and all other expenses necessary or incident to planning, providing, or determining the feasibility and practicability of structures, equipment, and facilities used in draining the benefitted properties;

(4)

Prorated cost of all machinery, equipment, furniture, and facilities necessary or incident to the provision and operation of draining the benefitted properties;

(5)

Prorated cost of funding and financing charges and interest arising from construction projects and the start-up cost of a drainage facility used in draining the benefitted properties;

(6)

Prorated cost of debt service and reserve requirements of structures, equipment, and facilities provided by revenue bonds or other drainage revenue-pledge securities or obligations issued by the city;

(7)

Administrative costs of operating and maintaining the drainage utility; and

(8)

Other costs as appropriate that are incident or related to the provision and operation of draining the benefitted properties.

Customer. See the definition of User.

Department shall mean the city's transportation and capital improvements department.

Director shall mean the director of the department.

Drainage shall mean bridges, catch basins, channels, conduits, creeks, culverts, detention ponds, water quality ponds, ditches, draws, flumes, pipes, pumps, sloughs, treatment works, and appurtenances to those items, whether natural or artificial, or using force or gravity, that are used to draw off surface water from land, carry the water away, collect, store, or treat the water, or divert the water into natural or artificial watercourses.

Drainage utility shall mean the City of San Antonio Drainage Utility established by Ordinance No. 86711 adopted on September 25, 1997.

Drainage utility charges shall mean the service fees imposed on users and set out in a rate schedule to recover the cost of the service of furnishing drainage service for all benefitted properties, including any interest and penalties; and amounts made in contribution to funding of future drainage system construction by the city.

Drainage system shall mean all real and personal property owned or controlled in whole or in part by the city and dedicated to the drainage utility for the purpose of providing drainage service to benefitted properties, including any future additions, extensions, and improvements thereto and replacement thereof.

Facilities shall mean the real, personal, or mixed property that is used in providing drainage service and included in the drainage system.

Impervious area or impervious cover. See City of San Antonio Unified Development Code, Appendix A—Definitions and Rules of Interpretation (roads, parking areas, buildings, pools, patios, sheds, driveways, private sidewalks, and other impermeable construction covering the natural land surface).

Improved lot or tract shall mean a lot or tract that has a structure or other improvement on it that causes an impervious area or surface.

Non-residential properties shall mean all benefitted properties within the service area, other than residential properties.

Owner shall mean the owner of record of benefitted property.

Public utility shall mean drainage service that is provided by the drainage utility to the users of benefitted properties within the service area and that is based on:

(1)

An established schedule of rates;

(2)

Use of the police power to implement the service; and

(3)

Nondiscriminatory, reasonable, and equitable terms consistent with the Act.

Residential properties shall mean all benefitted properties within the service area used for single-family home, duplex, triplex, quadplex properties, or mobile home land use.

Service area shall mean the city limits of the City of San Antonio, Texas as may be amended from time-to-time.

User or customer shall mean the person or entity that owns or occupies a benefitted property and who is responsible for paying the drainage utility charges.

Wholly sufficient and privately owned drainage system shall mean on-site drainage retention facilities designed to keep runoff from an improved lot or tract from discharging into any natural or manmade waterway or drainage infrastructure including public streets, storm drains, culverts, drainage easements, or storm water ponds that are part of the drainage system; for storms of magnitude up to and including the one-percent-annual chance (100-year) storm event, 24-hour duration, captured runoff must be removed from the retention system within seventy-two (72) hours of the rainfall event without discharging into the drainage system.

(Ord. No. 2015-09-10-0761 , § 7(Exh. D), 9-10-15; Ord. No. 2016-09-29-0737 , § 2, 9-26-16)