Sewer Ban Will Postpone 1,668 Houses and Condos

A five-week moratorium on sewer hook-ups imposed by the San Diego City Council on the city’s booming northern neighborhoods will delay the construction of at least 1,668 homes, apartments and condominiums and 38 commercial sites, statistics from the city Water Utilities Department showed Wednesday.

The council voted Tuesday to withhold until July 29 building permits and sewer connections leading from the fast-growing areas to an undependable Sorrento Valley sewage pumping station, which since 1979 has periodically spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Los Penasquitos Lagoon.

Areas affected by the moratorium include Sorrento Valley, North City West, Rancho Penasquitos, Scripps Ranch and Mira Mesa.

The moratorium immediately froze plans for the construction of 1,300 single-family homes, 368 condominiums and apartments, and 38 commercial sites--the sum of development eligible for building and sewer connection permits until Tuesday’s ban.

Corinne Smith, a water department supervisor, said the development would eventually produce 504,000 gallons of sewage daily to the Sorrento Valley pump station.

But that probably won’t be for a while, Smith said. Even if the sewer connection permits were issued immediately, it could be months before the homes and offices are actually built and occupied.

The council imposed the moratorium on sewer connections at the urging of Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer, who said sending more sewage to the undependable pump station would threaten public health.

Council members chose the July 29 deadline for the moratorium because that is one day after water department administrators are scheduled to report to state pollution officials with an emergency plan to upgrade Pump Station 64 on Roselle Street.

The regional Water Quality Control Board decided not to impose a connection ban of its own on the 100-square mile area that sends sewage to Station 64. Instead, it issued a “cease and desist” order against further spills and demanded emergency improvements.

Council members said they hoped the self-imposed moratorium would demonstrate a conscientious effort by the city to stop the spills.

Escaping the effects of the city’s moratorium were developers who had already obtained sewer-connection approvals but had yet to build their projects in the Station 64 service area. Council members agreed to allow those developers to tap into the sewers.

To date, developers have obtained 1,200 connection permits without actually tapping into the sewers, Smith said. About 80% of those are in the Station 64 area--connections that will be permitted by the council exception.