City of Elk Grove Rural Area Residents – Will they be on the hook for the cost of sewer hookups?
Open Letter to Elk Grove City Councilmember Rob Brewer, District 2 Representative | By Constance Conley | As noted during the Thursda...
Open Letter to Elk Grove City Councilmember Rob Brewer, District 2 Representative |
As noted during the Thursday, May 29, 2025, Summer Villas information session held by the project’s proponents, the 499-house project on Sheldon and Waterman Roads will necessitate the installation of sewer lines. The subdivision will be connected to existing sewer lines from either Calvine or Elk Grove-Florin Roads, according to the applicants’ attorney, Matthew Keasling.
Listen to the comments regarding sewer installation on this YouTube video. This link takes you to the approximate location, 4:44 to 5:28, in the video.
Councilmember Brewer, will you help pay for rural area sewer hookups? The projected cost is $15,000–$40,000 for a single-family home in a semi-rural setting. (Costly breakdowns below.)
Seriously, what could happen is this: The Elk Grove City Council could take our water and then turn around and charge rural area residents tens of thousands of dollars to get their water back. As a resident of the rural area, bottom line, this means they will take our water and then charge us for it dearly!
Undoubtedly, the mayor and city council will deny the statements and/or say it is a distortion. If it is, please prove us wrong in a written assurance this will not happen.
If you, and your Elk Grove City Council colleagues, approve the proposed Summer Villas housing development in the city’s rural area, you will be affecting a lifestyle that you and preceding city council members have vowed to protect.
By now you have heard all the arguments on why the city should preserve this unique portion of the city so I will not belabor them. There is another major effect approval of this housing development could have on your constituents, and it involves personal finances.
As experience has shown, once a sewer mainline is installed, dwellings along that line can be compelled to become part of the water and sewage system. As you know, most Elk Grove rural area residents have wells and septic systems.
If the Elk Grove City Council decides to compel rural residents near Calvine or Sheldon Roads, the cost could be significant, especially those on fixed-incomes who want to age-in-place.
As you should know, active Elk Grove residents do their homework. Below is very important information that every rural area resident must be aware.
Closing
The Elk Grove City Council vowed to preserve the rural Elk Grove. There was a commitment to protect and maintain the characteristics and features of the rural area.
Thousands of homeowners could be severely impacted by a change in the rural area zoning code. The city council must be held accountable to their constituents to the highest degree.
Below is from Chat GPT search
This is the question posed:
What is the cost for a typical single-family dwelling in a semi-rural area such as Elk Grove, California, that is 75-feet away to hook up to a new water and sewer connection in northern California? When a new sewer line is installed, is a property owner compelled to join the system?
This is the answer:
Here’s an overview of what’s involved in hooking up a typical single-family dwelling in a semi-rural area like Elk Grove, CA, to a new water and sewer connection:
1️⃣ Typical Costs
Costs can vary, but here’s a ballpark estimate:
🔧 Water Connection:
- Water meter & lateral installation: $3,000–$8,000
- Trenching, excavation, backfill, paving restoration: $2,000–$5,000
- Connection fees (capacity charges, hookup fees): $5,000–$15,000
🔧 Sewer Connection:
- Sewer lateral and tie-in to main: $3,000–$7,000
- Trenching, excavation, restoration: $2,000–$5,000
- Sewer connection/impact fees: $5,000–$15,000
📌 Total estimated range (water + sewer):
$15,000–$40,000 for a single-family home in a semi-rural setting.
2️⃣ Distance Factor
You mentioned a 75-foot distance. This can raise trenching/excavation costs by a few thousand dollars. Generally, the above estimate includes up to 100 feet of lateral distance, so 75 feet would typically be in that typical range.
3️⃣ Obligation to Connect
When a new public sewer line becomes available:
✔️ California Health & Safety Code § 5463 (and similar local ordinances) states that if a new public sewer line is installed and your property’s existing system (like a septic tank) is within 200 feet of it and deemed failing or inadequate, you may be required to connect.
✔️ Even if not failing, many local agencies require connection if a new line is installed and the agency has ordinances compelling hook-ups to the new system.
✔️ In Elk Grove, the Sacramento Area Sewer District (SASD) typically requires properties to connect when a new sewer main is available, especially if it’s within 200 feet.
⚡ Key Takeaways
✅ Connection costs for a typical single-family home: $15,000–$40,000
✅ Property owners may be compelled to connect if new sewer lines are installed and the local ordinance requires it.
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3 comments
In my humble opinion, sewer lines (and the required lift pump in this case) are paid for one of two ways: The private developer fronts the cost of installation and builds that into the sale price of the home; or the private developer agrees to have the sewer distirct use its new or established CFD tax-exempt bond proceeds to front the cost and homeowners pay the bond back over time, usually 30 years.
I understand that this particular developer doesn't plan to even lift a hammer, but flip his entitlement approval to a homebuilder who will incur all of the conditions of approval (and make no mistake, this is an approval). I would also be on the lookout for the bait and switch trick, whereby the final developer comes to the City and says there is no market for senior housing and wants an amendment to open up the project to all ages. Federal fair housing laws would probably prevent the City from saying NO.
As the City prepares for it's 25th anniversary, one thing is clear though--the City'sGeneral Plan is not worth the paper it's written on.
The key point in Ms. Conley's letter to Councilmember Rod Brewer is this:
many local agencies require connection if a new line is installed and the agency has ordinances compelling hook-ups to the new system.
Put another way, will the mayor and city councilmembers, Mr. Brewer in particular, who has accept campaign contributions from Mr. Kalwani, compel rural area resident who may have to pay ten of thousands of dollars for sewer hook ups just so they can satisfy their contributors who finance their campaigns?
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2023/05/who-will-prevail-over-elk-grove-city.html
Sewers take shit from your houses. If the city forces them to go on the sewer system, maybe that waste can be directed to the mayor and city councilmembers offices because we all know they deal in lots of bullshit!
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