A committee has been drafting a new county subsurface sewage treatment system (septic) ordinance, and property owners around the county may have differing opinions on the requirements outlined in it.
Cook County Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson asked the county board on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 for authorization to begin a public hearing process on the proposed ordinance. He told the board he thinks it will provoke a considerable amount of community discussion.
The proposed ordinance follows state guidelines and includes several significant requirements: 1) All already existing septic systems would be required to have an operating permit; management plans would be required for all new or replacement septic systems; 2) property owners would be required to have their septic systems inspected whenever the property changed hands, even if within a family; and 3) property owners would be required to have their septic systems pumped every three years (whether they needed it or not). Ordinance violations are misdemeanors, considered a separate offense for each day the violations exist.
This draft represents “a bit of a policy shift,” said Nelson. State statute requires the county to adopt a septic ordinance by February 2010, but Nelson believes the state will be lenient if the county is in the process of adopting one.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja raised a question about one provision stating, “It is unlawful for any person to maintain, occupy, or use any building intended for habitation that is not provided with a wastewater treatment system.” That seems to prohibit anyone from exercising the option of living in the woods without running water, he said.
“That is a very good question,” Nelson answered. He said the ordinance is not intended to compel people without running water to get running water, but it does require anyone with pressurized water into their building to have a treatment system. Sobanja stated that this needs to be clarified in the document.
Some of the requirements of the ordinance would necessitate extra administration from the Planning & Zoning office.
A public hearing on the proposed ordinance will be held with the Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 18 at the Cook County Courthouse.
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