Fairhope Developers Seek Grinder Pump Waivers From City Gravity Sewer Standard
Developers of Van Antwerp Park and Battles Trace Phase 5 sought exemptions from Fairhope's gravity sewer requirement, and Operations Director Richard Peterson urged the city to enforce its standards.
FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Two subdivision developers asked the Fairhope Planning Commission on Jan. 4 for waivers from the city’s sewer installation requirements so they could use grinder pump systems, setting off a debate over when such exemptions should be granted. City Operations Director Richard Peterson said the debate is coming up more often.
The commission did not approve the waiver for the proposed Van Antwerp Park subdivision. For Phase 5 of Battles Trace, the developer agreed to return with more data to support its request.
“It’s not about what I think or anyone else thinks. It’s really about what our standards say that we’ve adopted,” Peterson said. “We’ve been trying to work with these developers for the last several months to make them understand.”
Gravity versus low-pressure systems
Fairhope requires gravity sewer systems in new subdivisions. Peterson said that under a gravity system, sewage flows from a customer’s home into the city’s transmission system by gravity, and the transmission system relies on pumps that the city maintains and operates.
Both developers sought hardship exemptions to install low-pressure systems, which use a grinder pump beside each house to push sewage into the city’s system. Peterson said grinder pumps cost $3,500 each, are maintained by individual homeowners and generally must be replaced about every 10 years. The cost falls first on the builder and later on the homeowner, he said.
Peterson said gravity systems with a single pump station are the higher standard but cost developers more than low-pressure systems. City regulations allow exemptions in certain circumstances, such as unusual land conditions or situations that would make a gravity system cost prohibitive.
Van Antwerp Park
Van Antwerp Park is a proposed 11-lot subdivision on the north side of Pensacola Avenue between North Section Street and North Mobile Street. The developer offered two options, a low-pressure system and a combined low-pressure and gravity system, both using grinder pumps. Documents presented to the commission indicated, among other arguments, that a gravity system would cost 500 percent more. Planning staff recommended that the subdivision be required to meet city standards.
“The rules haven’t changed. It’s the interpretation of the rules by the new utilities director,” said Larry Smith of S.E. Civil Engineering, who represented the developer.
Until Mayor Karin Wilson defeated Tim Kant in 2016, Kant had long served as the city’s utilities superintendent in addition to his part-time role as mayor. Wilson hired Peterson, an engineer, as operations director last year and later appointed him to the Planning Commission.
Peterson said developers in the past had grown used to what he called “loose interpretations” of the standards by the city. He said city regulations exist to protect homeowners and the city, and that sewer requirements are no different from rules on building setbacks, lot sizes, drainage, parking and street construction.
“If we don’t require people to meet our standards, then we’re not doing our job,” Peterson said. If waivers are granted routinely, he added, “then there’s no real measure of confidence, when anybody buys, that it meets any standard.”
Battles Trace Phase 5
Phase 5 of Battles Trace, a subdivision owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, consists of 73 lots on the north side of Battles Road, north of the Colony at the Grand. Each earlier phase of the subdivision, dating to about 2005, has used low-pressure sewers, and RSA wants to connect Phase 5 to the existing system. Commission members were told Phase 5 would be the last phase to seek the exemption because a ridge divides the property and the next phase would have to use a different system.
Battles Trace representatives said a gravity system for Phase 5 would require digging up yards and streets in the first four phases to run 3,200 feet of new line, which they said would be cost prohibitive and disruptive to current residents. Planning staff again recommended that Phase 5 meet city standards, and Peterson said the developer had not provided data showing an economic hardship.
The Battles Trace representatives said they would bring that data to a later commission meeting rather than seek a vote on Jan. 4. Peterson said the city should enforce its own requirements. “The exceptions should not be the rule,” he said.
