Who pays for the sewer lateral in Chico, CA

Who is responsible for which part

The property owner owns the sewer lateral and maintains it all the way from the building to the City's main, at their sole cost - the portion under the street included, and the fitting where it joins the main with it. The water line in that same street belongs to California Water Service.

The property owner

All of it, at the owner's expense. The City states that "the owner of premises connected to the sewer system shall be responsible for maintaining the sewer lateral between the waste disposal system on such premises and the sewer main adjacent to the lot or parcel on which such premises are located in good order and condition and at owner's sole cost and expense", and elsewhere defines a sewer lateral as the run of sewer piping between a building's waste disposal system and a sewer main or trunkline. Both statements reach the main, so the run under the street is the owner's on the face of the code - and the City goes one step further in its own words, putting the far end beyond argument: the owner "owns and is responsible for maintaining the entire sewer lateral from the plumbing in the property owner's buildings, up to and including the connection to the sewer main in the street". It adds that "City crews are not allowed onto private property in order to clean or maintain privately owned sewer laterals". One thing worth knowing if you are the first property on a block to connect: an owner required to install a lateral within a public street or easement is entitled under section 15.36.236 to be reimbursed part of that cost out of the charges levied on later owners who connect to the same lateral, under a written agreement with the City, over a period of between fifteen and thirty years. That is repayment for building the pipe, not a share in keeping it up.

Checked 2026-09-19

What is required

• When you askPermit

  Chico Municipal Code 15.36.240 states that "no person shall cause or permit premises to be initially connected to the sewer system nor shall any person increase the number of dwelling units on residential premises connected to the sewer system ... without a connection permit issued by the director". Section 15.36.236 adds that an owner required to install a lateral in a public street is entitled to be reimbursed part of what it cost them.

  What to do: If you are adding a unit or changing the use of the property, ask about the sewer connection permit alongside the building permit. If the work means laying a lateral in a public street, ask the City about a reimbursement agreement before the work rather than after - the entitlement runs through an agreement executed between the City and the owner.

  Why this matters▸▾

  "Increase the number of dwelling units" is an accessory dwelling unit, so adding one in Chico needs a sewer connection permit - the same provision Visalia uses, word for word. The reimbursement is not a grant and does not come from the City. It is paid out of the sewer lateral charges levied on later owners who connect to the same lateral, under a written agreement, over a stipulated period of between fifteen and thirty years. It is a claim on whoever connects to your pipe later, not money back now, and a subdivision's own lots are excluded from it.

  In force since 1986-01-01 · Checked 2026-09-13

  Chico Municipal Code sections 15.36.240 (Connection permit requirements) and 15.36.236 (Reimbursement for cost of installing sewer laterals), chapter 15.36 (Ord. 1735, Ord. 2364, Ord. 2510)

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction

Chico (municipality)

Sewer service

Not mapped. No sewer service territory covering this area has been added, so BelowGrid cannot say who serves an individual address here.