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A. Ownership and Maintenance. The utilities division shall own and maintain all fire hydrants connected to the water system which are located on public streets, utility easements and rights-of-way.

B. Approved Hydrants. Only approved hydrants, in accordance with subsection C of this section shall be installed within the city limits.

C. Complete Installation. A fire hydrant installation shall be considered to include the fitting at the main, the piping and auxiliary valve between the main and the hydrant, the hydrant and such other appurtenant features necessary for a complete installation. No fire hydrant shall be installed in the water system without an auxiliary valve between the main and the hydrant. Fire hydrant installation and location shall be in accordance with city standards and applicable AWWA standards (AWWA Manual M 17) or as designated by the utilities superintendent and subject to review and approval by the fire chief.

D. Payment for Installation. The installation, removal, relocation, renewal or other work performed by the utilities division related to new or existing fire hydrants shall be done by the utilities division and full payment to the utilities division for such installation, removal, relocation, renewal or other work shall be made by a local improvement district, individual or developer in advance of such work.

E. Rental. For the fire protection benefit derived by the entire city from water made continuously available to the many standpipes and fire hydrants by the utilities division, there shall be a hydrant rental charge paid by the general fund of the city through the appropriate fire department fund to the utilities division in accordance with the current rates and charges for water service.

F. Operation. The primary intent of the fire hydrant and standpipe installations is for use in fire suppression. No person other than a utilities division employee or a person authorized by the fire chief of the city shall be permitted to open any fire hydrant or standpipe and anyone opening, using or otherwise tampering with any fire hydrant or standpipe supplied by the water system without permission shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.

G. Use Permit Required. Persons having a valid reason to withdraw water from any fire hydrant or standpipe of the water system shall first apply to the public works department for a permit and shall abide by all rules, regulations and procedures in connection with such permit as the utilities division may adopt.

H. Installation of Fire Hydrants in Commercial, Multifamily, Business, Manufacturing and Industrial Zones Required. The owner of any building located within one thousand feet of a city water main and within a multifamily, business, commercial or manufacturing or industrial use zone established by the city zoning code then in effect, which building is not within two hundred feet of an existing fire hydrant, shall install, at the owner’s expense, a fire hydrant at a location two hundred feet or less from the building, together with whatever pipes and connections are necessary to connect the hydrant to the existing city water supply.

I. Installation of Fire Hydrants Near Schools, Churches, Hospitals, Assembly Buildings, Etc., Required. The owner of any building used for a school, church, rest home, hospital, residential apartment, or place of public assembly in whatever use district located, which building is not within two hundred feet of an existing fire hydrant, shall install, at the owner’s expense, a fire hydrant at a location two hundred feet or less from such building, together with whatever pipes and connections are necessary to connect the hydrant to the existing city water.

J. Multiple Users—Contract. If a fire hydrant, required to be installed under the provision of subsections H and I of this section will serve two or more properties of the same use classification as set forth in these subsections, the owners of the property benefited shall share equally in the cost of the hydrant and its installation. When an owner is required to install a fire hydrant under the provisions of this chapter, which hydrant will benefit other properties of the same use class, as stated in subsection H of this section when buildings are erected thereon, the mayor may enter into a contract with the owner under the Municipal Water and Sewer Facilities Act. The contract shall include provisions that the owner is required to install the hydrant, shall install the same and necessary connections and appurtenances at the owner’s expense, but that the city will require the owner of a building erected within the term of the contract, who is not required himself to install a hydrant by reason of the existence of the hydrant, to reimburse the first owner a fair proportionate share of the cost thereof. The contract shall be for a term not to exceed six years and shall further provide that the owner of a building subsequently erected shall not be permitted during the term of the contract to make a tap or connection to the city’s water system until such fair proportionate share has been paid.

K. Unlawful Conduct—Multifamily, Business, Commercial, Manufacturing or Industrial Buildings. It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to own, occupy or use any building located in any multifamily, business, manufacturing, commercial or industrial use district established by the city zoning code and within one thousand feet of a city water main, unless such building is within two hundred feet of a fire hydrant.

L. Unlawful Conduct—Schools, Churches, Hospitals, Assembly Buildings, Etc. It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to own, occupy or use any building used for a school, church, rest home, hospital, residential apartment or place of public assembly, in whatever use district located, unless such building is within two hundred feet of a fire hydrant.

M. Existing Buildings. The owner of any building existing on the date of adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter, which is required in this chapter to be located within two hundred feet of a fire hydrant, may be owned, occupied or used one hundred eighty days after the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, but may not be owned, occupied or used thereafter unless it fully complies with the provisions of this chapter.

N. Notification of Connection. The Everett fire department shall hereinafter be notified when any fire hydrant is connected or placed in service, which shall include any connection and initial service of hydrant installed by a public agency or private party.

O. Special Requirements. The requirements of this section apply to all building construction projects in which buildings are located or are to be located such that any portion is more than two hundred feet in vehicular travel from the street property line except the detached single-family dwellings.

1. Buildings having required fire flows of less than two thousand five hundred gallons per minute are required to have fire hydrants on only one side of the building.

2. When the required fire flow is over two thousand five hundred gallons per minute the fire hydrant shall be served by a main which loops around the building or complex of buildings and reconnects back into a distribution supply main. The number of fire hydrants shall be determined on an average basing of three hundred feet computed on an imaginary line parallel to and not less than fifty feet from the structure. All hydrants are to be accessible by two fire department pumper trucks over roads capable of supporting such fire apparatus. The fire marshal shall determine the location of the hydrants based upon a determination of utility topography and building location. Hydrants shall be a minimum of fifty feet away from the building or structure; minor deviations may be granted by fire department approval of written requests.

P. Maximum Distance for Single-Family Dwellings. The maximum distance from hydrants to any new construction which is residential and single-family and in the single-family use district shall be three hundred fifty feet.

Q. Fire Flow Requirements. The fire flow requirements applied by the fire marshal under the provisions of this chapter shall be based upon criteria established in the “Guide for Determination of Required Fire Flow” as published by the Insurance Service Office of the Municipal Survey Service, 160 Water Street, New York, New York, 10038. The “Guide for Determination of Required Fire Flow,” and the standards of the American Water Works Association, all as amended, added to, or excepted in this chapter, are adopted by the city. A copy of each such adopted collection of standards, rules and criteria, in the form in which it was adopted and suitably marked to indicate amendments, additions, deletions and exceptions as provided in this chapter, shall be authenticated and filed by the clerk in the records of the clerk’s office, suitably referenced and indexed to the ordinance codified in this chapter. Three copies of each such collection, in the form in which it was adopted and suitably marked to indicate amendments, additions, deletions and exceptions as provided in this chapter, shall be filed in the clerk’s office and be available for use and examination by the public.

R. Any person who owns or is in possession of any property may make a request to the fire chief for a variance from specific requirements provided for in this section upon a showing of undue hardship or unreasonable application of this section; provided, that a variance or its renewal shall not be the right of the applicant nor the holder thereof, but shall be at the reasonable discretion of the fire chief, and that no variance shall be granted pursuant to this section unless the fire chief has considered the relative interest of the applicant, other owners or possessors of property likely to be affected by the fire chief’s decision, and the general public. The fire chief shall have authority to place reasonable conditions on any variance granted pursuant to this section. All decisions made by the fire chief shall be made in writing within thirty days, and a copy thereof shall be sent to the applicant and the utilities division. Any person aggrieved by the denial, grant, conditions or renewal of a variance by the fire chief may request review by the city council. Such review must be made in writing to the city clerk within ten working days from the date that the fire chief presents the applicant with the fire chief’s final decision. (Ord. 1237-86 § 57, 1986.)