Outside City Utilities Guide

An application for city water or sewer service to properties outside the city limits must include the information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the city code requirements of Section 11-1-15, B.R.C. 1981 (for water service) and/or Section 11-2-10, B.R.C. 1981 (for sewer service). Application requirements are summarized below and an application fee is also required. In addition, an applicant may submit any additional materials which may be appropriate to the review. A person desiring to make connection to out-of-city services will be required to make such land dedications and pay such fees as would be anticipated from annexation into the City. To connect to out-of-city water service will require that the applicant also apply for out-of-city sewer service if the property is not already connected.

All proposed developments which will be served by city water or sanitary sewer are required to submit a plan demonstrating how these services will be provided. In many cases, utilities are already available adjacent to the site and a Utility Connection Plan showing locations for services (domestic water, fire protection, irrigation, sanitary sewer) and meters is adequate. For projects that require installation of new public mains or fire hydrants, additional detail is needed to show that infrastructure construction is feasible and that any associated easements can be accommodated within the development plan. In these cases, a more detailed Utility Plan is required. Most projects requiring a Utility Plan will also require a subsequent Technical Document Review to obtain approval of final design details.

Utility Connection Plan

A Utility Connection Plan may be submitted in lieu of a Utility Plan for projects meeting all of the following requirements:

Main Frontage - The proposed project must have frontage on existing water and sewer mains. If a property fronts on a main, but the main does not extend the full length of the frontage, the applicant should contact the Planning and Development Services Center to determine whether a main extension is required.

System Capacity - Water and sewer mains adjacent to the property must be a minimum of eight (8) inches in diameter. For industrial and large commercial projects, the applicant should check with city staff to determine whether system capacity may be an issue.

Fire Protection - A Utility Connection Plan cannot be used where additional fire hydrants will be required to meet city standards. Generally, single-family residential areas require 500-foot hydrant spacing and commercial areas require 350-foot spacing. For structures other than single-family residential units, no portion of the structure can be more than175 feet of fire access distance from the nearest hydrant. Please refer to the City of Boulder Design and Construction Standards for complete requirements.

Utility Connection Plans must include the following basic information. Please refer to the City of Boulder Design and Construction Standards for complete requirements.

• Title block with name of project, date, and name and address of preparer
• Vicinity map showing location of project
• North arrow
• Identified scale of plan (must be 1:10, 1:20, 1:30, 1:40, 1:50, 1:60, or 1:100)
• Names of adjacent streets
• Location of property lines and rights-of-way
• Location of any existing or proposed easements
• Location of structures and trees
• 100-year floodplain limits
• Location, type and size of all existing and proposed mains, services, and meters
• Note stating: “Utilities shall comply with the City of Boulder Design and Construction Standards”.

For Annexation and Outside City Utility Service Applications Only: For single-family residential dwellings, the required Utility Connection Plan information may be added to a scaled improvement location certificate or improvement survey.

Utility Plan

All projects which include construction of public water and sewer mains or fire hydrants require a Utility Plan so that the project feasibility and land use impacts can be assessed. Utility Plans must be prepared by a professional engineer licensed in the state of Colorado, but do not need to be stamped and signed unless they will also serve as the utility construction drawing. In most cases, a stamped utility plan and profile construction drawings will need to be submitted through the technical document review process. Due to the technical nature of utility design and the level of detail involved, applicants should refer to the City of Boulder Design and Construction Standards for complete requirements