Use of a cluster system shall be considered when lot sizes, lot location, or soil conditions make a standard system unacceptable.

1. (1) Design. These systems shall be designed and constructed in accordance with the requirements of this chapter or Chapter 317 of this title (relating to Design Criteria for Sewerage Systems). These systems shall be designed and submitted to the permitting authority for review under seal of a registered professional engineer.
2. (2) Permits required. Each single family dwelling on a cluster system must be individually permitted by the permitting authority.

3. (3) Maintenance/Ownership agreement. Each permittee on a cluster system must be a party to a legally binding agreement regarding ownership, service, and maintenance of the cluster system. The minimum required elements of that agreement are as follows:

   1. (A) The agreement must be legally binding to all parties;
   2. (B) Each person who uses the system for treatment and/or disposal must be a party to the agreement;
   3. (C) Each permittee must be a joint owner of the cluster system and the property on which the cluster system is located or the property on which the cluster system is located is owned in fee simple by one or more of the permittees to the cluster system and the owner/owners has granted a perpetual easement of access and use to all other permittees using the system;
   4. (D) The agreement must provide a reliable management structure for performing service, maintenance, and inspection of the system;
   5. (E) The agreement must include a reliable plan for handling apportionment and collection of cost among the parties; and
   6. (F) The agreement must denote that all parties are individually and severally responsible for the proper maintenance and functioning of the system.
4. (4) Property ownership. The parties to the agreement must obtain all necessary rights of way, easements, or ownership of properties necessary for operation of the cluster system. The site for a cluster system shall be owned by all of the parties to the maintenance/ownership agreement or owned in fee simple by one or more of the permittees to the cluster system and having granted a perpetual easement of access and use to all other permittees using the system. The application for a cluster system shall include a certified copy of an affidavit, which has been duly recorded with the county/city clerk's office and added to the real property deed where the cluster system is located and the real property deed of each permittee. The affidavit shall state that the property shall not be transferred to a new owner without the new owner being advised that the property is part of a cluster system and shall be party to the agreement.

Source Note:The provisions of this §285.6 adopted to be effective February 5, 1997, 22 TexReg 1114.