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Comprehensive Plan Sanitary Sewer Sub -Element Within the county, a number of existing residential developments are not connected to the county sanitary sewer system. If all unserved developments were connected to the regional sanitary sewer system, there would be significant additional wastewater treatment demand. For a number of reasons, however, most unserved developments will never connect to the regional system. In many cases, septic systems are adequate to accommodate individual single family houses, and there is no need to retrofit existing subdivisions with sanitary sewer lines. Where subdivisions are served by a centralized potable water system, there are seldom problems caused by lots having individual septic tanks. Given the high cost of retrofitting existing subdivisions with sanitary sewer lines and given the limited benefits of connecting, it is unlikely that many existing subdivisions will be retrofitted with sewers in the future. There are, however, some circumstances where connecting existing subdivisions to the sanitary sewer system would be beneficial. Those circumstances mostly relate to a subdivision's proximity to a waterbody. Because septic tanks can leach pollutants and those pollutants can impact the ocean, the Indian River Lagoon, the St. Sebastian River, or other surface water bodies, the county has an interest in promoting the connection of waterfront subdivisions to the sanitary sewer system. In the future, the county should continue to offer its assessment program that provides sanitary sewer to those neighborhoods where individuals benefiting from the connection to the sanitary sewer system pay for the cost of service expansion. Wastewater Needs and Land Use With the 1990 adoption of the comprehensive plan, the county established its urban service area. The intent of the comprehensive plan is to direct most growth into that area and to provide urban type services to development in the urban service area. Since adoption of the 1990 comprehensive plan, the regional wastewater collection system has been extended to all commercial/industrial areas in the county, including the three I-95 commercial/industrial nodes. As a result of that expansion, the development potential of land within the urban service area has greatly increased for both residential and commercial/industrial projects. Although the regional sanitary sewer system service area has been greatly expanded, there are still several areas such as Oslo Park, Vero Lake Estates, Paradise Park and other areas which are not yet served. In the future, the county should evaluate whether or not unserved areas should be connected to the regional sanitary sewer system. Community Development Department Indian River County 34