Chapter 12.04
CURBS, GUTTERS AND SIDEWALKS
Sections:
Article I. Construction Permit
12.04.030 Streets staked for improvement.
12.04.040 Notice to property owners.
12.04.150 Penalty for violation.
Article II. Condition to Building Permit Issuance
12.04.180 When in-lieu deposit will be used.
12.04.190 Amount of in-lieu deposit.
12.04.200 Time of in-lieu deposit.
12.04.210 Disposition of in-lieu deposit.
12.04.230 Matching street to gutter elevation.
12.04.240 Effect of district formation.
12.04.250 Areas excepted from this article.
Article I. Construction Permit
12.04.020 Permit – Required.
No person shall construct or have constructed upon his or her behalf any curb or gutter to official grade without first obtaining a permit from the superintendent of streets and payment to the city of a fee for the establishment of the line and official grade. (Ord. 222 § 1, 1963; Ord. 178 § l, 1962)
12.04.030 Streets staked for improvement.
On streets already staked for improvement there will be no fee charged provided the permit is obtained within thirty days after said staking and all work is completed ten days thereafter. (Ord. 222 § 2, 1963; Ord. 178 § 1-A, 1962)
12.04.040 Notice to property owners.
Notification of intention to proceed with the street improvement and informing the property owners thereof, that curb and gutter is encouraged, shall be done prior to staking but after approval of the improvement plans. (Ord. 222 § 2, 1963; Ord. 178 § 1-B, 1962)
12.04.090 Permit – Fee.
The fee shall be that established by the city council. (Ord. 178 § 2, 1962)
12.04.150 Penalty for violation.
A. It is unlawful to construct any curb or gutter without first obtaining the required permit to construct any curb or gutter without first paying the fee required by this chapter; and, to construct any curb or gutter not in accordance with the official grade.
B. Failure to comply with the terms of this chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor and be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or both. (Ord. 178 § 3, 1962)
Article II. Condition to Building Permit Issuance
12.04.160 Definitions.
A. “Owner” shall have the following meanings:
1. For purposes of Sections 12.04.170, 12.04.190, 12.04.200, 12.04.220 and 12.04.230, it means the equitable owner of a property (i.e., excluding therefrom the trustee or beneficiary of any security interest) and the lessee, agent, or employee of the owner of the property. In the case of situations where there is more than one person holding title, the term “owner” applies to them all even though used in the singular form.
2. For purposes of Sections 12.04.210 and 12.04.240 it means the equitable owner of the property at the time of completion of a project.
B. “Assigns of the owners” means that person or entity that has been assigned monetary rights resulting from this article by any other person or entity. The city shall have no responsibility to recognize any such assignment unless a signed, notarized instrument is presented to the city in a form which the city attorney evaluates is sufficient to create a valid assignment.
C. “Staking” refers to the process by which a surveyor, engineer, or other qualified professional places stakes or other markers upon the ground sufficient to adequately locate the place of installation of curbs, gutters, or sidewalks. (Ord. 463 §§ 2 and 3, 1979)
12.04.170 Applicability.
The requirements of this section shall be applicable in all situations where application for a building permit is made to the city for either construction upon then undeveloped property or upon property when the cost of contemplated improvements exceeds two hundred dollars multiplied times the number of front feet of the parcel upon which curbs, gutters, and sidewalks can reasonably be anticipated. An applicant for building permit who falls within the criteria of the section must fulfill one of the following three alternatives:
A. He must install, prior to the finalization of the building permit for the project, curbs, gutters, and sidewalks according to city specifications; or
B. He must deliver to the city a fully executed and binding contract for the curb, gutter, and sidewalk work. The city may have the city attorney review the instrument for legal sufficiency. If there, is a significant doubt that the instrument is sufficient to ensure that the work will, in fact, be performed, the city shall not issue the building permit. Additionally, the applicant must provide proof that completely dependable financial arrangements have been made for the installation of curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. These arrangements may consist of either the applicant depositing with the city, or in a bank account from which withdrawal is impossible without city consent, the contract price of the work or posting with the city a faithful performance bond to guarantee for a period of one year the installation of curbs, gutters, and sidewalks according to specifications. The faithful performance bond shall be issued by a corporate security qualified to do business in the state in an amount equal to at least one and one-fourth times the amount which the public works director determines is the best estimate for the cost of the work. The faithful performance bond shall indemnify the city against the cost of installation of said curbs, gutters, and sidewalks, whether undertaken by city employees or such contractor as may be selected by the city as a result of the failure of the applicant or owner to complete the work within the prescribed period;
C. He must deposit an in-lieu fee with the city in the manner provided in this article. (Ord. 463 § 4, 1979)
12.04.180 When in-lieu deposit will be used.
Alternative C in Section 12.04.170 shall be used when any of the following situations occurs, according to the determination of the public works director:
A. It is impractical to install curbs, gutters, and sidewalks at the present time because the city engineer has not established or declared the correct grade for curbs, gutters, and sidewalks in the area wherein the property is located;
B. The applicant requests that alternative C be used and the public works director determines that the public welfare would be better served by so proceeding than by requiring installation by the applicant under alternatives A or B in Section 12.04.170;
C. In situations where the public works director has determined that significant economies would result if curbs, gutters, and sidewalks were installed on an areawide basis as opposed to individual or piecemeal projects. (Ord. 463 § 5, 1979)
12.04.190 Amount of in-lieu deposit.
The amount of the in-lieu deposit shall be a product of multiplying one and one-fourth times the number of linear feet fronting the property for which the curbs, gutters, and sidewalks, will be required pursuant to this article times the “prevailing rate for curbs, gutters, and sidewalks.” “Prevailing rate for curbs, gutters and sidewalks” means the dollar figure which the public works director determines to be the most probable price for such work at the time the deposit is made. Such determination by the public works director shall be made after conferring with those companies ordinarily conducting such building activities within the county of Santa Cruz. An applicant dissatisfied with that figure may appeal the public works director’s determination in this regard to the planning commission. (Ord. 463 § 6, 1979)
12.04.200 Time of in-lieu deposit.
The in-lieu deposit shall be made no later than the day previous to commencement of the work contemplated by the building permit application. (Ord. 463 § 7, 1979)
12.04.210 Disposition of in-lieu deposit.
The in-lieu deposit shall be handled and disposed of in the following manner:
A. Such funds shall be deposited in one or more interest bearing accounts.
B. The city shall keep such records as are necessary so as to compute with reasonable accuracy the amount of interest which has been collected as a result of a particular individual deposit with the city.
C. The curbs, gutters, and sidewalks will be installed at such time as the public works director determines it is advisable to proceed with the construction. This may be either because specifications not previously available have now been produced, or because a sufficient number of properties in a given area are ready to proceed with curb, gutter, and sidewalk construction such that the economies of scale can be achieved.
D. If more than one property is involved in a single curb, gutter, and sidewalk project, the public works director shall apportion the costs between all of the properties so involved according to the relative proportions of the linear feet of curbs, gutters, and sidewalks which are installed along the property’s frontage or frontages.
E. The deposit made for any property, together with interest attributable thereto, will then be applied to cover the cost which has been determined to be applicable to a particular property. If the cost is less than the deposit, the difference will be delivered to the then owner of the property or the assigns of that owner. If the amount of the deposit, together with interest applicable thereto, is insufficient, the city must pay the difference unless it has made other financial arrangements with one or more property owners in the vicinity.
F. If no construction of curbs, gutters, or sidewalks for the particular property has been commenced within five years of the date the in-lieu deposit was made, the moneys will at that time be returned to the then equitable owner of the property or his or her assigns. (Ord. 463 § 8, 1979)
12.04.220 Staking.
In addition to other monetary amounts required in this article, the building permit applicant shall be required, prior to issuance of the building permit, to pay the amount of money which the public works director estimates will be required for staking of the project. In cases where matters proceed by means of an in-lieu deposit as opposed to the means of subsections A or B of Section 12.04.170, any moneys so collected for staking fees shall be treated in a like manner as the rest of the in-lieu deposit. The director may allow the applicant to do its own staking. (Ord. 463 § 9, 1979)
12.04.230 Matching street to gutter elevation.
The owner of a property obtaining a building permit which is conditioned upon the installation of curbs, gutters, and sidewalks in accordance with the provisions of this article shall also install such paving as may be necessary to match the elevation and grade of the concrete gutter so installed with the existing street, consisting of the following materials:
Minimum paving required shall consist of not less than six inches of approved crusher run base material of one and one-half inch of plant mix surfacing. (Ord. 463 § 10, 1979)
12.04.240 Effect of district formation.
None of the foregoing provisions of this article shall preclude the city from instituting proceedings under any improvement district act or other such provision of state law pertinent to the installation of streets and/or curbs, gutters, or sidewalks. In case any such district comes to fruition and curbs, gutters, and sidewalks are installed as a result thereof, the in-lieu deposits may be paid directly to any such district as all or part of the contribution of the property. Any funds attributable to a particular piece of property which thereafter remain shall be delivered to the owner of the property at the time the assessment becomes official. (Ord. 463 § 11, 1979)
12.04.250 Areas excepted from this article.
The city council, by resolution, may designate areas of the city which may be exempt from the provisions of this article. In making any such determination, the city shall weigh the following factors:
A. Whether improvement to drainage and whether improvement of the aesthetics of the area are negligible compared to the costs of curbs, gutters, and/or sidewalks;
B. Whether the neighborhood has, for the most part, already been largely built out and few or none of the properties have previously installed curbs, gutters, and/or sidewalks;
C. Whether adequate easements and street width exist for the installation of curbs, gutters, and/or sidewalks;
D. Whether failure to provide curbs, gutters, and/or sidewalks would be detrimental to there being established an integrated system of curbs, gutters, and/or sidewalks within the city or within an area of the city which is much larger than the area of proposed exception.
In any such areas where curb, gutter, and/or sidewalk is not mandatory, no curb, gutter or sidewalk may be privately installed without first obtaining a permit from the city council. (Ord. 731, 1992; Ord. 463 § 12, 1979)