Chapter 18.04
UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICTS
Sections:
18.04.020 Public hearings by Council to determine need for underground installations.
18.04.030 Underground utility districts declared by resolution.
18.04.040 Use of overhead equipment after date set for removal unlawful – Exceptions.
18.04.050 Use of overhead equipment for emergency services.
18.04.060 Exceptions which may be authorized.
18.04.070 Notice to property owners and utility companies.
18.04.080 Utility company responsibility.
18.04.090 Property owner responsibility.
18.04.100 City responsibility.
18.04.110 Extension of time granted under certain circumstances.
18.04.120 Penalty for violation.
18.04.010 Definitions.
Whenever in this chapter the words or phrases hereinafter in this section defined are used, they shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in the following definitions:
A. “Commission” means the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California.
B. “Person” means and includes individuals, firms, corporations, partnerships, and their agents and employees.
C. “Poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures” means poles, towers, supports, wires, conductors, guys, stubs, platforms, crossarms, braces, transformers, insulators, cutouts, switches, communication circuits, appliances, attachments and appurtenances located aboveground within a district and used or useful in supplying electric, communication or similar or associated service.
D. “Underground utility district” or “district” means that area in the City within which poles, overhead wires, and associated overhead structures are prohibited as such area is described in a resolution adopted pursuant to the provisions of SMC 18.04.030.
E. “Utility” includes all persons or entities supplying electric, communication or similar or associated service by means of electrical materials or devices. [Ord. 701 § 1, 1968.]
18.04.020 Public hearings by Council to determine need for underground installations.
The Council may from time to time call public hearings to ascertain whether the public safety and community aesthetics require the removal of poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures within designated areas of the City and the underground installation of wires and facilities for supplying electric, communication or similar or associated service. The City Clerk shall notify all affected property owners as shown on the last equalized assessment roll and utilities concerned by mail of the time and place of such hearings at least 10 days prior to the date thereof. Each such hearing shall be open to the public and may be continued from time to time. At each such hearing all persons interested shall be given an opportunity to be heard. [Ord. 1077 § 1, 1992; Ord. 701 § 2, 1968.]
18.04.030 Underground utility districts declared by resolution.
If, after any such public hearing, the Council finds that the public safety and community aesthetics require such removal and such underground installation within a designated area, the Council shall, by resolution, declare such designated area an underground utility district and order such removal and underground installation. Such resolution shall include a description of the area comprising such district and shall fix the time (or shall indicate that a time will be fixed in the future, once the underground utilities are able to receive hookups, and with mailed notice at that time to all affected property owners) within which such removal and underground installation shall be accomplished and within which affected property owners must be ready to receive underground service. A reasonable time shall be allowed for such removal and underground installation, having due regard for the availability of labor, materials and equipment necessary for such removal and for the installation of such underground facilities as may be occasioned thereby. [Ord. 1077 § 2, 1992; Ord. 701 § 3, 1968.]
18.04.040 Use of overhead equipment after date set for removal unlawful – Exceptions.
Whenever the Council creates an underground utility district and orders the removal of poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures therein as provided in SMC 18.04.030, it is unlawful for any person or utility to erect, construct, place, keep, maintain, continue, employ or operate poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures in the district after the date when the overhead facilities are required to be removed by such resolution, except as such overhead facilities may be required to furnish service to an owner or occupant of property prior to the performance by such owner or occupant of the underground work necessary for such owner or occupant to continue to receive utility service as provided in SMC 18.04.090, and for such reasonable time required to remove the facilities after the work has been performed, and except as otherwise provided in this chapter. [Ord. 701 § 4, 1968.]
18.04.050 Use of overhead equipment for emergency services.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, overhead facilities may be installed and maintained for a period not to exceed 10 days, without authority of the Council, in order to provide emergency service. The Council may grant special permission, on such terms as the Council may deem appropriate, in cases of unusual circumstances, without discrimination as to any person or utility, to erect, construct, install, maintain, use or operate poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures. [Ord. 701 § 5, 1968.]
18.04.060 Exceptions which may be authorized.
In any resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030, the City may authorize any or all of the following exceptions:
A. Any municipal facilities or equipment installed under the supervision and to the satisfaction of the City Engineer.
B. Poles or electroliers used exclusively for street lighting.
C. Overhead wires (exclusive of supporting structures) crossing any portion of a district within which overhead wires have been prohibited, or connecting to buildings on the perimeter of a district, when such wires originate in an area from which poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures are not prohibited.
D. Poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures used for the transmission of electric energy at nominal voltages in excess of 34,500 volts.
E. Overhead wires attached to the exterior surface of a building by means of a bracket or other fixture and extending from one location on the building to another location on the same building or to an adjacent building on the same lot without crossing any public street.
F. Antennas, associated equipment and supporting structures, used by a utility for furnishing communication services.
G. Equipment appurtenant to underground facilities, such as surface-mounted transformers, pedestal-mounted terminal boxes and meter cabinets, and concealed ducts.
H. Temporary poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures used or to be used in conjunction with construction projects. [Ord. 701 § 6, 1968.]
18.04.070 Notice to property owners and utility companies.
Within 10 days after the effective date of a resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030, the City Clerk shall notify all affected utilities and all persons owning real property within the district created by the resolution of the adoption thereof. The City Clerk shall further notify such affected property owners to prepare their properties to accept underground utility lines and that if any property owner, after due notice, refuses to comply within the time specified to effect such preparation in accordance with the applicable rules of the utility involved, the City may cause such work to be done and assess the costs thereof against the property and that such assessment shall become a lien against the property. The City is hereby given the powers described in the Clerk’s notice. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal ad valorem taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for such taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of municipal ad valorem taxes shall be applicable to such assessment.
Notification by the City Clerk shall be made by mailing a copy of the resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030, together with a notice that a copy of the ordinance codified in this section is available at the City Hall for their inspection, to affected property owners as such are shown on the last equalized assessment roll and to the affected utilities. [Ord. 1077 § 3, 1992; Ord. 701 § 7, 1968.]
18.04.080 Utility company responsibility.
If underground construction is necessary to provide utility service within a district created by any resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030, the supplying utility shall furnish that portion of the conduits, conductors and associated equipment required to be furnished by it under its applicable rules, regulations and tariffs on file with the Commission. [Ord. 701 § 8, 1968.]
18.04.090 Property owner responsibility.
A. Every person owning, operating, leasing, occupying or renting a building or structure within a district shall construct and provide that portion of the service connection on his property between the facilities referred to in SMC 18.04.080 and the termination facility on or within the building or structure being serviced, all in accordance with the applicable rules, regulations, and tariffs of the respective utility or utilities on file with the Commission.
B. In the event any person owning, operating, leasing, occupying or renting the property does not comply with the provisions of subsection A of this section within the time provided for in the resolution enacted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030, the City Engineer shall post written notice on the property being served and 30 days thereafter shall have the authority to order the work to be done and the costs thereof to be assessed against the property and a written notice of lien for the amount thereof, including all costs of construction, administration and processing and any attorneys’ or other fees and costs necessarily incurred, to be recorded in the office of the Marin County Recorder. From the time of recordation, the notice of lien shall be a lien and notice of that lien to all persons.
C. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City may, at its own expense, construct or provide for the construction of the service connection referred to in subsection A of this section when it is determined by the City Manager that the owner of the property affected is a recipient or would qualify as a recipient of aid under any of the provisions of Division 9, Part 3 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code. In such case, the City shall require that the owner of the property affected execute and cause to be recorded in the office of the Marin County Recorder an agreement giving to the City a lien upon the property in such form as will secure repayment of such expense to the City at such time as the property may be sold or upon the death of the owner (whichever event shall first occur). [Ord. 1077 § 4, 1992; Ord. 865 § 1, 1975; Ord. 701 § 9, 1968.]
18.04.100 City responsibility.
The City shall remove at its own expense all City-owned equipment from all poles required to be removed under this chapter in ample time to enable the owner or user of such poles to remove the same within the time specified in the resolution enacted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030. [Ord. 701 § 10, 1968.]
18.04.110 Extension of time granted under certain circumstances.
In the event that any act required by this chapter or by a resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 18.04.030 cannot be performed within the time provided on account of shortage of materials, war, restraint by public authorities, strikes, labor disturbances, civic disobedience, or any other circumstances beyond the control of the actor, then the time within which such act will be accomplished shall be extended for a period equivalent to the time of such limitation. [Ord. 701 § 11, 1968.]
18.04.120 Penalty for violation.
It is unlawful for any person to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter. Any person violating any provision of this chapter or failing to comply with any of its requirements shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00 or by imprisonment. Each such person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each day during any portion of which any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted by such person and shall be punishable therefor as provided for in this chapter. [Ord. 701 § 12, 1968.]