Chapter 13.08 UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICTS

“Poles and 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 above ground, upon, along, across, or over the public streets, alleys and ways of city, and used or useful in supplying electric, communication, or similar or associated service.

“Underground utility district” or “district” means that area in the city more particularly described as follows: all of the area presently within the city.

“Utility” includes all persons or entities supplying electric, communication, or similar or associated service by means of electrical materials or devices. (Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-701)

13.08.020 Intent of council to adopt ordinances for removal of overhead structures.

In order to provide for the orderly removal of existing poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures within the underground utility district, it is the intention of the council, insofar as may be practicable, to adopt resolutions pursuant to SMC 13.08.040 which will result in the removal of poles and wires and associated overhead structures as soon as possible. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-702)

13.08.030 Public hearing by council.

The council may, from time to time, call public hearings to ascertain whether the public necessity, health, safety or welfare requires the removal of poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures from any public streets, alleys, or ways within the underground utility district 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 and by publication of the time and place of such hearings at least fifteen calendar days prior to the date thereof, and shall provide said owners with a summary description of the proposed underground district. 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. No such hearing shall be called unless the city council has determined that the city or a public utility has voluntarily agreed to pay over fifty percent of all costs of conversion, excluding users’ connections to underground electric or communication facilities. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 589 § II(30), 1981; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-703)

13.08.040 Resolution for removal of overhead structures and underground installation.

If after any such public hearing the council finds that the public necessity, health, safety or welfare requires 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 designate the public streets, alleys or ways or portions thereof comprising such district, and shall fix the time 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 necessary labor, materials and equipment for such removal and for the installation of such underground facilities as may be occasioned thereby. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-704)

13.08.050 Unlawful acts.

Whenever the council orders the removal of poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures as provided in SMC 13.08.040, it shall be unlawful for any person or utility to erect, construct, place, keep, maintain, continue, employ or operate any pole, overhead wire or associated overhead structure in any public street, alley, or way in the designated area after the overhead facilities are required to be removed, except as the 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 13.08.100, 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. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-705)

13.08.060 Exception in case of emergency or unusual circumstances.

The council may grant special permission, on such terms as the council may deem appropriate, in cases of emergency or unusual circumstances, without discrimination as to any person or utility, to erect, construct, install, maintain, use, or operate poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures, notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-706)

13.08.070 Exemptions.

This chapter shall not apply to the following types of facilities:

A. Poles used exclusively for police and fire alarm boxes or any similar municipal equipment installed under the supervision and to the satisfaction of the city engineer;

B. Poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures used exclusively for street lighting;

C. Overhead wires, exclusive of supporting structures, crossing any portion of the district from which overhead wires have been prohibited, or connecting to buildings on the perimeter of such portion, when such wires originate in an area from which poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures are not prohibited;

D. 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 without crossing any public street;

E. Radio antennas, their associated equipment and supporting structures, used by a utility for furnishing communication services;

F. Equipment appurtenant to underground facilities, such as surface-mounted transformers, pedestal-mounted terminal boxes and meter cabinets, and concealed ducts;

G. Temporary poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures used or to be used in conjunction with construction projects; or

H. Poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures used for the transmission of electric energy at nominal voltages in excess of thirty-four thousand five hundred volts. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-707)

13.08.080 Notice to property owners and utility companies.

Within ten days after passage of a resolution pursuant to SMC 13.08.040, the city clerk shall notify all affected utilities and all persons owning real property within the area designated in the resolution of the adoption thereof. The city clerk shall further notify such affected property owners of the necessity that if they or any person occupying such property desire to continue to receive electric, communication or other similar or associated service, they or such occupant shall provide all necessary facility changes on their premises so as to receive such service from the lines of the supplying utility or utilities at a new location, subject to applicable rules, regulations and tariffs of the representative utility or utilities on file with the commission. Notification by the city clerk shall be made by:

A. Publication in the Seaside News-Sentinel;

B. Posting notices at intervals not greater than three hundred feet in the affected area; and

C. By mailing a copy of the resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 13.08.040 to affected property owners as such are shown on the last equalized assessment roll and to the affected utilities. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-708)

13.08.090 Responsibility of utility companies.

If underground construction is necessary to provide utility service within the area designated by any resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 13.08.040, 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. Underground construction by the utility shall be accomplished in accordance with established construction standards and in accordance with the rules and regulations authorized by the commission. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-709)

13.08.100 Responsibility of property owners.

A. All underground construction and conduits, conductors and associated equipment necessary to receive utility service between the service facilities referred to in SMC 13.08.090 and the service facilities in the building or structure being served shall be provided by the person owning, operating, leasing, or renting the property, subject to applicable rules, regulations and tariffs of the respective utility or utilities on file with the commission.

B. In the event the person owning, operating, leasing or renting the property does not comply with the provisions of subsection A of this section within the time provided for in the resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 13.08.040, the city engineer shall have the authority to order the disconnection and removal of any and all overhead service wires and associated facilities supplying utility service to the property.

C. Noncompliance by any person owning, operating, leasing or renting the property with the provisions of this section shall constitute an infraction under SMC 13.08.190.

D. In addition to or as an alternative to the remedy prescribed in subsection B of this section, a lien may be impressed as an assessment against any parcel or parcels of real property upon notice and procedure as set forth in SMC 13.08.110 through 13.08.160. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 623 § 2, 1982; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code §§ 13-710(a) – (d))

13.08.110 Lien on property – Notice – Service.

Notice pursuant to SMC 13.08.100 may be given either by personal service or by mail. In case of service by mail, the notice must be deposited in the United States mail in a sealed envelope with postage prepaid, addressed to the person in possession of such premises at such premises, and the notice must be addressed to the owner thereof as such owner’s name appears, and must be addressed to such owner’s last known address as the same appears on the last equalized assessment roll of the county, and when no address appears, to General Delivery, city of Seaside, California 93955. If notice is given by mail, such notice shall be deemed to have been received by the person to whom it has been sent within forty-eight hours after the mailing thereof. If notice is given by mail to either the owner or occupant of such premises, the city engineer shall, within forty-eight hours after the mailing thereof, cause a copy thereof, printed on a card not less than eight inches by ten inches in size, to be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. (Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-710(d)(1))

13.08.120 Lien on property – Notice – Contents.

The notice given pursuant to SMC 13.08.110 shall particularly specify what work is required to be done, and shall state that if the work is not completed within thirty days after receipt of such notice, the city engineer will provide such required underground facilities, in which case the cost and expense thereof will be assessed against the property benefited and become a lien upon such property. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-710(d)(2))

13.08.130 Performance of work by city – Assessment.

If upon the expiration of the thirty-day period specified in SMC 13.08.120 the required underground facilities have not been provided, the city engineer shall forthwith proceed to do the work; provided, however, if such premises are unoccupied and no electric or communication services are being furnished thereto, the city engineer may, in lieu of providing the required underground facilities, order the disconnection of all existing connections used for furnishing electric and communication services to such premises. Upon completion of the work by the city engineer, he shall file a written report with the council setting forth the fact that the required underground facilities have been provided and the cost thereof, together with a legal description of the property against which such cost is to be assessed. The council shall thereupon fix a time and place for hearing protests against the assessment of the cost of such work upon such premises, which time shall be not less than thirty days thereafter. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-710(d)(3))

13.08.140 Assessment – Notice to property owner.

The city engineer shall forthwith, upon the time for hearing such protests having been fixed, give notice in writing to the person in possession of such premises, and a notice in writing to the owner thereof, in the manner provided in SMC 13.08.110 for the giving of the notice to provide the required underground facilities, of the time and place that the council will pass upon the report of the city engineer and will hear protests against such assessment. Such notice shall also set forth the amount of the proposed assessment. (Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-710(d)(4))

13.08.150 Assessment – Hearing and confirmation.

Upon the date and hour set for the hearing of protests, the council shall hear and consider the report and all protests, if there are any, and then proceed to affirm, modify or reject the assessment. (Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-710(d)(5))

13.08.160 Assessment – Lien for nonpayment.

If any assessment is not paid within five days after its confirmation by the council, the amount of the assessment shall become a lien upon the property against which the assessment is made by the city engineer, and the city engineer is directed to turn over to the assessor and tax collector for city a notice of lien on each of the properties on which the assessment has not been paid, and the assessor and tax collector shall add the amount of the assessment to the next regular bill for taxes levied against the premises upon which the assessment was not paid. The assessment shall be due and payable at the same time as the property taxes are due and payable, and if not paid when due and payable shall bear interest at the maximum rate permitted by law. (Ord. 691, 1985; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-710(d)(6))

13.08.170 Responsibility of city.

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 adopted pursuant to SMC 13.08.040. (Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-711)

13.08.180 Extensions of time.

In the event that any act required by this chapter or by a resolution adopted pursuant to SMC 13.08.040 cannot be performed within the time provided on account of shortage of materials, war, restraint by public authorities, strikes, labor disturbances, 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. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-712)

13.08.190 Violation – Infraction.

Violation of any of the requirements of this chapter shall constitute an infraction. (Ord. 623 § 2, 1982; Ord. 318, 1967; prior code § 13-713)