Chapter 12.20
EXCAVATIONS
Sections:
12.20.030 Permit – Application.
12.20.050 Permit fees – Exceptions.
12.20.060 Permit – Requirements.
12.20.070 Service driveways – Size and location.
12.20.080 Service driveways – Construction.
12.20.090 Service driveways – Refusal of application.
12.20.100 Backfilling and restoration.
12.20.110 Deposit for cost of backfilling.
12.20.120 Street restoration fund.
12.20.140 Records and refunds.
12.20.150 Violation – Penalty.
12.20.010 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section:
A. “Inspector” means the person or persons designated by the Mayor, or any ordinance of the City, to supervise and inspect street openings and restorations.
B. “Public street” means any street, alley or other way, or portion thereof, within the City dedicated to the public use and accepted by the City or generally used by the public for travel or transportation of public services and utilities.
C. “Service driveway” means any driveway entering any street from a garage, parking lot, gasoline station, factory, store, warehouse, or any other private business intended for use and used by the public and located between the curb or other outer margin of improved surface of the street and the abutting property line. (Ord. 475 § 1, 1972)
12.20.020 Permit – Required.
It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to open, break, excavate, tunnel, grade, ditch, install culverts or catch basins; or to erect barriers or other hazards or structures in public streets; or to change the grade, width, crown, drainage or use of a public street; or to construct or maintain same in the City without first obtaining a permit therefor and without having first paid the permit fee as required by FMC 12.20.040. (Ord. 475 § 2, 1972)
12.20.030 Permit – Application.
Any person, firm or corporation required to obtain a permit for a service driveway, street opening, curb cutting or culvert installation shall file an application therefor with the City Council. The application shall be in writing and shall contain information showing the type of construction, the length, the exact location, the purpose and any other information which may be required by the City Council concerning the proposed street opening, curb cutting, culvert or driveway. The provisions of this section shall apply to public utilities or quasi-municipal corporations qualified for and seeking permits for street openings for use under a franchise granted by the City. (Ord. 475 § 3, 1972)
12.20.040 Permit – Fees.
Permits required hereunder, specifying the authorized work, shall be issued by the City Treasurer upon proper application therefor and upon payment of the fees required, as contained in the City’s most current approved Fee Code. (Ord. 475 § 9, 1972)
12.20.050 Permit fees – Exceptions.
No permit fee shall be required in the following cases, notwithstanding the provisions of FMC 12.20.040:
A. For excavating in a granted or dedicated but unimproved and unaccepted street, where such excavating and backfilling is done under the supervision and inspection of a duly franchised utility and where a bond for the construction and performance of the street is provided by the land developer prior to the acceptance of the street;
B. For a driveway construction incidental to a new structure;
C. For a culvert installation incidental to a driveway installation or shoulder paving. (Ord. 475 § 10, 1972)
12.20.060 Permit – Requirements.
No excavation in a public street shall be undertaken within 24 hours of issuance of the permit therefor unless the Inspector shall have noted his approval on the applicant’s copy of the permit and shall have prescribed the manner of excavation; provided, however, that no excavation or trench shall be dug by a hoe or bucket having a width of more than 12 inches unless authorized by the Inspector. Cribbing and bracing shall be installed in those cases where the applicant reasonably believes the same to be necessary to avoid sloughing or caving of walls or ceiling; and cribbing and bracing shall be installed in all cases where the permit expressly so requires. (Ord. 475 § 7, 1972)
12.20.070 Service driveways – Size and location.
The City Council shall limit the length of the curb cuttings and width of service driveways to a reasonable length necessary to provide for safe turning and vehicular travel to and from the street and to provide a reasonable minimum of area for vehicular traffic across any sidewalk or pedestrian way and such service driveway shall in no event be less than 20 feet in width at the curbline nor more than 30 feet in width at the sidewalk. Not more than two such service driveways shall be permitted for each 100 feet of frontage and not less than 20 feet of curb shall separate such service driveways. No service driveway shall be located so as to disturb the regular street crosswalks nor shall a service driveway pass through any bus loading zone, nor shall a curb be disturbed within four feet of any bus loading zone. (Ord. 475 § 4, 1972)
12.20.080 Service driveways – Construction.
A. All service driveways must be constructed according to specifications of this chapter and under the direction of the City Council.
B. All service driveways shall be constructed of class C concrete, at least six inches thick.
C. Curb returns and expansion joints shall conform with the standard specifications of the City Council.
D. All service driveways shall cross the outer parking strip and the sidewalk at an angle of not less than 30 degrees to the curbline.
E. All service driveways must be provided with a drainage depression placed directly behind the back edge of the sidewalk and be connected through suitable drains with the sewer system, such construction to be approved by the City Council. (Ord. 475 § 5, 1972)
12.20.090 Service driveways – Refusal of application.
Wherever the opening of a service driveway in the City will create an exceptional traffic hazard or will unreasonably restrict the use of City streets, will create an impediment to the free movement of vehicles upon aforementioned streets or an uneconomic distribution of parking space at the curb of aforementioned streets, or a hazard to the travel or safety of pedestrians thereon, the City Council, at their discretion, may refuse any application to construct or maintain any service driveway or driveways. In case of such refusal, the applicant may appeal the decision to the superior court. (Ord. 475 § 6, 1972)
12.20.100 Backfilling and restoration.
The permittee shall furnish and lay a bed, for any pipe, cable, sleeve or tunnel installed in the street, of a material specified by the City Council, to a point six inches above the top of such installation, or to such other point specified in the permit. The remainder of the backfill shall be accomplished and compacted and the surface of the street restored by the City with the expense thereof to be paid from the street restoration fund. All portions of a trench lying below that portion of a street paved or otherwise improved for vehicular traffic shall be backfilled with sand or other material approved by the Inspector. Where the permit does not authorize the use of any portion of the excavated material, the excavated material shall be removed from the street by the permittee. (Ord. 475 § 8, 1972)
12.20.110 Deposit for cost of backfilling.
The City Council shall require, as a condition precedent to the issuance of a permit for street excavation, that the applicant advance or deposit cash or equivalent security to pay the City’s cost of street restoration, to be estimated on the amount of material to be used in such backfilling and resurfacing. The amount of the deposit shall be determined by the City Council as the aggregate of the sums computed as contained in the City’s most current approved Fee Code. (Ord. 475 § 11, 1972)
12.20.120 Street restoration fund.
A. There is created a street restoration fund into which deposits required of the permittee under FMC 12.20.110 shall be paid and out of which the cost of materials for backfilling and paving, the cost of labor and the cost of operation and maintenance of equipment used in such restoration and the refunds due any permittee, if any, shall be paid. Payments from the fund shall be processed as other demands and claims against the City.
B. The street restoration fund and the payments thereto are required to provide a uniform regulation and cost of street restoration to property owners and land developers in all parts of the City and is not intended as a revenue measure. (Ord. 475 §§ 12, 13, 1972)
12.20.130 Reports.
The Public Works Director shall make monthly reports on the condition of the street restoration fund to the City Council and include therein analysis of the cost of street restoration so as to provide information for such revision or modification of the restoration charges or deposits as shall be necessary to keep the fund sufficient to render the restoration service, together with a reasonable surplus for contingencies. No part of the funds shall be diverted or transferred or loaned to other City uses. (Ord. 475 § 14, 1972)
12.20.140 Records and refunds.
The foreman of the restoration crew, or the Inspector, shall make an accurate notation on forms provided by the City Clerk for each separate backfilling and restoration, as to the number and membership of the restoration crew, the dimensions of the excavation to be backfilled, the dimensions of the surfacing to be restored, the character of the materials used and the time of labor, equipment employed, and any failure of the permittee to properly perform his obligations under this chapter or any ordinances of the City, and to make note of the time devoted by the City Crew to complete or perform the permittee’s work. The Public Works office shall use such data to compute the actual cost of backfilling, restoration and extra work and shall charge the account of the permittee therefor, issuing a bill for sums due to the City in excess of the permittee’s deposit, if any, or issuing a voucher for refund of sums deposited in excess of the actual cost of backfilling, restoration and extra work, if any. (Ord. 475 § 15, 1972)
12.20.150 Violation – Penalty.
If not otherwise provided in this chapter, enforcement procedures and the penalties resulting from violations of this chapter shall be administered pursuant to Chapter 1.12 FMC. (Ord. 1819 § 7, 2013)