Dublin Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter:

“Antenna”

shall have the meaning given that term in Section 8.92.030.

“City Engineer”

means the City Engineer or his designee.

“Encroach” or “encroachment”

means and includes going upon, over, under, or using any street in such a manner as to prevent, obstruct, or interfere with its normal use, including but not limited to the performance thereon of any of the following acts:

Excavating, filling or disturbing the street;

Erecting or maintaining any post, pole, fence, guard rail, wall, loading platform, or other structure on, over, or under the street;

Planting any tree, shrub, or other growing thing within the street;

Placing or leaving on the street any rubbish, brush, earth, or other material of any nature whatever;

Constructing, placing, or maintaining on, over, under, or within the street any pathway, sidewalk, driveway, or other surfacing, any culvert or other surface drainage, or subsurface drainage facility, any pipe, conduit, wire, or cable;

Lighting or building a fire;

Constructing, placing, planting, or maintaining any structure, embankment, excavation, tree, or other object adjacent to the street which causes or will cause an encroachment; or

Placing or causing to be placed any material, machinery, or apparatus on the street for building, paving, or other purposes for over twenty-four (24) hours.

“Permittee”

means any person that proposes to do work or encroach upon a street as herein defined and has been issued a permit for said encroachment by the City Engineer.

“Person”

means any individual, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, including any public agency or utility, or any agent or representative thereof and includes successors in interest.

“Personal wireless service”

means commercial mobile telecommunications services provided by a telephone or telegraph corporation under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the California Public Utilities Commission.

“Personal wireless service facility”

means a facility that transmits and/or receives telephonic or other wireless signals, including antennas, equipment, related facilities and appurtenances thereof used to provide or facilitate the provision of personal wireless service.

“Personal wireless service facility permit”

means a permit issued pursuant to this chapter authorizing a permittee to construct, install, and maintain a personal wireless service facility within the full width of the right-of-way of any street, as defined in the California Vehicle Code.

“Street”

means the full width of the right-of-way of any street, as defined in the California Vehicle Code, used by the general public, whether or not such street has been accepted as and declared to be part of the city system of streets including streets forming a part of the state highway system. “Street” also includes easements where the city is the grantee of the easement and property owned by the city.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 1; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

A. This chapter shall not apply to any officer or employee of the city acting in the discharge of his official duties to any work being performed by any person or persons, firm or corporation under contract with the city; when permission to encroach has been expressly granted by the City Council; to a permanent projection from buildings as permitted by California Building Code Chapter 32 or to temporary pedestrian protection permitted by California Building Code Chapter 32.

B. This chapter shall not prevent any person from maintaining any pipe or conduit lawfully on or under the street, or from making excavation, as may be necessary, for the preservation of life or property when an urgent necessity therefor arises; provided, that such person shall notify the City Engineer by telephone the day such work is performed or the day the offices of the city are again opened. Such person shall then apply on the proper form within five (5) working days confirming the work performed.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 §§ 2, 3; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

Any permit granted under this chapter shall be subject to the right of the city or any other person entitled thereto to use that part of the street for any purpose for which it may be lawfully used, and no part of the street shall be unduly obstructed at any time. All work or use shall be planned and executed in a manner that will least interfere with the safe and convenient travel of the general public.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 4; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

No application will be approved nor permit issued for constructing or maintaining a loading platform upon or in any street or for erecting or maintaining therein or thereon a post, pole, column, or structure for support for advertising signs except as provided in Section 7.04.080.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 5; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

A. Permittee shall be responsible for all liability for personal injury or property damage which may result from work permitted and done by permittee under the permit, or proximately caused by failure on permittee’s part to perform his obligations under said permit in respect to maintenance. If any claim of such liability is made against the city, its officers, or employees, permittee shall defend, indemnify, and hold them, and each of them, harmless from such claim including any claim based on the active or passive negligence of the city, its officers or employees, insofar as permitted by law.

B. Permittee shall be required to show evidence of public liability insurance in such form and amount as may be required by the City Engineer to protect the city, its officials, officers, directors, employees, and agents from claims which may arise from permittee’s operations under the permit.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 6; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

If the work or use authorized by a permit is unsafe, in violation of this chapter, or is unduly delayed by the permittee, the City Engineer may, upon written notice, revoke the permit and complete the work or any portion thereof, or make the site safe or return it to the same condition existing prior thereto. The actual cost of performing such work by the city plus overhead shall be charged to and paid for by the permittee.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 7; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

A. No person, except a duly authorized public officer or employee, shall paint, mark, or write on, or post or otherwise affix, any handbill or sign to or upon any public property including, but not limited to, any sidewalk, crosswalk, curb, curbstone, street, hydrant, tree, shrub, tree stake or guard, railroad trestle, electric light pole, telephone pole, or power pole, traffic signal pole, public bridge, drinking fountain, street sign, or traffic sign.

B. Any handbill or sign found posted or otherwise affixed upon any public property contrary to the provisions of this section may be removed by the city. The person responsible for any such illegal posting shall be liable for the cost incurred in the removal thereof and the City Manager or his designee is authorized to effect the collection of said cost.

C. Nothing in this section shall apply to the installation of a metal plaque or plate in a sidewalk commemorating an historical, cultural or artistic event location or person for which the City Manager or his designee has granted approval.

D. Nothing in this section shall apply to the painting of house numbers upon curbs done in accordance with the provisions of Section 7.04.110.

E. Nothing in this section shall apply to the temporary markings placed by the owners of subsurface installations pursuant to Government Code Section 4216.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 8; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

A. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7.04.070, public service banners may be placed within any public street, alley, or other public property upon issuance of an encroachment permit by the City Engineer. In issuing such an encroachment permit, the City Engineer shall consider the safety of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, the prevention of damage to public property, the aesthetic conditions of a particular neighborhood and the public health, safety, and welfare.

B. As used herein, “public service banner” shall mean temporary banners of nonprofit public welfare organizations and public service groups which advertise events of community interest.

C. The City Manager may, in his discretion, adopt a policy regulating the installation, maintenance, and removal of public service banners.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 9; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

All permittees and other persons maintaining permanent facilities within a street shall keep up-to-date records of the location and description of all such facilities which records shall be furnished to the City Engineer upon request. As used herein, “facilities” means both above ground and below ground facilities, including, but not limited to, pipes, wires, and tanks.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 41; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

All mail boxes shall be placed in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Post Office Department, but no box shall be so placed within the street as to endanger the life or safety of the traveling public.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 42; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

It is unlawful for any person, without first obtaining a permit under this chapter, to solicit on a commercial or donation basis, to place or maintain any number, figure, letter, carving, drawing, design, or other marking upon any street; except that markings for the purpose of identifying survey, utility, or construction locations shall not be subject to this chapter. A permit for placing or maintaining numbers, figures, letters, carvings, drawings, designs or other markings under this chapter may be issued only to nonprofit organizations which have their principal and permitted meeting place within city limits and have been organized and established within the city for a minimum of one (1) year continuously preceding application for a permit.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 43; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

Any monument of granite, concrete, iron, or other lasting material set for the purpose of locating or preserving the lines and/or elevation of any street, property subdivision, or a precise survey point or reference point shall not be removed or disturbed or caused to be removed or disturbed without first obtaining permission from the City Engineer to do so. Replacement of removed or disturbed monuments will be at the expense of the permittee.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 44; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

A. No tree, fence, or similar structure shall be planted, erected, or maintained in a street without a permit. No encroachment of any nature will be permitted or maintained which impedes, obstructs, or denies such pedestrian or other lawful travel, or which impairs adequate sight distance for safe pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

B. Maintenance. The permittee or property owner shall maintain all hedges, shrubs, walls, fences, or similar structures erected for landscaping purposes in a neat and orderly condition; if such structures are not so maintained, the City Engineer may direct that permittee or property owner to remove the same and restore the street to its former condition at the expense of the permittee or property owner.

C. Lawns. Any person otherwise entitled to may maintain a lawn of any grass or type not prohibited by other law within the street without a permit. The lawn shall not extend into the roadway or walkway nor into the drainage ditches, gutter, or other drainage facilities.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 45; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

The applicant for a permit to plant trees in the right-of-way of a public highway shall show in his application the exact location of and the kind of tree to be planted. If trees are planted within the public right-of-way and within five (5) feet of a public sidewalk and/or curb, the City Engineer may require a root barrier to be installed with the tree(s). No change shall be made in either location of trees or in kinds of trees without the approval of the City Engineer. The trees shall remain the property of the permittee who shall pay the cost of planting the trees and shall bear the cost of their maintenance. The City Engineer, at his sole discretion, may require the permittee to remove the trees at his sole expense if necessary for public safety or convenience.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 46; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))

No person shall store any item of business inventory, including vehicles, upon any street or sidewalk.

(Ord. 13 § 1 (part), 1982; Ord. 15-89 § 47; Ord. 10-17 § 1 (part))