El Monte Municipal Code Ch. 12.20 Excavations

A. No person shall make any excavation in or under the surface of any street for the installation, repair or removal of any pipe, conduit, duct or tunnel or for any other purpose, without first obtaining from the City Engineer a written permit to make such excavation and make a deposit to cover the cost of inspection of restoring such street to its original condition, all as hereinafter in this chapter provided. The person intending to make any such excavation shall file with the City Engineer a written application for a permit for such excavation, and shall pay to the City Engineer such sum or sums as are required by this chapter to be paid. Such application shall contain the name and residence or business address of the person making such application and shall state in detail the location and area of each excavation intended to be made. If required by the City Engineer, such application shall be accompanied by a plat showing the location of each proposed excavation, the purpose for which the same is to be used and such other details as said City Engineer may require to be shown upon such plat; provided however, that the filing of a plat shall not be required when excavations are made for service connections for the location of trouble in conduits or pipes or for making repairs thereto. If the City Engineer shall require a plat as hereinbefore mentioned, the plat shall be filed in the office of the said City Engineer as a public record.

B. No person shall make any excavation or install or maintain any tank, pipe, conduit, duct or tunnel in or under the surface of any street at any location other than that described in the application and shown on the plat filed by such person as required by the provisions of this chapter.

(Prior code §§ 7300, 7301)

Any person intending to make any excavation in any street shall pay to the City Engineer the following sums for work performed by the city pursuant to such excavation:

A. Asphalt pavement: $4.00 per sq. ft. with a $250.00 minimum;

B. Concrete pavement and driveway approach: $6.50 per sq. ft. with a $300.00 minimum;

C. Curb and gutter: $25.00 per lineal ft. with a $250.00 minimum;

D. Sidewalk: $5.00 per sq. ft. with a $200.00 minimum.

(Prior code § 7302)

Utility companies making street excavations in streets may elect to replace such excavations with permanent paving using their own employees or contractor or they may pay to the city the appropriate pavement restoration fees and the city will place the required permanent paving. If a utility company elects to replace their excavations with permanent paving, such permanent paving shall be in place within forty-five (45) calendar days from the time that temporary paving is placed over the excavation. If the temporary paving is not replaced with permanent paving within this required time, the city will remove the temporary paving and place the required permanent paving. If the city performs this work, the applicable utility company will be billed for the work performed in accordance with the appropriate pavement restoration fees plus an administrative charge of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for each excavation cut where permanent paving is required to be placed by the city. Payment for any charge required by this section will be billed in accordance with Section 12.20.230.

(Prior code § 7302.1)

Upon the presentation to said City Engineer the payment of all sums required under any of the provisions of this chapter and upon the filing of a plat when such plat is required, the City Engineer shall issue a written permit to make such excavation, provided, however, that whenever a permit for any excavation in any street has been issued the City Engineer may refuse to issue other permits for excavations in such street until such excavation is made and refilled, if in his judgment such additional excavations shall interfere with the public use of such street for travel thereon. Said permit shall specify the person to whom the same is issued; the street and the particular portion or portions thereof to be excavated and the extent of such excavation. No permit shall be transferable. Every such permit for any "house," "lateral connections" or "public utility service connection or facility" excavations mentioned in this chapter shall become and be void unless the excavation to be made pursuant thereto is commenced within ten (10) days from the date of issuance of such permit and the work to be done pursuant thereto shall be done and the excavation refilled in the manner required by this chapter within three (3) working days after the work of such excavation is commenced and nothing herein contained shall be deemed or construed to allow a longer period of time therefor. No "house," "lateral connection" or "public utility connection or facility" excavation shall be left unfilled over Saturday and Sunday. Every such permit for any "main" excavation mentioned in this chapter shall become and be void unless the excavation to be made pursuant thereto is commenced within sixty (60) days from the date of the issuance of such permit, and the work to be done pursuant thereto shall be done and the excavation refilled in the manner required by this chapter within five (5) working days for the first one hundred (100) feet of said "main" excavation and one additional working day for each additional one hundred (100) feet or fraction thereof of said "main" excavation after the work has commenced. Provided, however, that the City Engineer may grant a reasonable extension of time for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days for the performance of such work and the refilling of any excavation under this chapter whenever the City Engineer shall deem that good cause exists therefor and provided further, that if any such extension of time be granted such permit shall become and be void unless all such work shall be done and such excavation refilled in the manner required by this chapter prior to the expiration of such extension of time.

(Prior code § 7303)

All excavations shall be refilled in the following manner: In streets which have not been macadamized, paved or oiled and where water is available and where in the opinion of said City Engineer the material excavated can be properly settled by the use of water, the trench may be filled to within not less than one foot from the surface and shall then be thoroughly flooded and the material settled by poling or with shovels. If required by the City Engineer the filling shall be settled at not more than two (2) intermediate depths to be determined by the said City Engineer before it is brought to within one foot of the surface. After the material has been allowed to settle, the trench shall be filled to the surface again, flooded and then allowed to settle. It shall then be filled four (4) inches above the surface of the street and all trenches running parallel to the street shall be thoroughly rolled by the person refilling such excavation, with a roller weighing not less than five (5) tons. If the street where such excavation is made has been macadamized, paved or oiled the macadam, pavement or oiled surface removed therefrom shall be kept separate from all other materials. The trench shall be refilled in the manner hereinbefore provided, two (2) inches above the surface of such macadamized, paved or oiled street, and all trenches running parallel to the street shall then be rolled by the person refilling such excavation with a roller weighing not less than five (5) tons. When such refilling is in proper condition, temporary pavement shall be placed as set forth in Section 12.20.060. In all cases where a pipe not exceeding four (4) inches in diameter is placed in an excavation, all the material removed from such excavation shall be replaced therein. Any surplus material not required in refilling trenches shall be promptly removed by the person to whom the permit was granted.

(Prior code § 7304)

All excavations for "main," "house," "lateral connection" or "public utility service connection or facility," after having been properly refilled as hereinabove specified, shall be paved with a minimum of two (2) inches of temporary asphalt paving material.

(Prior code § 7305)

Tunnels will be permitted in all excavations in any street between curbs, provided, however, that all such tunnels shall be entirely cut down before same are refilled. No tunnel shall exceed four (4) feet in length.

(Prior code § 7306)

Except as allowed by the City Engineer, the trench for any "main" excavation at the end of each day shall not be excavated more than one hundred (100) feet in advance of "main" laying, nor left unfilled for more than one hundred (100) feet where main has been laid. No "house," "lateral connection" or "public utility service connection or facility" excavation shall be left unfilled over Saturday and Sunday.

(Prior code § 7307)

It shall be the duty of every person making any excavation in any street to maintain safe crossings for vehicle traffic at all street intersections and safe crossings for pedestrians at intervals of not more than three hundred (300) feet. If any such excavation is made across any street at least one safe crossing shall be maintained at all times for vehicles and pedestrians. Free access must be provided to all fire hydrants. All excavated materials shall be laid compactly along the side of the trench and kept trimmed up so as to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the public traffic. All gutters shall be maintained free and unobstructed for the further depth of the adjacent curb and for at least one foot in width from the face of such curb at the gutter line. Whenever a gutter crosses an intersection street an adequate waterway shall be provided and at all times maintained.

(Prior code § 7308)

It shall also be the duty of every person making an excavation in any street to place and maintain barriers at each end of such excavation and at such places as may be necessary along the excavation to prevent accidents, and also to place and maintain lights at each end of such excavation and at distances of not less than one hundred (100) feet along the line thereof, from sunset each day to sunrise of the next day, until such excavation is entirely refilled and the excavation has been paved with a temporary asphalt paving material, and no person shall fail, refuse or neglect to comply with any requirement contained in this section.

(Prior code § 7309)

That the City Engineer shall deposit at least once each week in the City Treasury all moneys received by him or her pursuant to this chapter.

(Prior code § 7310)

No person shall install any service pipe or main pipe, conduit, duct, tunnel or other structure, except manholes, culverts and catch basins, in any street at a distance of less than two (2) feet below the established grade of such public street, or if the grade has not been established, less than two (2) feet below the surface of such street.

(Prior code § 7311)

Every person owning, using, controlling or having an interest in pipes, conduits, ducts, or tunnels under the surface of any street for supplying or conveying gas, electricity, water, steam, heat, ammonia, or oil, in, to or from the city or to or from its inhabitants or for any other person, shall within ninety (90) days after the adoption of this code file in the office of the City Engineer a map or set of maps each drawn to a scale of not less than two hundred (200) feet to one inch, which said map or set of maps shall show in detail the exact location, size, description and date of installation, if known, of all mains, laterals, services and service pipes, and all valves, pressure regulators, traps, manholes, handholes, transformer chambers, or other appliances installed beneath the surface of the streets in the city belonging to, used by or under the control of such person or in which such person has any interest. Every such person shall also file, within fifteen (15) days after the first day of January of each and every year after January 1, 1950, a corrected map or set of maps, each drawn to a scale of not less than two hundred (200) feet to one inch, showing the complete installation of all such pipes and other appliances, including all installations made during the previous year, to and including the last day of such year. Each such map shall be accompanied by an affidavit endorsed thereon, subscribed and sworn to by such person or by a member of such firm or by the president or secretary of such corporation, to the effect that the same correctly exhibits the details required by this chapter to be shown thereon.

(Prior code § 7312)

Whenever any pipe, conduit, duct, tunnel or other structure located under the surface of any street has been abandoned, the person owning, using, controlling or having an interest therein, shall within thirty (30) days after such abandonment file in the office of the City Engineer a statement in writing giving in detail the location of the pipe, conduit, duct, tunnel or other structure so abandoned. Each map or set of maps filed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall show in detail the location of all such pipes, conduit, ducts, tunnels or other structures abandoned subsequent to the filing of the last preceding map or set of maps.

(Prior code § 7313)

No person shall fail to file any map or set of maps at the time and in all respects as required by this chapter.

(Prior code § 7314)

A. The conduct of excavation work or activity in public streets and rights-of-way shall be subject to the inspection, supervision and approval of the City Engineer in accordance with this chapter. The City Engineer may designate an inspector for the supervision of such work. No person may conduct such work without first obtaining a permit as issued therefor by the city in conformance with this chapter.

B. Each person who proposes to conduct excavation activity in public streets and rights-of-way shall pay a fee to the city in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for each one hundred (100) linear feet of excavation or portion thereof.

C. If the excavation activity is on a major arterial or connector identified below, the person proposing to do the work shall pay a fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each one hundred (100) of linear feet of excavation or portion thereof. The arterials and collectors to which this fee applies are:

1. Valley Boulevard;

2. Santa Anita Avenue;

3. Tyler Avenue;

4. Ramona Boulevard;

5. Arden Drive;

6. Maxson Road;

7. Cogswell Road;

8. Garvey Avenue;

9. Baldwin Avenue;

10. Peck Road;

11. Durfee Avenue;

12. Lower Azusa Road.

D. Each person proposing to make an excavation consisting of one or a series of intermittent excavations shall pay a one hundred dollar ($100.00) fee per excavation provided the cut does not exceed ten (10) feet by ten (10) feet area.

E. Each person proposing to make an excavation for any "house," "lateral connection" or "public utility service connection or facility" shall also pay to the city a separate fee of sixty dollars ($60.00) for inspection, supervision and approval of each such excavation by the city.

F. Each person proposing to make an excavation for any "main" when such excavation consists of a series of intermittent excavations shall pay to the city a separate fee of sixty dollars ($60.00) for the first such intermittent excavation and a fee of thirty dollars ($30.00) for each additional such intermittent excavation on the same main for the inspection, supervision and approval of each such excavation by the city.

(Ord. 2508 § 1, 1999: prior code § 7315)

Any person engaged in the making or refilling of any excavation in any street shall at all times while such work is in progress keep at the place where such excavation is located the original permit, or the number thereof, for such excavation and must on demand exhibit the same to the City Engineer or to any of his or her deputies or to any police officer.

(Prior code § 7316)

Before a permit is issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, a detailed plan of such excavation, showing the proposed location thereof, and all appurtenances thereto, shall be or shall have been filed in the office of the City Engineer.

(Prior code § 7317)

The Council may in its discretion issue permits for the making of excavations under alleys for the purpose of installing and maintaining oil storage tanks as provided by this section. Every tank installed, constructed or maintained pursuant to any such permit shall be so constructed that the top thereof shall not be less than four (4) feet below the surface of the alley in which such tank is so installed, constructed or maintained. No such tank shall be of a size sufficient to contain more than two thousand five hundred (2,500) gallons and shall be used only for the storage of crude petroleum or distillate for use as fuel in buildings. Any such permit may be revoked at any time by said Council and upon such revocation any tank so installed, constructed or maintained pursuant to any such permit shall be at once removed from such alley by the person owning, having charge of or using such tank. If at any time it becomes necessary to construct any sewer, water main, or other pipe line or conduit, or other public work of any kind along or in such alley, such tank or such portion thereof as may be necessary shall be removed so as to permit the construction of such sewer, water main, or other pipe line or conduit or other public work. If any such permit be revoked, or if it becomes necessary to remove any such tank or any portion thereof for the purpose of allowing the construction of a sewer, water main, or other pipe line or conduit or other public work, and the person owning, having charge of, or using such tank shall fail, refuse or neglect to remove the same within twenty (20) days after service of notice by the City Engineer so to do, the said City Engineer shall remove such tank, or so much thereof as may be necessary for such purpose, and the city shall have the right to recover the cost of such removal from such person. Before any such permit is issued a detailed plan of such tank and all appurtenances thereto shall be filed in the office of the City Engineer, which plan shall show the proposed location of such tank in such alley.

(Prior code § 7318)

None of the provisions of this chapter shall apply to any work done or to be done along, in or upon any street pursuant to any law of the state providing for the improvement thereof, provided however, that the provisions contained in the sections of this chapter pertaining to crossings and lights shall apply to all such work and to all excavations to be made along, in or upon any street.

(Prior code § 7319)

Nothing in this chapter contained shall be construed to prevent any person maintaining any pipe or conduit in any street, alley or other public place by virtue of any law, ordinance or permit, from making such excavation as may be necessary for the preservation of life or property when such necessity arises during such hours as the offices of said city are closed; provided that the person making such excavation shall obtain a permit therefor within four (4) hours after the offices of the said city are first opened subsequent to the making of such excavation.

(Prior code § 7320)

Every permit for an excavation in or under the surface of any street shall be granted subject to the right of the city or of any other person entitled thereto, to use that portion of such street for any purpose for which such street may lawfully be used.

(Prior code § 7321)

All permit fees required by this chapter may, with the consent of the City Engineer, be paid by public utilities companies upon presentation of statement from the city at the end of each month instead of at the time of issuance of such permits.

(Prior code § 7322)

A. Prohibition. No excavation and no cutting shall be permitted in any public right-of-way for five (5) years after completion of surface paving or repaving.

B. Exceptions. The City Engineer may in its discretion grant exceptions to the prohibition of this section under the following circumstances. In granting exceptions, the City Engineer may lengthen and enlarge the required area of restoration up to the full-width of the roadway, and impose other reasonable conditions as it deems appropriate to protect the public interest.

1. Emergency that threatens life or serious property damage.

2. Work that is mandated by a federal, state, or county agency.

3. No other reasonable means of providing service exists, as determined by the City Engineer.

4. Other situation the City Engineer deems to be in the public interest.

C. The City Engineer shall develop and maintain a Master Pavement List and make it available at the Engineering Division public counter and the City Clerk's Office. The Master Pavement List shall identify those segments of public right-of-way that are subject to the prohibition of this Section 12.20.240 and the corresponding starting and ending dates of the prohibition.

D. Rules and procedures. The City Engineer may promulgate pavement restoration guidelines and other rules and procedures that are consistent with this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2873, § 2, 2-2-2016)