Irvine Municipal Code Art. XI Franchises

The Council may grant a franchise to any person, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity capable of exercising the privilege conferred, whether operating under an existing franchise or not, and may prescribe the terms, conditions, and limitations of such grant, including the compensation to be paid to the City therefor. The Council may prescribe by ordinance or resolution the method or procedure for granting franchises, together with additional terms and conditions for making such grants. In the absence of such provision the method provided by the general laws of the State shall apply.

No franchise shall be granted for a longer period than twenty-five years, unless there be reserved to the City the right to take over at any time the works, plant, and property constructed under the grant at their physical valuation and without compensation for franchise or good will.

No franchise or grant of a franchise shall in any way or to any extent impair or affect the right of the City to acquire the property of the possessor thereof by purchase or condemnation, and nothing therein contained shall be construed to contract away or to modify or abridge, either for a term or in perpetuity, the City's right of eminent domain with respect to the property of the possessor of any franchise. Every franchise granted by the City is granted upon the condition, whether expressed in the grant or not, that such franchise shall not be given any value before any court or other public authority in any proceeding of any character in excess of any amount actually paid by the grantee to the City at the time of the grant.

Before granting any franchise, the City Council shall adopt a resolution declaring its intention to grant same and stating the name of the proposed grantee, the character of the proposed franchise, and the terms and conditions upon which it is proposed to be granted. Such resolution shall fix and set forth the day, hour, and place when and where any person having an interest in or objecting to the granting of such franchise may appear before the Council and be heard thereon. Said resolution shall be published at least once, not less than ten days prior to said hearing, in the official newspaper. After hearing all persons desiring to be heard, the Council may by ordinance deny or grant the franchise on the terms and conditions specified in the resolution. No ordinance granting a franchise shall be adopted as an emergency ordinance.