Marin County Municipal Code Ch. 13.12 Excavations and Encroachments

Encroachment permits for work within, upon or beneath the roads of the county and roads within a permanent road division shall be required and issued in accordance with Division 2, Chapter 5.5 (Sections 1450 et seq.) of the California Streets and Highways Code and the provisions of this chapter. The term "work" as hereinabove used is construed to include, in addition to normal or usual meanings of the word, the business or trade of selling, hawking, or peddling, of any merchandise, article, or item whatsoever within the right-of-way of any county maintained road.

(Ord. 2850 § 2, 1984: Ord. 2043 § 1, 1973: Ord. 2026 § 1, 1973: Ord. 1566 § 1 (part), 1967: Ord. 649 § 1 (part), 1953)

All applications for permits shall be on forms supplied by the department of public works and, except for exemptions specified herein, shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee as established in the current "Resolution of the Marin County Board of Supervisors Establishing Fees for Permits Administered by the Department of Public Works," to cover the cost of processing the application.

Inspection fees are hereby waived when the applicant is either a local governmental entity such as a special district, school district or municipality or is a utility company regulated by the California Public Utility Commission.

If any work requiring a permit is begun without a permit, the permit fees shall be doubled to compensate for the extra work involved in inspecting completed or partially completed work.

The application shall also be accompanied by a drawing or plan clearly describing the proposed work. The application fee may be waived by the director of public works if the applicant is a volunteer group performing a service beneficial to the community. Prior to the issuance of an encroachment permit the applicant shall deposit with the director of public works the inspection fee determined by the director to cover the cost of inspection when the scope of the work so warrants.

(Ord. 2209 § 8, 1976: Ord. 1840 § 3, 1971; Ord. 1566 § 1 (part), 1967: Ord. 649 § 2, 1953)

Before granting a permit under the provisions of this chapter, the director of public works may require the applicant to file with the board of supervisors a satisfactory surety and one year maintenance bond, payable to the county, in such amount as the director of public works deems sufficient.

(Ord. 1566 § 1 (part), 1967: Ord. 649 § 3, 1953)

Before granting a permit under the provisions of this chapter, the director of public works may require the applicant to file with the board of supervisors a certificate of insurance for bodily injury and property damage liability, naming the county as additional insured, in such amount as the director of public works deems sufficient.

(Ord. 2929 § 1, 1986)

Any permit issued to a permittee of the class specified in Section 13.12.090 shall contain a provision that in the event of the future improvement of the highway, necessitating the relocation or removal of the encroachment, the permittee will relocate or remove same at his sole expense. In that event, the county road commissioner shall serve on the permittee his written demand specifying the place of location or that the encroachment must be removed from the highway and specifying a reasonable time within which the work of relocation must be commenced. The permittee must commence relocation or removal within the time specified in the demand and thereafter diligently prosecute the same to completion. All permits other than those issued to permittees of the class specified in Section 13.12.090 are revocable on five days' notice and the encroachment must be removed or relocated as may be specified by the county road commissioner in the notice revoking the permit and within the time specified by the county road commissioner, which time shall not be less than such five days unless the permit so provides.

(Ord. 649 § 4, 1953)

In the event the permittee encounters any Indian middens in doing the work for which a permit was issued hereunder, the permittee shall stop work in the immediate area of the middens and shall not recommence the work until he has fully complied with the provisions of Chapter 5.32.

(Ord. 1589 § 10, 1967: Ord. 649 § 5, 1953)

Permittees may excavate openings in county highways to make repairs in case of emergency requiring immediate action. In such cases the appropriate representative of the county road commissioner's office shall be promptly notified of any such action and such permittee, at his own expense, shall immediately replace such county highway in as good condition as before such excavation. A city or public corporation supplying water service to its inhabitants may, within its corporate limits, excavate a county highway without a permit in cases of emergency requiring immediate action; but in such cases the county highway shall at the expense of the city or the public corporation be replaced in as good condition as before such excavation.

(Ord. 649 § 6, 1953)

The permittee or his assigns in interest shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of any works for which a permit was issued. Should at any time any work constructed under the permit become defective through lack of proper maintenance, such defect shall be considered as sufficient reason for revocation of the permit as provided for in Section 13.12.040. Public utilities corporations shall file with the board of supervisors of the county a faithful performance bond annually, covering all permits required under this chapter, in such amounts as the county road commissioner deems sufficient, conditioned upon the proper compliance by the corporations with the provisions of this chapter.

The county road commissioner shall require each applicant to file with the board of supervisors a certificate showing the maintenance of insurance to cover the liability of the permittee for property damage and injuries to persons in connection with the work sought to be done under the permit. The minimum limits of such insurance shall be fixed by the road commissioner in such amounts as he deems sufficient, and in fixing the limits the road commissioner shall use as his basis the cost and hazards involved in the work sought to be performed under the permit.

(Ord. 649 § 7, 1953)

Before granting a permit under the provisions of this chapter, the county road commissioner shall require the applicant to file with the board of supervisors of Marin County a satisfactory bond payable to the county in such amount as the county road commissioner deems sufficient conditioned on the proper compliance by the permittee with the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 649 § 8, 1953)

Except as otherwise provided in this section, such a bond shall not be required of any city, public corporation or political subdivision which is authorized by law to establish or maintain any works or facilities in, under or over any public highway, nor shall the application of any such governmental unit for a permit be denied. Every such applicant is entitled as a matter of right to a permit, but is otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter and to all reasonable conditions and provisions made by the county road commissioner in any such permit. The county road commissioner may require of any such applicant a bond in a sum not to exceed twenty thousand dollars if such applicant has in fact prior to such application failed to comply with the provisions of this chapter or with the provisions of a previous permit.

(Ord. 649 § 9, 1953)

Any city, public utility district, municipal utility district, municipal water district or metropolitan water district is entitled to a blanket permit renewable annually for the installation of its service connection and for ordinary maintenance of its facilities located or installed in county highways; but the county road commissioner may revoke any such blanket permit if the permittee fails to comply with the provisions of this chapter. When any such permit is revoked in a proper case, such municipal utility district, public utility district, municipal water district or metropolitan water district is entitled to a permit only upon furnishing a bond as provided in Section 13.12.080.

(Ord. 2026 § 2, 1973: Ord. 649 § 10, 1953)

Any person, firm or corporation, or agent or employee thereof, who does any of the acts specified in this chapter without the authority of such a permit is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Such person, firm or corporation is guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted by such person, firm or corporation and is punishable as herein provided.

(Ord. 649 § 1 (part), 1953)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The board of supervisors declares that it would have passed this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more section, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.

(Ord. 649 § 11, 1953)