Modesto Municipal Code Art. XIV Franchises

No person, firm or corporation shall exercise any franchise, right or privilege mentioned in this article in the City except insofar as the person or it may be entitled to do so by direct authority of the Constitution of the State of California or of the United States, unless the person or it shall have obtained a grant therefor in accordance with the provisions of this Charter and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by ordinance. Nothing contained in the article shall be construed to invalidate any lawful franchise heretofore granted nor to necessitate the obtaining of a new franchise for a use for which a franchise holder shall have a valid unexpired franchise.

(As amended November 7, 1989)

The Council is empowered to grant by ordinance a franchise to any person, firm or corporation, whether operating under an existing franchise or not, to furnish the City and its inhabitants with transportation, communication, terminal facilities, water, light, heat, power, refrigeration, storage or any other public utility or service, or to use the public streets, ways, alleys and places, as the same may now or may hereafter exist, in connection therewith.

The Council shall, by ordinance, prescribe the terms and conditions under which franchises will be granted, subject to the provisions of this Charter, and the procedure for granting franchises; provided, however, that such procedural ordinance or ordinances shall make provisions for the giving of notice of franchise applications, for protests against the granting of such franchises and for public hearings on such applications.

The Council, in granting franchises, shall prescribe the terms and conditions of such franchises in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Charter and any ordinance adopted pursuant thereto, and may in such franchise impose such other and additional terms and conditions not in conflict with said Charter or ordinances, whether governmental or contractual in character, as in the judgment of said Council are in the public interest or as the people, by initiative, indicate they desire to have so imposed.

The Council may grant a franchise without calling for bids or may, at its discretion, advertise for bids for the sale of a franchise upon a basis, not in conflict with the provisions of this Article, to be set out in the advertisement for bids and notice of sale.

Every franchise shall be either a fixed term not to exceed 20 years, or for an indeterminate period. If for a fixed term, the franchise shall state the terms for which it is granted; if indeterminate, it shall set forth the terms and conditions under which it may be terminated.

No franchise grant shall in any way or to any extent impair or affect the right of the City now or hereafter conferred upon it by law to acquire the property of the grantee thereof either by purchase or through the exercise of the right of eminent domain, and nothing herein contained shall be construed to contract away or to modify or to abridge either for a term or in perpetuity the City's right to eminent domain with respect to any public utility.

No new franchise or the renewal of an existing franchise shall be granted without reserving to the City just and adequate compensation.

Nothing in this article shall be construed as applying to or requiring the operators of refrigeration or storage utilities or the carriers of freight or passengers not operating over a fixed route, or other public utilities or services not specifically described in this article, to obtain a franchise to operate within the City unless required so to do by the ordinances of the City of Modesto.

The exercise by any person, firm or corporation of any privilege for which a franchise is required without procuring such franchise shall be a misdemeanor, and each such day that such condition continues shall constitute a separate violation.