Nevada City Municipal Code Art. III Standards and Requirements

A. The permittee shall perform all work in compliance with all current federal, state, and local safety regulations and requirements applicable to the work being performed under the permit.

B. Standards of Construction: All work shall be done in accordance with the most current APWA-AGC Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction, Caltrans Standard Specifications and the City of Nevada City.

C. The permittee shall perform all work in compliance with the encroachment and excavation standards and requirements established and published from time to time by the City Engineer, including standards and requirements for repaving, compacting, back- filling and pavement restoration. The standards and requirements may impose different requirements for different excavations, taking into consideration relevant factors, such as (i) the location, type and extent of excavation performed, (ii) the condition of the surface being excavated, (iii) the period of time elapsed since the construction or most recent resurfacing of the surface being excavated, and (iv) street classifications.

D. Permits From Other Agencies: The party or parties to whom a permit is issued shall, whenever required by law or applicable regulations, secure the written authorization for any work that must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of the State of California, CALOSHA, State Water Board, Caltrans, County of Nevada or any other public agency having jurisdiction. Failure to comply with the law or applicable regulations, as noted above, will invalidate the City's encroachment permit.

E. Archaeological: The permittee shall cease work in the vicinity of any archaeological resources that are revealed. The City shall be notified immediately. A qualified archaeologist, retained by the permittee, must evaluate the situation and make recommendations to the City concerning the continuation of the work.

F. The encroachment permit does not grant permission to work across property lines, unless the applicant provides the written consent of the adjoining property owner to the City prior to commencement of encroachment work or activities. It is the applicant's responsibility to determine property lines and work within them.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

A. All trenches shall be wide enough so that there is a minimum of 6 inches of clear space between the sides of the pipe or conduit and the trench walls to allow for compaction of bedding and backfill materials, unless otherwise authorized by the City Engineer.

B. Whenever any caving occurs in the side walls of any excavations, the pavements above such caving shall be cut away and fully restored and repaved at the expense of the permittee. In no case shall any void under any paved or improved surface be filled by side or lateral tamping.

C. The minimum cover over any and all pipes or conduits is 18", or more where required by building codes or where required by the City Engineer.

D. Required separation from any new pipe or conduits from City water, sewer and drainage facilities is 6 vertical and 5' horizontal, unless otherwise authorized by the City Engineer.

E. All trench backfill within the City's right-of-way shall be mechanically compacted 3/4-inch Class 2 aggregate base or two sack cement slurry material. The use of the existing soil ("native") for backfill shall not be allowed in pavement or sidewalk areas. Each eight-inch layer shall be compacted to 90% relative compaction with the top 12 inches being compacted to a 95% relative compaction. The cost of all compaction tests shall be the responsibility of the applicant.

F. Any longitudinal trenches in existing sidewalk shall require the saw-cutting and removal of the full width of the existing sidewalk. Replacement shall conform with city standard specifications. All cuts in concrete shall be made to the nearest score line unless otherwise permitted by the city engineer.

G. Temporary Surfacing. In roadway areas, a temporary asphalt plant mix "cutback" surface not less than 2-inches in thickness may be placed immediately after the top backfill has been completed and compacted. This temporary surface shall be maintained at a level surface until removal.

H. Before the final asphalt concrete patch is placed, the edges of the asphalt concrete shall be ground one-foot wider than the sawcut width of the trench to create smooth parallel T-section edges. The asphalt within edge grinding section beyond the walls of the trench shall be replaced at a minimum depth of 1½-inch and the asphalt within the trench section shall be replaced at a minimum depth of 3 inches.

I. All areas of disturbance shall be restored with materials, including color, texture, quality and finish to closely match adjacent surfaces; and per City standards; and to restore conditions that existed prior to the encroachment.

J. Permittee is responsible for pollution prevention including materials management, runoff to drainage facilities, spill prevention and control, sediment control and erosion control.

K. No open excavation shall be left unattended at any time.

L. Full lane width pavement restoration is required for encroachment into streets that have been constructed or resurfaced within five years. Full lane width pavement restoration shall consist of pavement resurfacing of the full lane width along the entire length of the trench plus one foot on either end. All lanes that are affected shall be ground down 1-1/2" inches and repaved with 1-1/2" inches of asphalt concrete. Feasible alternatives to make the necessary encroachment using a trenchless method shall be used to avoid excavating a newly resurfaced street whenever possible.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021; Ord. No. 2022-07, § 2, 6-8-2022)

If the pavement or the surface of the public right-of-way over any excavation should become depressed or broken at any time within one year after the excavation has been completed and before resurfacing of the right-of-way by the city, natural wear of the surface excepted, the permittee who performed the excavation work shall, upon written notice from the City Engineer, inspect the depressed or broken area over the excavation to ascertain the cause of the failure. The permittee shall make repairs to the installation or back-fill and have the pavement restored as specified by the City Engineer, within such time period as may be specified by the City Engineer. Additional inspection permit fees may be imposed as appropriate. If, after giving the permittee such notice, the pavement is not satisfactorily restored within the time as specified by the City Engineer, excusable delay excepted, the City Engineer may cause the work to be done. The cost of the work done by or at the direction of the city, including any inspection costs and administrative overhead incurred by city, shall be charged to the permittee. After the cost is paid to city, the city shall be responsible for any future repairs of that portion of pavement over the excavation.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

The permittee shall complete the work or use authorized by a permit issued pursuant to this chapter within the time limit is specified in the permit. Should the permittee be unable to complete the work before the permit expires, a time extension may be granted by the City Engineer. It shall be the permittee's responsibility to notify the city in writing of the reason for the delay. Failure to obtain an extension shall require the permittee to make application for a new permit.

If any part of the work authorized by an encroachment or excavation permit is not completed within the time required, excusable delay excepted, the City Engineer may notify in writing the permittee performing the work to complete the work within forty-eight hours, legal holidays excepted. If the work is not completed within this time period, the City Engineer shall have the authority to perform all or a portion of the work, including restoration of the work area to a safe and passable condition. The cost of the work, including any inspection costs and administrative overhead, incurred by city shall be charged to the permittee.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

The permittee shall inform itself as to the existence and location of all underground facilities and protect the same against damage. The permittee shall not interfere with any existing utility without the written consent of the owner of the utility. The permittee shall support and protect all pipes, conduits, poles, wires or other underground structures affected by excavation work, and shall inform the owner if any damage occurs to such facilities during the conduct of its work. All repairs, including replacement of protective pipe coatings, shall be made by the owner of the damaged facilities, unless other arrangements are made. The expense of repairs of any damage shall be charged to the permittee. If any claim of liability for damage to facilities is made against the city, its officers, employees and agents, permittee shall defend, indemnify and hold them, and each of them, harmless from such claim insofar as permitted by law except where such damage or loss or destruction is caused by the sole negligence or willful misconduct of the City, its officers, employees and agents.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

A. Except for requirements subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of another regulatory agency, the location, depth and other physical characteristics of any facilities for which an excavation permit is issued shall be subject to approval of the City Engineer.

B. All facilities installed under a permit issued under this chapter shall, upon demand of the City Engineer, be relocated or lowered if required by the city to avoid actual conflicts with a proper governmental use of a public right-of-way. All expenses incurred in relocating, lowering lines, pot-holing or marking of facilities to determine their exact location after the original installation shall be borne by the permittee.

C. Conflicting Permits: If a prior encroachment conflicts with the proposed work, the new permittee must arrange for any necessary removal or relocation with the prior permittee. Any such removal or relocation will be at the expense of the permittee.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

The permittee shall, upon completion of all work authorized in the permit, notify the City Engineer in writing that such work has been completed. No work shall be deemed to be completed until notification of completion is given pursuant to this chapter and the work is accepted by the City Engineer.

Upon completion of underground or surface work permitted under this chapter and at the discretion of the City Engineer, permittee shall furnish "as-built" plans of the installation if there have been changes from the original submittal, showing a correct plan view to scale, details, and a profile showing the locations of all elements of the installation based on data obtained in the field during construction. This requirement shall not be applied to public utilities where "as-built" records are being kept by the public utility and made available to the city engineering department upon request.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

The permittee in the conduct of the work, use or maintenance of an encroachment authorized by a permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall provide, erect and/or maintain such lights, barriers, warning signs, patrols, watchmen and other safeguards as are necessary to protect the traveling public. All work shall be planned and carried out to minimize inconvenience to the traveling public. If, at any time, the City Engineer finds that adequate safeguards are not being provided, the city may issue a stop work notice, or may provide, erect, maintain, relocate or remove such safeguards as are deemed necessary or may revoke the permit and restore the right-of-way to its former condition, all at the expense of the permittee. Traffic control warning signs, lights, and other safety devices shall conform to the applicable requirements of the California Vehicle Code, CalTrans California Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD), and the city standards and specifications.

For any encroachment that requires a lane closure or road closure, a site-specific Traffic Control Plan shall be prepared by the applicant and submitted to the City Engineer for review a minimum of ten (10) business days prior to the scheduled start date. No lane closure is permitted before 9:00 a.m. or after 3:30 p.m. on any roadway that is classified as an arterial or collector, unless approved otherwise. Road closures will require minimum three (3) business day notice and must be approved by the Department of Public Works, Police Department and Fire Department prior to closure. It should be noted that the contractor(s) is responsible for notifying PD/FD County dispatch in advance of any road closures. The need for Flagger(s) will be determined based on site conditions. Flagger(s) shall be sufficiently trained and equipped in accordance with California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 1599. All work shall be planned and carried out so that there will be the least possible inconvenience to the traveling public. Traffic shall not be unreasonably delayed.

Access to driveways, residences and businesses shall be maintained at all times unless other arrangements are made and documented in writing.

Any work proposing to impact parking space(s) will require temporary "No Parking" signs, which shall be placed by the permittee 72 hours prior to the start of work. If temporary "No Parking" signs are not placed 72 hours prior to the start of work, the parking restriction is not enforceable.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

Neither the city nor any of its officers, employees, agents or volunteers shall be responsible for any damage caused by any encroachments or excavations in any public right-of-way made by any person under the authority of a permit issued under this chapter. As a condition of application for and issuance of an encroachment or excavation permit, a permittee voluntarily releases, discharges, waives, and relinquishes any and all actions and causes of action for personal injury (including death) or property damage occurring to himself/herself arising out of or as a result of performing the work under the permit; agrees that under no circumstances will he/she, or his/her heirs, executors, administrators and assigns prosecute or present any claim against the city or any of its officers, employees, agents, or volunteers for personal injury (including death) or property damage, including those which arise by the negligence of the city or any of said persons, whether passive or active; and further agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the city, its officers, employees, agents, and volunteers, from any claims, demands, damages, costs, expenses or liability for personal injury (including death) or property damage, arising out of or connected with his/her work under the permit or issuance of the permit except where such damage or loss or destruction is caused by the sole negligence or willful misconduct of the City, its officers, employees and agents.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

Nothing in this chapter shall be read as imposing upon the city, the City Engineer, or any employee or agent thereof, any liability for any damage or any injury to any person or property resulting from any act or acts of the permittee, its agents, or its employees.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

Should any part of this chapter be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of this chapter shall remain in full force and effect.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)

A. Violation of this chapter shall be a misdemeanor, but may be charged as either a misdemeanor or an infraction in the discretion of the prosecuting attorney.

B. A person who violates the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a separate offense for each day, or portion thereof, during which the violation continues.

C. A violation of this chapter which threatens to be continuing in nature is a public nuisance which may be abated or enjoined as such in accordance with Chapter 8.04 or any other provision of law.

D. A violation of this chapter is subject to administrative citation and fine under Chapter 1.12.

(Ord. No. 2021-04, § 1, 4-28-2021)