Chapter 12.16 — EXCAVATIONS

The provisions of this chapter apply only to permits for the making of excavations, fills or obstructions.

(Prior code § 38-76)

• A. Contents. The application for a permit for the making of excavations, fills or obstructions in any highway shall state in detail:

  1. The location, dimensions, purpose, extent and nature thereof.

  2. The time during which it is estimated that such excavation or obstruction will exist.

• B. Changes by Commissioner. The County Road Commissioner may make such changes in the application as to location, dimensions, character and number of the proposed excavations or obstructions as in his or her opinion are necessary for the protection of the highways within which it is proposed that the work be performed or for the prevention of undue interference with traffic or the safety of persons using such highways.

• C. Agreement to Remove or Relocate Pipes, Conduits, Etc. Every application shall contain a statement, signed by the applicant, that if any tank, pipe, conduit, duct or tunnel placed in the excavation or obstruction for which a permit is issued, interferes with the future use of the highway by the general public, then the applicant and his or her successors or assigns will at his or her own expense remove such tank, pipe, conduit, duct or tunnel, or relocate at a location designated by the County Road Commissioner.

• (Prior code §§ 38-77—38-79)

When excavations are made for service connections or for the location of trouble in conduits or pipes, or for making repairs thereto, the County Road Commissioner may waive the filing of a plat. Otherwise each applicant for an excavation permit shall file with the application a plat in quadruplicate showing the highways in which the proposed excavation will be made, together with the exact locations and dimensions of the proposed excavations, and any other details which the Commissioner requires.

(Prior code § 38-80)

Each applicant for a permit shall file with the County Road Commissioner proof of the applicant's right to use the high-ways for the purposes set forth in the application. (Prior code § 38-81)

• A. Special Deposit of Cost for Repairing Surface of Highway.

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City of Paramount, CA § 12.16.050

STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES

§ 12.16.050

1. Except in the case of construction under contract with the City where a faithful performance bond is posted which guarantees to the City the repair of the highway, including construction financed in whole or in part by special assessments, each applicant for a permit in addition to payment of the issuance fee shall deposit with the Commissioner a sum of money in no event less than $10.00, which is twice the estimated cost to the nearest five dollars of repairing the surface of the highway which may be damaged or destroyed by the proposed excavation or obstruction.

2. The cost shall be estimated by multiplying the number of square feet of surface which may be damaged as shown by the application and plat, and the number of inches of thickness, plus one inch, by such sum as the Board of Supervisors by order determines to most adequately represent the actual cost. Such order shall in no event specify a sum greater than $0.25. The City Council may change and revise such order from time to time. In the absence of any such order the amount shall be $0.10.

3. In all cases the cost shall be presumed to be not less than one dollar.

• B. General Deposit. In lieu of making the special deposit required by subsection A of this section, the applicant may make and maintain with the County Road Commissioner a general deposit in an amount estimated by the Commissioner to be sufficient to pay for the cost of permit issuance fees and expected repairs occasioned by future excavations or obstructions. The general deposit shall be held and used for the same purposes as the special deposit prescribed by subsection A of this section.

• C. Undertaking in Lieu of Deposit. In lieu of making either a general or special deposit, or to supplement a general deposit not sufficient in amount, the applicant may file an undertaking with the County Road Commissioner in a penal sum not less than $1,000.00, executed either by two good and sufficient sureties or by a corporation incorporated for the purpose of making, guaranteeing or becoming a surety upon bonds or undertakings, complying with Section 1056 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and by the applicant conditioned upon the payment of all fees and other charges required by this chapter, which may become due because of any permits issued during a period of not less than one year.

• D. When Special Deposit Not Required. While a general deposit is maintained, or while an undertaking is filed, either or both of which are of an amount sufficient to cover the amount of deposit required for the making of any excavation or obstruction sought to be made, the applicant need not make any special deposit.

• E. When Additional Deposit or Increased Undertaking Required. If, in the opinion of the County Road Commissioner, any special general deposit or any undertaking is not sufficient for the proper protection of the public interest in the highways in which it is proposed to excavate or on which it is proposed to place obstructions, the Commissioner may require an additional deposit, or that the amount of the undertaking be increased to such an amount as he or she determines will be sufficient to protect such public interest.

• F. Deductions from Deposits. The County Road Commissioner shall deduct from any deposit made or maintained by the permittee:

  1. The permit issuance fee if that has not otherwise been paid.

  2. The cost to the County of refilling any excavation or removing any obstruction.

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City of Paramount, CA

PARAMOUNT CODE

§ 12.16.050

§ 12.16.070

3. The cost to the County, calculated pursuant to the provisions of subsection A of this section, of resurfacing the highway.

4. The cost of any inspection by the Commissioner.

• G. Refund of Deposit to Applicant. After making the deductions specified in subsection F, the Commissioner shall refund to the applicant any amount still remaining in the same manner as provided by law for the repayment of trust money.

• H. Additional Payment When Deposit Insufficient. If any deposit made is less than sufficient to pay all fees and costs provided for in subsection F, the permittee shall, upon demand, pay to the County Road Commissioner an amount equal to the deficiency. If the permittee fails or refuses to pay such deficiency upon demand the City may recover the same by action in any court of competent jurisdiction. Until such deficiency is paid in full a permit shall not be issued to such permittee.

• I. Billing for Payment in Lieu of Deductions from Deposits.

  1. If a person makes and maintains with the County Road Commissioner either a general deposit or an undertaking as permitted by this chapter, the deductions hereinbefore provided for need not be made.

2. In lieu of such deductions, the Commissioner may bill such person for the amount owed by him or her to the City, under the provisions of this chapter. If such an amount is not paid within 15 days of the transmission of such bill, the Commissioner may deduct such amount from the general deposit, and the provisions of subsections F through H shall apply, or may recover upon such undertaking.

(Prior code §§ 38-82—38-90)

• A. Approval of Application. If an applicant for a permit complies in all respects with this chapter and with all applicable provisions of all other provisions of this Code, the County Road Commissioner shall approve the application and the plat filed therewith. Upon approval such application and such plat shall become public records.

• B. Issuance of Permit. When the County Road Commissioner approves an application for a permit he or she may issue the permit applied for.

• C. Permits to Be Nontransferable. Permits issued under this chapter are nontransferable.

• D. Cancellation of Permit. The County Road Commissioner may cancel a permit unless the work therein permitted is commenced within 60 days of the issuance thereof and thereafter, in the opinion of the Commissioner, is diligently prosecuted to completion.

• E. Compliance with Permit. No permittee shall make or cause to be made any excavation, or construct, put upon, maintain or leave any obstruction or impediment to travel, or pile or place any material in or upon any highway, or install or maintain or cause to be installed or maintained any tank, pipe, conduit, duct or tunnel in or upon, or under the surface of any highway, at any location other than that described in the application, as amended, if amended, by the County Road Commissioner, and shown in the plat filed with such application, or in any way contrary to the term of the permit.

• (Prior code §§ 38-91—38-95)

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City of Paramount, CA § 12.16.070

STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES

§ 12.16.080

In any permit issued by the County Road Commissioner, the County Road Commissioner and the City Director of Public Works may specify what lights, barriers, warning signs or other measures designed to protect the public health, safety and welfare must be erected by the permittee in addition to the following:

• A. Maintain the surface of the backfill or of the temporary pavement at an elevation equal to that of the adjoining street surface and in a manner safe for vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

• B. Place and maintain barriers at each end of the excavation, cut or fill and at such places along the excavation, cut or fill as may be necessary to prevent accidents, but with a maximum interval of 100 feet; and shall place and maintain a sign on every such barrier with letters not less than three inches in height, which sign shall state the name of the person making the excavation and in letters not less than six inches high, bearing the words "excavation" or "obstruction."

• C. Place and maintain warning lights at each end of such excavation, cut or fill and at intervals of not less than 50 feet along the sides thereof from sunset each day to sunrise of the next day. A fee of $10.00 per day shall be charged such person for each barricade or warning light placed or replaced by the City where this chapter is violated by the absence of such barricades or warning lights.

• D. Place and maintain any and all regulatory signs, warning signs, detour signs and/or directional signs as required by the project specifications or as required by the Director of Public Works. A fee of $10.00 per day shall be charged such person for each such sign placed or replaced by the City where this chapter is violated by the absence of such signs.

• E. Maintain a telephone where the permittee can be reached 24 hours a day, and shall leave the number of such telephone with the Director of Public Works.

• F. Maintain safe crossings for vehicle and pedestrian traffic at all street intersections, and shall maintain safe crossings for pedestrians along such excavations, cuts or fills at intervals of not less than 600 feet.

• G. Place all materials excavated compactly alongside the trench and in such a manner as to cause as little inconvenience as possible to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. If such street is not wide enough to hold the excavated material without the use of the adjacent sidewalk, such person shall erect a tight board fence upon and along such sidewalk and maintain thereon a passageway for pedestrian traffic at least four feet in width.

• H. Maintain all adjacent gutters free and unobstructed for the full depth of the adjacent curb and for at least one foot in width, measured from the face of such curb at the intersection of the curb and the street; and whenever a gutter crosses an intersecting street, shall provide and maintain an adequate waterway.

• I. Provide access from the street to all fire hydrants and watergates and to abutting property owners, unless their consent to the contrary is first obtained.

• J. Keep at least one-half the street open at all times for vehicular traffic. (Prior code § 38-96)

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City of Paramount, CA

PARAMOUNT CODE

§ 12.16.080

§ 12.16.090

• A. Responsibility of Permittee. Immediately upon completion of the work necessitating the excavation or obstruction permitted by any permit issued pursuant to this chapter, the permittee shall promptly and in a workmanlike manner refill the excavation or remove the obstruction.

• B. Refilling of Excavation. A permittee shall refill an excavation in the manner which the County Road Commissioner determines is most effective to accomplish thorough consolidation and enable the highway to be restored to a condition equivalent to that in which it was prior to the excavation.

• C. By Road Commissioner Upon Permittee's Failure to Do So. If any permittee fails or refuses to refill any excavation which he or she has made, or remove any obstruction which he or she has placed in any highway, the County Road Commissioner may do so and charge the cost thereof to the permittee.

• D. Notice to Commissioner. Upon completion of the refilling of the excavation the permittee shall so notify the County Road Commissioner, in writing on a form prescribed by the Commissioner.

• E. Resurfacing of Highway—By Permittee.

  1. Upon completion of the refilling of the excavation the County Road Commissioner, at his or her option, may require the permittee to resurface that portion of the highway surface damaged by the permittee's excavation or obstruction, or the Commissioner may elect to do such resurfacing him or herself. Where the pavement or surface has been removed, the permittee shall replace it to the thickness one inch greater than that of the surrounding pavement or surface, and, in no event, to a thickness less than two inches.

  2. Where a treated or modified subgrade or surface has been removed or destroyed, the permittee shall replace it to a thickness of not less than that of the surrounding or adjacent subgrade or surface, unless the Road Commissioner orders that the repair of such treated or modified subgrade or surface shall be made by an oil and rock mixture, in which case the thickness shall not be less than one-half the thickness of the treated or modified surface or subgrade.

• F. Charge to Permittee. If, after the refilling of an excavation the permittee fails or refuses to resurface that portion of the surface of the highway damaged by him or her, or if the County Road Commissioner elects to do such resurfacing, the Commissioner may do such resurfacing. The cost of such resurfacing shall be charged against the permittee except in those instances where the permittee's excavation is within an area of pavement to be immediately reconstructed by the City, and the resurfacing of the excavation is an integral part of the general City improvement. The cost shall be computed as provided in Section 12.16.050.

(Prior code §§ 38-97—38-102)

• A. If at any time subsequent to the first repair of a surface of a highway damaged or destroyed by an excavation or obstruction in such highway, it becomes necessary again to repair such surface due to settlement or any other cause directly attributable to such excavation or obstruction, the permittee shall pay to the County Road Commissioner the cost of such

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City of Paramount, CA § 12.16.090

STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES

§ 12.16.110

additional repairs.

• B. If the permittee fails or refuses to pay such additional costs upon demand the City may recover such additional costs by an action against such permittee in any court of competent jurisdiction. Until such costs are paid the Commissioner shall not issue any permits to such permittee.

(Prior code § 38-103)

Nothing in this chapter prohibits any person from maintaining by virtue of any law, ordinance or permit, any pipe or conduit in any highway, or 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 the City are closed, if the person making such excavation obtains a permit therefor within one day after the offices of the Commissioner are first opened subsequent to the making of such excavation.

(Prior code § 38-104)

Every permit for an excavation in or under the surface of any highway shall be granted subject to the right of the City or of any other person entitled thereto, to use that part of such highway for any purpose for which such highway may lawfully be used. (Prior code § 38-105)

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City of Paramount, CA

STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES

§ 12.20.010

§ 12.20.030