Portola Valley Municipal Code Ch. 12.12 Use of Public Rights-of-Way

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given in this section.

(1) "Construction supervisor" means the town inspector for all encroachment permits;

(2) "Director of public works" means the director of public works and his/her designee or the person designated by the director of public works to implement and enforce the provisions in this chapter;

(3) "Encroachment" includes any going over, upon, under or using any public right-of-way in such manner as to prevent, obstruct or interfere with its normal use;

(4) "Excavation" means any opening in the surface of a public right-of-way made in any manner whatsoever, except an opening into a lawful structure below the surface of a public right-of-way, the top of which is flush with the adjoining surface and so constructed as to permit frequent opening without injury or damage to the public right-of-way;

(5) "Facility" means pipe, pipeline, tube, main, service, trap, vent, vault, manhole, meter, gauge, regulator, valve, conduit, wire, tower, pole, pole line, anchor, cable, junction box, transformer or any other material, structure or object of any kind or character, whether enumerated herein or not, which is or may be lawfully constructed, left, placed or maintained in, upon, along, across, under or over any public right-of-way;

(6) "Permittee" means any person or entity that proposes to do work or encroach upon a public right-of-way and has been issued a permit for such encroachment;

(7) "Public right-of-way" means all or part of the surface, the air space above the surface, and the area below the surface of the public streets, roads, sidewalks, lanes, courts, ways, alleys, boulevards, and places, including, without limitation, all public utility easements and public service easements as the same now or may thereafter exist that are under the jurisdiction of the town;

(8) "Sidewalk vendor" is any person or persons who uses a non-motorized conveyance to sell food or merchandise from a public sidewalk or path;

(9) "State video franchisee" means any cable operator or video service provider that, pursuant to Division 2.5 of the Public Utilities Code of the State of California, has been granted a state franchise to provide cable or video service by the California Public Utilities Commission and whose video service includes all or part of the town;

(10) "Utility" means all persons or entities supplying water, gas, sewer, electric, communication or similar associated service.

(Ord. 2019-430, § 2, 2019; Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

(a) No person shall perform any work, construct any facility, make any excavation or fill any excavation, store materials and/or vehicles in or upon any real property in which the town has an interest, whether by title, easement, right-of-way, license or otherwise, without first obtaining an encroachment permit to do so from the director of public works.

(b) No person shall operate as a sidewalk vendor without first obtaining a business license as defined in Section 5.16.030.

(c) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent any person from constructing, repairing, maintaining, or removing any facility in the public right-of-way as may be necessary for the preservation of life or property when an urgent necessity arises. The person making emergency use of and encroaching upon the public right-of-way shall apply for an encroachment permit within one business day of commencing such use or encroachment.

(d) No encroachment of any kind, which impedes, obstructs or denies pedestrian, vehicular or other lawful travel within the limits of the public right-of-way or which impairs adequate sight-distance or safe pedestrian or vehicular traffic, will be permitted.

(Ord. 2019-430, § 2, 2019; Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

No encroachment permit shall be issued unless a written application (on a form provided by the director of public works) for the issuance of an encroachment permit is submitted to the director of public works. When required by the director of public works, the applicant shall enclose with, attach, or add to the permit application a map, plat, sketch, diagram, or similar exhibit of a size and in such a quantity as prescribed by the director of public works, on which shall be plainly shown any and all information necessary to locate, delineate, illustrate, or identify the proposed use or encroachment and the right of the applicant to so use or encroach thereon.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

(a) The director of public works shall approve or deny an encroachment permit application by a state video franchisee within 60 days of receiving a completed application. An application for an encroachment permit is complete when the applicant has complied with all applicable requirements of this chapter concerning such application and all other statutory requirements, including the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 12 (commencing with Section 2100) of the Public Resources Code of the State of California).

(b) The time period set forth in subsection (a) may be extended on mutual agreement by the applicant and the town.

(c) If the town denies the application, the director of public works shall, at the time of notifying the applicant of the denial, furnish the applicant a detailed explanation of the reasons for the denial.

(d) Any state video franchisee whose encroachment permit application is denied may, within 30 days of receiving the explanation of the denial required, file an appeal to the town council. In determining such appeal, the town council shall consider whether the denial of the encroachment permit is consistent with this chapter and other applicable town, state and federal law. If the town council denies the state video franchisee's appeal, it shall issue a written decision setting forth the reasons for the denial. The town council's decision shall be final.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

An encroachment permit, regardless of when dated, shall not be in effect until the applicant has obtained all licenses and other permits required by law and paid the required permit fees. The use of town property by permittee shall be limited to the purposes set forth in the encroachment permit and no structures of any kind, except those expressly permitted, shall be erected or placed thereon.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

Permit fees shall be paid by the applicant prior to the issuance of any encroachment permit. On work which requires the presence of an employee or agent of the town as inspector, the salary, traveling expense, tests on materials, and other incidental expense of such inspection during the work shall be paid by the permittee upon presentation of a bill. In addition, the town may charge an annual fee for private encroachments for the benefit of maintaining a facility in the public right-of-way. All applicable permit fees, including those for the issuance of a permit and for the benefit of maintaining an encroachment in the public right-of-way, shall be established by resolution of the town council.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

An encroachment permit shall become null and void if work is not commenced within 90 days after the date of application. A permit may be extended or renewed upon request to the director of public works provided no changes have been made from the original conditions for issuance of the original permit.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

Permittee shall be responsible for any damage to town street pavements, existing utilities, curbs, gutters, sidewalks or to any private property or improvements to the extent attributable to its installation, maintenance, repair or removal of facilities in the public right-of-way. Permittee shall repair, replace and restore in kind any such damaged improvements at its sole expense and with the approval of town. Any and all site restoration and clean-up shall be done by a licensed and insured contractor.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

Town shall not be responsible for exact locations or depths of existing utilities or other facilities.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

Permittee shall be responsible and liable for, and shall hold the town and its commissions, boards, officers, and employees free and harmless from, any and all liens and claims involving personal injury or property damage of any kind due directly, or indirectly, to permittee's operations and use of town's lands.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

(a) The construction, operation, maintenance and repair of facilities in the public rights-of-way shall be performed in compliance with all laws and practices affecting such facilities. This shall include, but not be limited to applicable town standards, including safety precautions and all applicable zoning and safety codes, construction standards, noise regulations, regulations for providing notice to persons that may be affected by such facilities construction, and such directives or additional conditions placed on the encroachment permit by the director of public works governing the time, place and manner in which facilities may be installed in the public rights-of-way.

(b) Any person engaged in the construction, operation, maintenance or repair of facilities in the public rights-of-way shall exercise reasonable care in the performance of all of its activities and shall use commonly accepted methods and devices for preventing failures and accidents that are likely to cause damage, injury, or nuisance to the public or to property.

(c) A person with facilities in the public right-of-way shall, by a time specified by the director of public works, temporarily disconnect, relocate, or remove when required by the town in exercise of its governmental or proprietary powers by reason of traffic conditions, public safety, public rights-of-way construction and repair, or any other purpose where the work involved would be aided by the removal and relocation of the facilities in the public right-of-way. Collectively, such matters are referred to below as the "public project".

(1) The director of public works, as applicable, shall provide written notice describing where the public project is to be preformed at least one week prior to the deadline by which a person must protect, support, or temporarily disconnect, remove or relocate its facilities in the public right-of-way.

(2) In an emergency, or where a person's facility in the right-of-way creates or contributes to an imminent danger to health, safety, or property, the town may protect, support, or temporarily disconnect, remove or relocate any and all parts of the person's facility without prior notice and that person shall be responsible to pay the town for the costs incurred.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

The construction supervisor shall be notified at least 24 hours prior to beginning excavation work and 24 hours prior to each inspection. The number and type of inspections required, and any tests that may be required will be as directed by the construction supervisor.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

Permittee may be required to file with the town a certificate of insurance showing that the permittee has one million dollars in general liability insurance and any other certificates of insurance required by the director of public works as a condition of approval.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

The director of public works may require that the application for an encroachment permit be accompanied by a faithful performance bond or a cash deposit in an amount equal to the estimated cost of the proposed work.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

Permittee shall remove or relocate, without cost or expense to the town, any facility when made necessary by any lawful change in-grade, alignment, or width of any street, including, the construction, maintenance, or operation of any other town underground or above-ground facilities. Said removal or relocation shall be completed within ninety days of notification by the town; provided that if removal or relocation cannot reasonably be accomplished within ninety days, then permittee shall commence such removal or relocation within such ninety days and thereafter continue the same diligently until completion thereof. If permittee intends to abandon a facility located above ground in the public right-of-way, permittee must provide written notice of its intention to abandon and must remove the facility within ninety days thereafter.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)

The town may either require removal of the unpermitted encroachment or may require the person to obtain an encroachment permit, subject appropriate conditions, and pay all applicable permit fees. In addition, the town may either charge a civil or administrative penalty equal to the amount of the permit fees payable to the town or treat it as a misdemeanor pursuant to Section 1.12.060 of the Code.

(Ord. 2007-368 § 1, 2007)