Sacramento Municipal Code § 3.74.020 Authority to grant

No person, firm or corporation shall exercise any franchise mentioned in this chapter in the city except insofar as such person, firm, or corporation may be entitled to do so by direct authority of the Constitution of the state of California or of the United States, unless such person, firm, or corporation shall have obtained a grant therefor in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Nothing contained in this chapter 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. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

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. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

The council, in granting franchises, shall prescribe the terms and conditions of such franchises in accordance with the applicable provisions of this chapter and any ordinance adopted pursuant thereto and may in such franchise impose such other and additional terms and conditions not in conflict with the Charter, whether governmental or contractual in character, as in the judgment of the council are in the public interest or as the people, by initiative, indicate their desire to have so imposed. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

Every franchise for a fixed term shall not exceed twenty-five (25) years. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

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 of eminent domain with respect to any public utility. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

No new franchise or the renewal of an existing franchise shall be granted without reserving to the city just and adequate compensation. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

Nothing in this chapter 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 chapter, to obtain a franchise to operate within the city unless required to do so by ordinance of the city. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))

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. (Ord. 2000-017 § 2(j) (Exh. A))