Chapter 3 — EXCAVATIONS, FILLS AND OBSTRUCTIONS

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*Cross reference(s)--Undergrounding cable television systems, § 21.1611; undergrounding of existing utility facilities, § 51.312; underground utility districts and regulations, § 89.101 et seq.

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The provisions of this chapter apply only to permits for the making of encroachments, including excavations, fills, or obstructions, for the purpose of installing utilities including, but not limited to: sanitary sewer, storm drainage, domestic and irrigation water, oil and natural gas, electrical power, telephone, and television signals; both main and lateral lines.

(Amended by Ord. No. 3032 (N.S.), effective 1-19-67; amended by Ord. No. 3499 (N.S.), effective 4-22-70)

No person or the contractor of any person excepting the contractor of this County for highway construction, improvement or repair, shall make or cause to be made any encroachment including an excavation, fill or obstruction in, over, along, or across or through any highway without first obtaining from the Director a permit so to do.

(Amended by Ord. No. 3032 (N.S.), effective 1-19-67; amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82; amended by Ord. No. 10646 (N.S.), effective 2-14-20)

Application for a permit required by the chapter shall be made in accordance withChapter 1 of this division. The application shall specify in detail:

(a) The location, dimensions, purpose, extent and nature of the excavation, fill or obstruction.

(b) The time during which it is estimated that such excavation or obstruction will exist.

Every application shall contain a statement, signed by the applicant, that as to any encroachment not placed in a right of way belonging to applicant which is prior in time and/or right to the County's right of way, if any tank, pipe, conduit, duct, tunnel, pole, anchor, or overhead line placed in the excavation or obstruction for which a permit is issued interferes with the subsequent improvement, grading or realignment of the highway by the County then the applicant and successors or assigns will at their own expense remove such tank, pipe, conduit, duct, tunnel, pole, anchor, overhead line, or relocate at a location designated by the Director.

(Amended by Ord. No. 2437 (N.S.), effective 11-15-62; amended by Ord. No. 3032 (N.S.), effective 1-19-67; amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

The Director may require each applicant for a permit to file proof of the applicant's right to use the highways for the purposes set forth in the application.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

The Director may require such changes in the location of the proposed excavations, fills or obstructions as may be necessary to prevent undue interference with the use of the highway for other lawful purposes provided the changes required will not unreasonably interfere with the applicant's rights of such use.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

Every person unless otherwise exempted by law applying for a permit required by this chapter shall at the time of making application for the permit pay an issuance fee. The amount of said fee shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors.

(Amended by Ord. No. 5971 (N.S.), effective 2-12-81; amended by Ord. No. 9533 (N.S.), effective 5-4-03)

Every permit for an excavation in or under the surface of any highway shall be granted subject to the right of the County 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.

Permits issued under this chapter are nontransferable.

The Director 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 Director, is diligently prosecuted to completion.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

No permit shall be required in advance of performing work of the persons, firms or agencies listed in Section71.105 or of any public utility company subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California or of any distributor of public water supply for excavations required for service connections to existing pipelines or conduits maintained in highways or for excavations reasonably necessary for the location of trouble in such pipelines of conduits or the making of necessary repairs but not replacements thereto. In such event, however, a report of the excavation in such form as may be required by the Director shall be filed with the Director within five days after the excavation is made and all provisions of this division for the protection of the public and governing repairs to the highway shall apply to the same extent as where applications and permits are required. There shall be paid with each such report the same fees and deposits as would otherwise be required for a permit. In all other cases each applicant for an excavation permit shall file with the Director as a condition to the granting of the permit, such plats, maps and descriptions of the work to be done as may be reasonably required by the Director for the purpose of maintaining full and complete records of the structures within the highways, and for establishing responsibility for the protection of the public and repairing the property damaged. The advance exemption from obtaining a permit granted by this section shall not apply to the contractor of the persons, firms or agencies so exempted.

(Amended by Ord. No. 3032 (N.S.), effective 1-19-67; amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

Any person who is subject to the rules and regulations of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California shall not be required to obtain a permit to install, maintain, replace, repair or relocate any telephone or electric pole, anchor, or overhead lines; provided, however, that any person exempted by this section from obtaining a permit shall be deemed to be a "permittee" under a blanket permit while performing any work referred to in this section and shall comply with all regulations and requirements of this division imposed on a permittee or otherwise imposed on such person; and further provided, that no such person shall be deemed exempted by this section unless such person has on file with the Director a signed and unrevoked statement of the sort required by Section 71.103 and of the sort required by Section 71.304.

(Amended by Ord. No. 2437 (N.S.), effective 11-15-62; amended by Ord. No. 3032 (N.S.), effective 1-19-67; amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

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 County are closed, if the person making such excavation obtains a permit therefor within one day after the offices of the Director are first opened subsequent to the making of such excavation.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

The amount of said deposit shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors.

(Amended by Ord. No. 3032 (N.S.), effective 1-19-67; amended by Ord. No. 3977 (N.S.), effective 11-16-72; amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82; amended by Ord. No. 7986 (N.S.), effective 11-7-91; amended by Ord. No. 9290 (N.S.), effective 2-11-01)

In lieu of making the special deposit required by Section 71.314 the applicant may make and maintain with the Director a general deposit in an amount estimated by the Director to be sufficient to pay for the cost of permit issuance fees and expected repairs occasioned by future excavations or obstructions, but not to exceed $1,000. The general deposit shall be held and used for the same purposes as said special deposit. While a general deposit is maintained in 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.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

If, in the opinion of the Director, any special or general deposit 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 Director may require an additional deposit in such amount as the Director determines will be sufficient to protect such public interest.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

The County shall deduct from any deposit made or maintained by the permittee:

(a) The permit issuance fee if that has not otherwise been paid;

(b) The cost to the County of refilling any excavation or removing any obstruction;

(c) The cost to the County, calculated pursuant to Section71.314, of resurfacing the highway;

(d) The cost of any inspection by the Director.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

After making the required deductions, the County shall refund to the applicant any amount still remaining in the special deposit in the manner as provided by law for the repayment of trust moneys. If any deposit made is less than sufficient to pay all fees and costs to be deducted, the permittee shall, upon demand, pay to the Director an amount equal to the deficiency. If the permittee fails or refuses to pay such deficiency upon demand, the County 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.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

(a) Every permittee who makes or causes to be made any excavation, or constructs, puts upon, maintains, or leaves any obstruction or impediment to travel, or piles or places any material in or upon any highway, or installs or maintains or causes 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 Director, and shown in the plat filed with such application, or in any way contrary to the terms of the permit is guilty of an infraction.

(b) A person convicted of a third or subsequent violation of this section within two years from the date of the first conviction shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) Each day on which a violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82; amended by Ord. No. 6466 (N.S.), effective 12-2-82)

In any permit issued by him the Director may specify what lights, barriers, warning signs or other measures designed to protect the traveling public must be erected by the permittee.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

If the permit does not specify what lights, barriers, warning signs or other measures must be erected by the permittee, the permittee shall place and maintain warning lights at each end of such excavation or obstruction and at distances of not more than 50 feet along such excavation or obstruction from sunset of each day to sunrise of the next day, until such excavation is entirely refilled and resurfaced or such obstruction is removed and every said person shall place and maintain barriers not less than three feet high at each end of any such excavation or obstruction at all times until such excavation is entirely refilled or such obstruction is removed.

The upper portion of each of these barriers shall consist of a substantial sign approximately one foot high and four feet wide and on each side thereof bearing a sign complying with one of the following requirements:

(a) In letters not less than three inches high and neither yellow nor black, bearing the name of the permittee, on a background of alternate three-inch black and yellow stripes. The stripes shall be at an angle between 45 and 60 degrees from the horizontal.

(b) In letters not less than six inches high, bearing the word "excavation".

(c) In conformity with the regulations adopted by the State Division of Highways pursuant to Section 465.7 of the Vehicle Code.

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 an acceptable manner refill the excavation or remove the obstruction.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

A permittee shall refill an excavation in the manner which the Director 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.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

If any permittee fails or refuses to refill any excavation made, or remove any obstruction placed in any highway, the Director may so do and charge the cost thereof to the permittee.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

Upon completion of the refilling of the excavation the permittee shall so notify the Director, in writing, on a form prescribed by the Director.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

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

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

If, after the refilling of an excavation the permittee fails or refuses to resurface that portion of the surface of the highway damaged, or if the Director elects to do such resurfacing, the Director 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 County, and the resurfacing of the excavation is an integral part of the general County improvement. The cost shall be computed as provided in Section 71.314.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)

If at any time subsequent to the first repair of a surface of a highway damaged or destroyed by any 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 Director the cost of such additional repairs. If the permittee fails or refuses to pay such additional costs upon demand, the County may recover such additional costs by an

action against such permittee in any court of competent jurisdiction. Until such costs are paid the Director shall not issue any permits to such permittee.

(Amended by Ord. No. 6453 (N.S.), effective 11-11-82)