San Francisco County Municipal Code Art. 11 Spur Tracks

Sec. 555. Spur Tracks—Conditions For Maintenance Of. Sec. 556. Permit Required. Sec. 557. Type of Rail.

Sec. 558. Tracks Must Conform to Grade of Street. Sec. 559. Paving Between Tracks—Type of Pavement. Sec. 560. Repair of Tracks And Pavement. Sec. 561. No Exclusive Rights to be Granted. Sec. 562. Joint Use of Tracks. Sec. 563. Provisions Applicable to Tracks on Public Streets. Sec. 565. Deliveries For Connecting Carriers—Charges. Sec. 566. Runways Crossing Sidewalks—Regulation. Sec. 566.1. Unloading From Car to Vehicle. Sec. 567. Time For Loading and Unloading Cars—Penalty. Sec. 568. Cars Not to Block Crosswalks or Driveways. Sec. 568.1. Reflectors on Cars. Sec. 569. Cars Standing on a Grade to be Blocked. Sec. 570. Forfeiture of Permit—When. Sec. 571. Tracks Located in Sidewalk Area of Street.

No person, firm or corporation shall hereafter construct, maintain or use any spur or part of any spur track on any public street within the City and County of San Francisco, except in strict accordance with the terms and conditions specified in this Article.

It shall be unlawful to use, construct or maintain any spur track on any public street unless a permit for the same shall have been granted pursuant to Section 114 of the Charter, and any person or persons individually or acting for or representing any firm or corporation who shall construct or maintain such spur track without the authority of such permit shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. All permits for the construction, use and maintenance of a spur track shall be temporary and revocable at the pleasure of the department granting the same. An original and two copies of the application with drawing showing the proposed location, grades, alignment of spur track, the type of pavement to be used and existing obstructions shall be furnished.

The rail used in construction of all spur tracks constructed on all paved streets subsequent to the passage of this Article shall be T-Rail with inner guard rail as approved by the Department of Public Works or Girder Rail of a standard style. If any spur track now in existence in said City and County shall be reconstructed, in whole or in part, on any paved street, the T-Rail with inner guard rail or standard girder rail as above designated, shall be used in such case.

All spur tracks hereafter constructed shall be laid to conform to the actual surface grade of the roadway, so as to cause the least obstruction to traffic. In case said roadway is above or below the official grade, and should be subsequently paved or repaved on the official grade, all such tracks and their adjacent pavements shall be changed to conform to the official grade by parties or party laying or using the same, and without expense to the City.

Every holder of a permit to operate, maintain or use any spur tracks over and along any street or sidewalk in this City and County is hereby required whenever notified by the Department of Public Works, by written notice, to pave the area between the rails and for two feet outside thereof and between such tracks, if there be more than one, as may be located 15 feet or less apart center line to center line for the entire length of the street used by the track or tracks, except where said tracks are in separate ownership, in which case the cost of said paving shall be equally divided. The type of pavement used shall be as specified by the Department of Public Works. In case the roadway of a street should be repaved with another type of pavement than that formerly used, the portion of the roadway occupied by the railroad track or tracks shall be changed on order of the Department of Public Works.

Every person, firm or corporation operating, maintaining or using any spur tracks, shall maintain them and their adjacent pavements between the rails and for two feet each side thereof and between such tracks, if there be more than one, as may be located 15 feet or less apart center line to center line as hereinafter provided, in good repair, flush with the surface of the pavement of existing roadway, so that said tracks will be no obstruction to vehicles, and to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Works, except where said tracks are in separate ownership, in which case the cost of maintenance shall be equally divided. In case said spur tracks or their adjacent pavements become out of repair, the person, firm or corporation, or persons, firms or corporations operating, maintaining or using said tracks, shall repair the same to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Works, within 30 days after service of notice to do so by the Department of Public Works. All permits for laying spur tracks shall contain the condition specified in this Section.

No permit for spur track on any public street or property shall be granted in such manner as to permit the owner or holder thereof to acquire any exclusive rights to any portion of said spur track on such public street.

No permit shall hereafter be granted for spur tracks on any public street in the City and County of San Francisco except upon condition that all persons, firms or corporations owning or using property fronting thereon, or owning or using other tracks connecting therewith, shall have the right to use said tracks upon paying a proportionate share of the cost of the construction, maintenance and repair of said tracks and their adjacent pavements, unless upon other terms mutually agreed upon with the person, firm or corporation to whom the permit is granted, it being understood that cars loaded with perishable products shall have the right-of-way if necessary.

The provisions of this Article shall be applicable to all spur tracks constructed, maintained or operated upon public streets.

The railway operating any spur track on any public street or property hereafter constructed in the City and County shall, upon demand of the person, firm or corporation for the use or benefit of which such spur track is operated, place upon such spur track the freight cars of any railway which has, in this City and County, track connection with the operating railway; such cars so placed to be used for the receipt and delivery of freight in carloads only. And the operating railway shall receive and deliver the cars of the connecting railway over, at and upon such connecting track in the performance of such switching services for such persons, firms or corporations and such

railway shall perform such service without undue delay or discrimination. The operating railway shall perform such service for the same charge or rate that it charges for corresponding service for its own cars upon the spur track for like purpose. The provisions of this Section shall apply only to such portions of such spur tracks as are not constructed, maintained or operated upon or across private land, and no permit for a spur track shall hereafter be granted which does not specifically contain the provisions and conditions of this Section. Any provisions of this Section in conflict with state and federal laws shall not apply.

No runway or platform or mechanical device shall be extended from any car on a spur track to or across any sidewalk, except during the time such runway or platform or mechanical device is being prepared for use or is actually being used for the loading or unloading of freight from said car or being dismantled.

Freight shall not be unloaded from any car on a spur track to any truck or other vehicle in the public streets unless authorized by general or special order of the Director of Public Works with approval of San Francisco Police Department.

All cars standing on spur tracks on any public street shall be unloaded and/or loaded within 72 hours after being delivered on said tracks, Sundays and holidays excepted, except in case of unavoidable delay. The failure of any person, firm or corporation to unload and/or load said car within said time shall subject such person, firm or corporation to a fine of $10 which fine shall be paid into the City Treasury, and the permit of such person, firm or corporation to use such tracks shall be suspended until said fine is paid.

No car shall be allowed to stand on any spur track for any time whatever so as to obstruct any crosswalk. No driveway shall be blocked except by permission of the owner of the property affected.

No freight car shall be allowed to stand on any spur track during the hours of darkness in any part of any public street, either singly or at the end of a number of connected cars, facing any oncoming traffic which may use or approach such street, unless at all such times such car is equipped with one or more red reflectors on the end thereof facing such traffic or suitable illuminating devices are so placed in the vicinity that they will delineate the extent of the obstruction.

All cars while standing on spur tracks constructed on a grade shall have their wheels blocked in such a manner that such cars will not descend the grade. When cars are moved for loading or unloading such precautions shall be taken as may be necessary to keep the movement under control at all times.

Upon failure on the part of the holder of a spur track permit to comply with any provision of this Article, written notice of such failure shall be given to the permittee by personal delivery or by registered mail to his last known address. Within 10 days after the posting date or personal delivery date of this notice, the permittee may request and obtain a hearing before the Director of Public Works regarding the compliance failure. If, at the hearing, it is found that failure to comply with the provisions of this Article by the permittee is a fact, or, if no hearing has been requested within the time limit set herein, the permit shall be forfeited forthwith, and the spur tracks shall be removed and pavement restored by the permittee within 90 days after forfeiture.

Whenever spur tracks are to be located in the sidewalk area of any street or in any sidewalk area which is to be abolished for the purpose of so locating said spur tracks, the application for the spur track permit shall contain the following agreement: "I, ____________ hereby warrant, promise, covenant, and agree to assume the defense of, indemnify, save and keep harmless the City and County of San Francisco, the Director of Public Works and their officers and employees, from any and all claims, losses, damages, injuries and liabilities of every kind, nature and description, regardless of responsibility for negligence, whether involving injury to person or property, both real and personal, and whether directly or indirectly arising from the creation, construction, location, condition and maintenance of the spur tracks to be authorized under the permit herein applied for or by virtue of any abolition of sidewalk area herein contemplated, and whether for impairment of the rights of abutting owners of ingress, egress, and accessibility, or otherwise."