San Juan Capistrano Municipal Code Ch. 6 Street and Sidewalk Improvements and Structures

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

“City Engineer”

shall mean the City Engineer or any person designated by the City Engineer.

“City street”

shall mean and include all public streets and highways within the City which were acquired by the City prior to February 1, 1978, either by purchase, dedication, condemnation proceedings and all streets and highways which shall be acquired by the City on or after February 1, 1978, either by purchase, dedication, or condemnation proceedings.

“Highway”

shall mean any public highway, public street, public way, or public place in the City which has been acquired by the City by purchase, dedication, condemnation proceedings, or otherwise.

“Person”

shall mean and include any individual, firm, copartnership, joint venture, association, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, the State and County, including all departments and bureaus thereof excepting the Road Department of the County, municipality, district, or other political subdivisions thereof, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.

“Public agency”

shall mean and include the United States, or any department or agency thereof, the State, or any department or agency thereof, the County, municipal corporations, public districts, and the Department of Public Works.

(Ord. No. 349, §§ 1, 3, 5)

It shall be unlawful for any person to lay, construct, or repair any curb, sidewalk, gutter, driveway, roadway surface, retaining wall, or storm drain or culvert in, over, along, across, or through any highway or other public improvement without first obtaining a permit therefor from the City Engineer as set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 349, § 6)

Applications for the permits required by the provisions of this chapter shall set forth the following:

(a) The location, nature, and extent of the work to be performed;

(b) The materials to be used; and

(c) Such other information, including plans and specifications, as the City Engineer may require.

(Ord. No. 349, § 10)

On each application for a permit required by the provisions of this chapter, the applicant shall sign a statement that he agrees to preserve and save harmless the City, and each officer and employee thereof, from any liability for responsibility for any accident, loss, or damage to persons or property happening or occurring as a proximate result of any work undertaken under any permit granted pursuant to such application.

(Ord. No. 349, § 9)

If, in the opinion of the City Engineer, the work proposed to be done requires the making of plans or the setting of stakes, or both, the City Engineer may require applications for the permits required by the provisions of this chapter to be accompanied by the necessary plans. Such plans shall be prepared by a registered engineer.

(Ord. No. 349, § 14)

The City Engineer may require such changes in applications for the permits required by the provisions of this chapter respecting the locations, dimensions, methods, or manner of construction, installation, or repair as may be reasonably necessary for the protection of the highway, the prevention of undue interference with traffic, or to assure the safety of persons using the highway.

(§ 11, Ord. 349)

Except as otherwise set forth in this chapter, each application for a permit required by the provisions of this chapter shall be accompanied by an issuance fee. The amount of this fee is to be set by resolution of the City Council of the City of San Juan Capistrano. Such fee shall be for the purpose of defraying the cost of processing the application for such permit, and no part of such fee shall be returned regardless of the disposition of the application.

(§ 7, Ord. 349, as amended by § 1, Ord. 698)

No issuance fee for the permits required by the provisions of this chapter shall be required from any public agency entitled to an exemption therefrom pursuant to the provisions of Section 6103 of the Government Code of the State.

(§ 8, Ord. 349)

If an application for the permit required by the provisions of this chapter complies with every provision of this chapter and with all applicable provisions of all other laws and statutes, the City Engineer shall issue to the applicant a written permit to perform the work set forth in the application.

(§ 15, Ord. 349)

The City Engineer may cancel any permit required by the provisions of this chapter if the work authorized by such permit is not commenced within the deadline set forth in the permit or if, in the opinion of the City Engineer, the work is not diligently prosecuted to completion. Such cancellation may be effected by giving written notice thereof, by regular mail, to the applicant at the address shown on the application.

(§ 17, Ord. 349)

Applicants for the permits required by the provisions of this chapter to construct any work, in addition to the issuance fee, shall pay or make a deposit for engineering and inspection fees in an amount established from time to time by resolution of the Council.

If at any time during the life of such permit an additional deposit, in the opinion of the City Engineer, is necessary to meet any requirement for which a deposit is established by the provisions of this chapter, the City Engineer shall advise the permittee in writing. If the permittee shall fail to make such deposit within two working days, all work under such permit shall cease until such deposit is made.

If any such deposit is insufficient to pay all fees and costs as set forth in this chapter, the permittee, upon demand, shall pay to the City an amount equal to the deficiency.

(§§ 12 and 13, Ord. 349)

No deposit for costs required by the provisions of this chapter shall be required from the United States, the State, the County, any other county, any municipal corporation, any school district, or any other public agency if, such public agency shall file with the City Engineer a written guarantee of the payment of all costs for which such public agency may become liable to the City as set forth in this chapter.

(§ 8, Ord. 349)

Persons issued permits pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall perform all work in accordance with the plans, if plans are made, and specifications referred to in the permit and to the satisfaction of, and under the supervision of, the City Engineer. In addition, all work performed in, upon, or across highways shall be in accordance with, and conform to, the Standard Specifications adopted by Chapter 5 of this title.

(§ 19, Ord. 349)

Not less than 48 hours before commencing any work authorized by any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the permittee shall contact the City Engineer for an inspection therefor, specifying the day and hour when, and the location at which, the work will be commenced. Such permittee shall commence the proposed work within the deadline set forth in the permit and thereafter prosecute the work to completion in a diligent and workmanlike manner.

(§§ 16 and 20, Ord. 349)

If so required by the City Engineer, persons issued permits pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall make proper arrangements for, and bear the costs of, relocating any structure, public utility, tree, or shrub where such relocation is made necessary by the proposed work for which such permit is issued. The City Engineer may elect to do the necessary relocation, in which event the permittee shall deposit with the City a sum of money estimated by the City Engineer to be sufficient to pay the costs thereof. After such relocation, any deficiency shall be paid by the permittee as set forth in Section 7-6.11 of this chapter.

(§ 18, Ord. 349)

Persons issued permits pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall place and maintain adequate warning signs, lights, and devices conforming to the “State of California Department of Transportation’s Manual of Traffic Control and the Work Area Traffic Control Handbook,” 1976 Edition, throughout the length of the work and at each end of the project until the work is completed to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. The permittee shall take such other precautions as may be necessary for the protection of the traveling public. The City Engineer, as a condition of the issuance of a permit pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, may specify additional signs, warning devices, or measures to be used by the permittee, but the failure of the City Engineer to so specify such signs, warning devices, or measures shall not relieve the permittee of his obligation as set forth in this section.

(§ 21, Ord. 349)

When any City street, or portion thereof, is closed to the public or is in the process of construction, repair, or maintenance, any person who wilfully breaks down, removes, injures, or destroys any barrier or obstruction as set forth in Section 7-6.16 of this chapter, or tears down, removes, or destroys any such notice, or extinguishes, removes, injures, or destroys any such warning light or device so erected, posted, or placed by the City Engineer or his employees or contractor, or wilfully enters upon or drives any vehicle on or over such street or highway, or portion thereof, when in the process of construction, repair, or maintenance without first obtaining a permit so to do from the City Engineer or authorized contractor shall be guilty of violating the provisions of this chapter.

(§ 21, Ord. 349)

Persons issued permits pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall remove all materials and debris as follows:

(a) Where new work is covered with earth, in accordance with the terms of the specifications attached to such permit; and

(b) In all other cases, within three days.

(§ 23, Ord. 349)

If the City Engineer, following an inspection, ascertains that the work has been completed according to the requirements of the permit issued therefor, and all of the provisions of this chapter, he shall issue, if requested so to do by the permittee, a certificate of acceptance which shall contain a statement of the location, nature, and extent of the work performed pursuant to such permit.

(§ 22, Ord. 349)

Any person who performs any work pursuant to the provisions of this chapter in any amount greater than, or in any way different from, or contrary to the terms of any permit issued therefor shall be punishable as set forth in Chapter 2 of Title 1 of this Code.

(§ 24, Ord. 349)