San Leandro Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

No person, firm or corporation shall exercise any franchise mentioned in this Chapter in the City except insofar as he or she or it may be entitled to do so by direct authority of the general laws of the State of California, the Constitution of the State of California or of the United States, unless he or she or it 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.

The City Council may 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, refuse, garbage or trash collection, water, light, heat, power, refrigeration, storage or any other public utility, service or commodity, or to use the public streets, ways, alleys and places, as the same may now or may hereafter exist, in connection therewith.

The City Council, in granting franchises, shall prescribe the terms and conditions of such franchise, including the term of years, 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 this Chapter, whether governmental or contractual in character, as in the judgment of the City Council, are in the public interest.

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.

Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to relieve any franchisee of the requirements of Chapter 1 of this Title, relating to Encroachment Permits.

The franchisee shall remove or relocate without expense to the City any facilities installed, used, and maintained under the franchise if and when made necessary by any lawful change of grade, alignment, or width of any street, including the construction of any subway or viaduct or the abandonment or vacation of any street by the City.

No new franchise or the renewal of an existing franchise shall be granted without reserving to the City just and adequate compensation.

The exercise of 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.

The City Council, in its discretion, shall provide the method by which franchises shall be granted by ordinance or resolution.