Santa Clara County Municipal Code § B17-68 To sight prohibited

The existence upon the right-of-way or sidewalk of any public street, or upon any premises abutting thereon, of trees, shrubs, weeds or hedges which in any manner interfere with the unobstructed view from vehicles of safety signals and approaching traffic is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and prohibited as unlawful.

(Ord. No. NS-703.9, 5-18-04)

The following shall be a nonexclusive list of obstructions which under this article are deemed to obstruct the view from vehicles traveling on public streets and the passage of pedestrians on the sidewalks and of vehicles on the rights-of-way abutting thereon:

(a) A tree with limbs overhanging the public street or sidewalk, the lowest part of which is less than ten feet above said street or sidewalk.

(b) A tree standing upon property situated at an intersection of streets or rights-of-way at, on, or along the base line or within a triangle which shall have sides of 40 feet measured from the point of intersection of the curblines, or if there be no curblines, of the lines of rights-of-way, the limbs of which are less than ten feet from the ground surface of the premises.

(c) A hedge or shrub overhanging the street or sidewalk.

(d) A hedge or shrub or fence, sign or billboard standing on property or the right-of-way within the lines of a triangle which has sides 40 feet from the point of intersection of the curblines, or if there be no curblines, of the lines of rights-of-way, the overall height of which is more than three feet above the engineering crest of the streets bordering the property.

(e) Any hedge or shrub or limb of a tree which is so situated as to obscure and impair the unobstructed view of intersecting traffic by passing motorists or pedestrians or obscure and impair the view of street, traffic and other control devices and signs placed upon the streets for the safety of the public.

(Ord. No. NS-703.9, 5-18-04)

The Director, upon determining that one or more of the obstructions prohibited herein exist or that any other similar obstruction to the passage of vehicles or pedestrians at intersections exists on premises within the County shall give written notice to the owner, tenant or person having charge or control of the premises to remove therefrom the nuisance designated therein, and it shall be unlawful for the owner, tenant or person having charge or control of said premises to neglect or fail to remove therefrom said obstruction within five days after the service upon him of said notice.

(Ord. No. NS-703.9, 5-18-04)

(a) This section governs the administration and standards concerning the directional wayfinding signage program. The program authorizes the placement of directional wayfinding signage in collaboration with duly adopted wayfinding programs of cities and local agencies.

(b) The Director of the Roads and Airports Department may design, erect, and maintain generic signage in County highways displaying limited directional information to local points of interest which are of a civic, cultural, visitor oriented or recreational nature.

(c) Notwithstanding any other section of this chapter, the decision to erect directional wayfinding signage is at the sole discretion of the Director, provided the placement of signage meets the following minimum criteria:

(1) A city or local agency shall submit a request to the Director to erect signage in a County highway that is consistent and complementary to a wayfinding signage program adopted by the legislative body of such city or local agency.

(2) Signage shall be solely installed by or at the direction of the Department. The Director shall not issue an encroachment permit for the erection of the signs authorized by this section.

(3) Signage shall not identify particular businesses or services by name, but rather shall be generic and identify only the type or nature of the business or service available.

(4) Signage to specific, regional attractions or points of interest may be erected to guide motorists over a route determined by the Director to be the preferred route to the attraction.

(5) Signage must conform to the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as promulgated by the California Department of Transportation pursuant to the Vehicle Code of the State of California.

(6) Signage shall not be installed on named County expressways.

(Ord. No. NS-703.11, § 1, 11-26-13)