Santa Clara Municipal Code Art. II Manner of Granting

An applicant for a franchise shall file with the City Council an application stating:

(a) The name of the applicant.

(b) The purpose for which the franchise is desired.

(c) The term for which the franchise is desired.

(d) The amount or percentages applicant, if granted the franchise, proposes to pay to the City during the life of such franchise and any other terms or conditions that applicant may desire so long as they are supplemental to and not inconsistent with those set forth in this chapter.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the application is for a franchise for a nonpublic utility pipeline for oil or products thereof, the application shall state that the applicant, if granted the franchise, will pay to the City during the life of the franchise either a specified percentage agreed to by the applicant and the City of the gross annual receipts of the applicant arising from the use, operation, or possession of the franchise or an annual franchise fee in an amount agreed to by the applicant and the City or an annual franchise fee computed by multiplying the sum of one cent ($0.01) times the nominal internal diameter of the pipe, expressed in inches, times the number of lineal feet of such pipe, within the public streets, ways, alleys, or other public places within the city.

(Ord. 1169 § 1, 9-5-1967; Ord. 1208 § 1, 3-18-1969; Formerly § 12A-4)

(a) Upon receipt of the application, the City Council may pass a resolution stating the character of the franchise, setting forth a notice of the day, hour, and place when and where all persons having any objection to the granting thereof may appear before the City Council and be heard thereon, and directing the City Clerk to publish the notice at least once within fifteen (15) days after the passage of the resolution in a newspaper of general circulation within the city.

(b) The time fixed for the hearing shall be not less than twenty (20) nor more than sixty (60) days after the date of the passage of the resolution.

(Ord. 1169 § 1, 9-5-1967; Formerly § 12A-5)

Nothing in this chapter shall make it mandatory for the Council to authorize publication of said notice.

The Council may consider applicant's ability to carry out its proposal, its financial and business standing, experience, and any other pertinent factors.

(Ord. 1169 § 1, 9-5-1967; Formerly § 12A-6)

The notice of the time and place of hearing objections shall state that the grantee of the franchise and its successors and assigns, will during the life of its franchise, pay to the City the amounts or percentages specified in the application, and in the event such payment is not made the franchise will be forfeited. The notice shall also designate the term, whether definite or indeterminate, for which the franchise is proposed to be granted.

(Ord. 1169 § 1, 9-5-1967; Ord. 1208 § 2, 3-18-1969; Formerly § 12A-7)

Any interested person may protest, stating objections against the granting of the franchise. At the time set for the hearing, the City Council shall hear the application and the protests. The City Council may adjourn the hearing from time to time. Following the conclusion of the hearing, the City Council shall decide if the franchise shall be granted. The decision of the City Council shall be final and conclusive, subject to the right of referendum of the people and the following provisions. The franchise shall be granted by ordinance upon the terms, conditions, and restrictions stated in the application and upon such other terms, conditions, and restrictions as the City Council deems are in the public interest. The decision of the City Council to grant a franchise shall not be made until such an ordinance is duly adopted, whereas the decision to deny is made on passage of a motion to deny.

(Ord. 1169 § 1, 9-5-1967; Formerly § 12A-8)

Any franchise granted under this chapter shall not become effective until the grantee files written acceptance thereof with the City Clerk. When so filed, the acceptance constitutes a continuing agreement by the grantee that if and when the City thereafter annexes, or consolidates with, additional territory, all franchises, rights, and privileges of the grantee therein, except a franchise derived under Section 19 of Article XI of the Constitution as that section existed prior to the amendment thereof adopted October 10, 1911, shall be deemed abandoned within the limits of the additional territory.

(Ord. 1169 § 1, 9-5-1967; Formerly § 12A-9)