Stanislaus County Municipal Code Ch. 13.04 Excavations and Installations

As used in this chapter the following terms shall have the following meaning:

A. "Applicant" means any person applying for permission of the board of supervisors or the written permit of the road commissioner as provided for in this chapter.

B. "County" means Stanislaus County, California.

C. "New or different use" means a change in use of an existing installation or structure constituting a substantially increased burden upon a county highway or other public place.

D. "Permittee" means any person who has received the permission of the board of supervisors or the written permit of the road commissioner as provided for in this chapter.

E. "Person" means any individual, municipal, quasi-municipal, public or private corporation and any improvement, water, sanitary, irrigation or other public district.

F. "Road commissioner" means the road commissioner of the county.

G. "Work day" means every day other than a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

(Prior code §5-12)

It is unlawful for any person not having a franchise or other authority of law to make any excavation in or upon any county highway or other public place or to construct, install or make a new or different use of any siphon, bridge, pipeline, conduit or similar structure in, along, upon or across any county highway, or other public place without first obtaining permission of the board of supervisors so to do. It is unlawful for any person having permission of the board of supervisors, a franchise, or other authority of law, to make any excavation in or upon any county highway or to construct, install or make a new or different use of any siphon, bridge, pipeline, conduit or similar structure in, along, upon or across any county highway, or other public place without first applying for and obtaining a permit from the road commissioner as provided in this chapter.

(Prior code §5-1)

It is unlawful for any person to convey or permit flow or discharge of water from one side of a county highway to the other except through a siphon, culvert or bridge

(Prior code §5-2)

A siphon or culvert shall consist of either concrete or corrugated iron pipe extending the full width of the highway right-of-way and to the edges thereof. It shall form a leakproof connection with any existing or hereafter installed pipe, conduit or other enclosed artificial watercourse approaching within fifty feet of the siphon or culvert, water from or to which naturally flows, or artificially is caused to flow, to or from the siphon or culvert. Any such siphon or culvert shall be constructed in accordance with plans and specifications approved by and on file in the office of the road commissioner.

(Prior code §5-2(a))

A bridge shall have a clear width or improved roadway of not less than thirty-two feet and shall be constructed of reinforced concrete in accordance with plans and specifications approved by and on file in the office of the road commissioner.

(Prior code §5-2(b))

All such siphons, bridges, pipelines, culverts, or similar structures installed or constructed pursuant to permits as provided in this chapter shall be maintained and kept in good repair by the permittee. The permittee shall execute a maintenance agreement with the county providing for future maintenance of the installation or construction. The agreement shall be in a form provided by the county and accepted on behalf of the county by the director or his authorized deputy.

(Prior code §5-2(c); Ord. CS 34 §1, 1983)

Any applicant desiring to make new or different use of any existing siphon, culvert or bridge shall make such repairs and improvements therein as may in the opinion of the road commissioner be necessary.

(Prior code §5-2 (d))

All underground gas, water, electrical or other pipelines, conduits and similar structures permitted to be installed in, along or across a county highway shall be buried as provided in this chapter and shall be laid at a clear depth and have a cover of not less than two and one-half feet below the surface of the highway at the point of installation whichever is the lower.

(Prior code §5-3)

Whenever in the opinion of the road commissioner such installation may not be laid and covered at such depth by reason of an existing obstruction, the road commissioner may grant a variance of six inches from such clear depth and cover upon the condition that the applicant assumes all risk and responsibility for injury to the installation or the county, its officers and employees occasioned by reason of the reduced clear depth or cover.

(Prior code §5-3(a))

The requirements of Sections 13.04.070 through 13.04.090 shall not apply to installations necessarily rising to or emerging from the surface of the ground as in the case of manholes and electrical or telephone lines ascending poles.

(Prior code §5-3(b))

A. Applications for permits provided in this chapter shall be made in writing in such form as may be prescribed by the road commissioner.

B. The application shall show at least the following information:

1. Estimated cost to the county of repairing damage to the highway or other public place caused by the excavation required by any burying, laying or installing of an underground pipe, line, conduit, or similar structure;

2. Plans and a brief description of the proposed excavation and installation;

3. Location of the excavation and installation;

4. Estimated time necessary to complete the making, filling, compacting and resurfacing of the excavation and installation;

5. The necessity for excavating in a county highway or other public place;

6. Proposed date of commencement of work.

(Prior code §5-4(a))

The application shall be accompanied by a deposit of cash, certified check, cashier's check, bond executed in favor of the county by a surety company or other undertaking acceptable to the road commissioner in a sum not less than the amount estimated in the application as the cost of repairing damage to the road, and conditioned upon the applicant's faithfully performing all work to be done under the permit applied for, and conforming to all conditions or restrictions which may be specified in the permit to the satisfaction of the road commissioner. In lieu of the deposit required with each application, any applicant may make a blanket deposit in a form and amount acceptable to the road commissioner, which shall remain on deposit until returned or exonerated by the road commissioner, as security for the performance of any permit for work to be done under this chapter then pending or thereafter submitted.

(Prior code §5-4(b); Ord. CS 22 §1, 1983)

Upon receiving an application to excavate and make an installation in a county highway, the road commissioner shall either approve it or reject it. If the application is approved, the road commissioner shall cause the deposit, if any, to be paid into the county treasury and shall issue a written permit authorizing the excavation and installation, which permit shall embody and be subject to all of the conditions of this chapter and to such further conditions as the road commissioner may deem for the best interests of the county in each application. In the event the application is rejected, any deposit or bond made and delivered in connection therewith shall be forthwith returned to the applicant together with the reason for such rejection and recommendations for modification of the application. Applicant may thereupon submit a new application or, if dissatisfied with the rejection, may make a similar application in a similar manner to the board of supervisors.

(Prior code §5-4(c))

A. Notwithstanding any other provisions in this chapter, the road commissioner shall have the power to issue encroachment permits to public agencies, without prior order of the board of supervisors, to construct an encroachment within, along or across a county right-of-way.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter, the road commissioner shall have the power to issue encroachment permits to any person, without prior order of the board of supervisors, to construct an encroachment which crosses a county right-of-way.

C. The following definitions apply in this section:

"Construct"

means and includes installation, construction, reconstruction, placement, maintenance and/or repair.

"Encroachment"

means and includes any siphon, pipeline, conduit, culvert, cable or other similar structure for purposes such as sewer, storm drainage, water, gas, electricity, cable television or radio, telephone, telegraph or other public utility.

"Public agencies"

means and includes cities, districts, public utility companies and authorized franchises.

(Ord. CS 411, §§1-3, 1990)

All proposed siphons, culverts, bridges, excavations and installations in, along, upon or across the county highways shall be made in accordance with the plans and descriptions approved by and filed in the office of the road commissioner, and shall be subject to the conditions imposed in Sections 13.04.140 through 13.04.190.

(Prior code §5-5)

The road commissioner shall have the right to inspect the work to be performed and to prescribe any and all conditions pertaining to such construction or excavation and installation. Written notice shall be given to the road commissioner not less than three work days prior to the commencement of any work under the permit granted unless the date of commencement has been specified in the application or permit. The permittee shall properly compact and resurface the backfilled material in a manner acceptable to the road commissioner and, in the event of any settlement of backfill from any cause whatsoever on the county highway where the installation was made, the permittee shall make necessary repairs to the damaged area.

(Ord. CS 34 §2, 1983 prior code §5-5(a))

If at any time after the installation the county finds it necessary and proper to change the grade in or make a new alignment of any county highway where such installation is made, the permittee, upon written demand by the county, shall at permittee's sole expense alter any of such installations or structures which may be in conflict with the new grade or alignment; provided, however, that this section shall cease to apply when the county highway becomes a state freeway.

(Prior code §5-5(b))

Unless otherwise expressly permitted by the road commissioner, permittee shall, during the entire period of construction, maintain access to traffic over, upon and across the county highways and approaches thereto so as not unreasonably to hinder, render inconvenient or interfere with the public use thereof or with persons lawfully entitled to the use thereof. It shall be the duty of the permittee to place and maintain lights at each end of any such excavation, and at distances of not more than fifty feet along the line thereof, from sunset of each day to sunrise of the next day, until the excavation is entirely refilled; and the permittee shall safeguard the excavation by such other barriers, signs and measures as may be necessary and proper in each case to provide for the safety of persons, animals and vehicles using the highway.

(Prior code §5-5(c))

After the excavation is commenced, the work of making, filling, compacting and resurfacing it shall be prosecuted with due diligence, from day to day until completed, and so as not to obstruct the highway more than is reasonably necessary.

(Prior code §5-5(d))

If any construction excavation or installation is not completed in the manner and within the time required by any of the provisions of this chapter, the road commissioner shall notify the permittee of such defect in writing and if the permittee fails to commence the work of remedying the defect within five days, the road commissioner shall, at the sole cost and expense of the permittee, cause the defect to be remedied in the proper manner and shall restore the highway to its original condition.

(Prior code §5-5(e))

Every construction, excavation or installation permitted in this chapter may be inspected by the road commissioner and the applicant shall pay to the road commissioner the reasonable cost of such inspection.

(Prior code §5-6)

Any deposit or bond made and delivered pursuant to this chapter shall be held by the auditor or road commissioner, respectively, and returned or retained as directed in this chapter.

(Prior code §5-7)

In the event the construction, excavation or installation is properly completed by the permittee to the satisfaction of the road commissioner, whose sole judgment and decision in the matter shall be final and conclusive, the bond filed shall be returned to the permittee by the road commissioner. In all cases of cash deposits, the road commissioner shall request the county auditor to return the deposit, and the auditor shall draw a warrant on the county treasurer for the proper amount

(Prior code §5-7(a); Ord. CS 22 §1, 1983)

No such bond or deposit shall be returned to the permittee until the reasonable inspection fees and the amount of any damage to the county by reason of the exercise of the permit has been paid to the county. If all such fees and damages are not paid to the county within a reasonable time after completion of the work contemplated by the permit, then the county shall retain so much of the deposit as the board of supervisors determines it may be entitled to under this chapter upon the bond therefor.

(Prior code §5-7(b))

Permittee is responsible for all liability for personal injury or property damage which may arise out of work permitted and done under a permit or which may arise out of failure on the permittee's part to perform his obligations under any permit in respect to maintenance. In the event any claim of liability is made against the county, or any department, officer, or employee therefor, permittee shall defend, indemnify and hold them and each of them, harmless from such claim.

(Prior code §5-8)

Any permittee lawfully maintaining any underground installation in, along, upon or across any county highway by virtue of a permit obtained under this chapter may, without first obtaining a new permit, perform any emergency maintenance or repair such installation. Notice of any such emergency maintenance or repair work shall be given to the road commissioner as soon as practicable and thereafter the permittee shall comply with all pertinent provisions of this chapter.

(Prior code §5-9)

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to poles, lines, fences, wires or other surface or overhead installations in county highways; provided, however, that no person having permission of the board of supervisors, a franchise or other authority of law so to install such surface or overhead installations, shall do so without first consulting with and fully advising the road commissioner. Persons maintaining such surface or overhead installations need not consult with or advise the road commissioner concerning matters of normal maintenance or the routine providing of new service to the customers of such person.

(Prior code §5-10)

All persons maintaining underground gas, water, electrical or other pipelines, conduits or similar structures, in the county highways or other public places heretofore installed pursuant to permission of the board of supervisors, a franchise or other authority of law, shall maintain reasonably current maps of such installations and structures which shall be open to the inspection of the road commissioner. Upon the written request of the road commissioner such persons shall, within a reasonable time, furnish to the road commissioner a map or maps or copies thereof showing the nature, extent and location of all structures or installations specified.

(Prior code §5-11)