Taft Municipal Code Ch. 12 Encroachments

ENCROACHMENT: Any tower, pole, pole line, pipe, pipeline, billboard, stand or building, or any structure, object of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this Section or any special event which intrudes into, upon, over or under, or invades any property belonging to the City, or intrudes into, upon, over or under, or invades any street, avenue, lane, alley, sidewalk, court, place, public way, property rights of way now open or dedicated or which may hereafter by opened or dedicated to public use within the City, but does not necessarily prevent public travel.

SPECIAL EVENT: Any street festival, sidewalk sale, community sponsored activity or community approved activity. (Ord. 667-99, 3-2-1999)

(A) It is unlawful for any person to place, erect or maintain, or to permit the placing, erection, maintenance or existence of any "encroachment", as defined in Section 2-12-1 of this Chapter, upon, over or under any street, avenue, lane, alley, sidewalk, court, place, public way, property, or rights of way, now open or dedicated or which may hereafter be opened or dedicated to public use within the City, or upon, over or under any property belonging to the City, without an encroachment permit issued by the City as provided in this Section or, if the encroachment is by a pipeline for conveyance of petroleum products without a license agreement therefor approved by the City Council.

(B) Any person desiring to place, erect or maintain any such "encroachment" as defined in Section 2-12-1 of this Chapter shall make application for a permit at the office of the Director of Public Works. Such application shall contain the name and address of the applicant, a description of the proposed encroachment and the proposed location thereof, the period of time for which such encroachment is proposed to be maintained, and such other information as may be required by the Director of Public Works. Such application shall further contain an agreement on the part of the applicant that if said application is granted, the applicant will indemnify and save and hold harmless the City, its agents, officers and employees against and from all damages, judgments, claims, demands, expenses, costs and expenditures, and against all loss or liability which the City or such officers, agents or employees may suffer, or which may be recovered from or obtainable against the City or such officers, agents or employees, proximately caused by, growing out of, or in any way connected with, the placing, erection, or maintenance of such encroachment, and upon the expiration of said permit or the revocation thereof, the applicant will at his own cost and expense, remove the same from the public property or right of way where the same is located and restore said public property or right of way to the condition as nearly as that in which it was before the placing, erection, maintenance or existence of said encroachment.

Upon the receipt of such application, the Director of Public Works shall conduct or cause to be made an investigation to determine if the maintenance of said encroachment will substantially interfere with the use of the public property, right of way or other public place where the same is proposed to be placed, erected or maintained, and whether the placing, erection or maintenance of said encroachment will constitute a hazard to persons using said public property, right of way or other public place.

Upon the completion of such investigation, the Director of Public Works shall prepare a report of his findings and may, at his discretion, either grant or deny the applicant a permit to place, erect and/or maintain said encroachment. Said permit, if granted, may be granted for a definite time or for an indefinite time, and the Director of Public Works may impose such conditions to the granting of the same as in his discretion will best subserve the public interest. In any event, a permit granted by the Director of Public Works pursuant to this Section, is revocable at any time.

Upon the revocation of any such permit, the Director of Public Works shall give notice in the form and manner specified in Section 2-12-3 of this Chapter to the applicant for such permit or to the person maintaining said encroachment, to remove said encroachment. It is unlawful for any person to place, erect or maintain or to permit the placing, erection, maintenance or existence of an encroachment upon, over or under any street, avenue, lane, alley, sidewalk, court, place, public way, property or right of way after his permit has expired, or after his permit has been revoked and the time specified in the notice from the Director of Public Works for removal of the same has expired.

(C) No permit shall be deemed granted until and unless the applicant has provided the Director of Public Works with a certificate of insurance evidencing coverage for bodily injury or property damage liability, or both, unless such requirement is waived by the City Council. Any applicant may appeal to the City Council the decision of the Director of Public Works regarding the amount of insurance required.

(D) All work performed upon, over or under any street, avenue, lane, alley, sidewalk, court, place, public way, property, or rights of way, now open or dedicated or which may hereafter be opened or dedicated to public use within the City, or upon, over or under any property belonging to the City shall be performed in accordance with the approved Public Works Standards of the City. (Ord. 667-99, 3-2-1999)

(A) Any person whose property encroaches in any manner upon, over or under any property of the City, or any street, avenue, lane, alley, sidewalk, court, place, public way, property or rights of way, now open or dedicated or which may hereafter be opened or dedicated to public use within the City, who has not obtained an encroachment permit from the Director of Public Works for the placing, erection and/or maintenance of such encroachment shall remove the same after written notice by the Director of Public Works demanding such removal.

(B) Notice of such removal shall be by registered mail, addressed to the post office address of the owner or occupant of the premises where the encroachment exists, or by personal service of such notice upon the owner or occupant, by a person authorized by the Director of Public Works to deliver such notice. The notice shall provide that the encroachment shall be removed within a reasonable time, not to exceed sixty (60) days from the date of the notice, and that all required permits for such removal be secured therefor within thirty (30) days of the date of notice. The notice shall further provide that if the work is not completed within sixty (60) days from the date of the notice, the City may proceed to cause the work to be done and charge the costs thereof against the property or its owner.

(C) Any person having any record, title or legal interest in the encroaching property may appeal from the notice to the City Council, provided the appeal is made in writing and filed with the City Clerk within thirty (30) days from the date of service of such notice. The failure to appeal will constitute a waiver of all right to an administrative hearing and determination of the matter. As soon as practicable after receiving the written appeal, the City Council shall schedule a hearing for the appeal, which date shall be not less than ten (10) nor more than sixty (60) days from the date the appeal was filed with the City Clerk.

(D) Proof of service of the notice shall be certified to at the time of service by a written declaration under penalty of perjury executed by the persons effecting service, declaring the time, date and manner in which service was made. Such proof of service shall be filed with the City Clerk.

(E) If the encroachment is not removed within the time specified in the notice, and no appeal has been properly and timely filed, or if an appeal has been filed and the encroachment not removed as directed by the City Council, then the City Clerk shall file in the office of the County Recorder a certificate describing that property and certifying that such property is encroaching on public property and that the owner has been so notified. Whenever the encroachment has been removed, the City Clerk shall file a new certificate certifying that the encroachment has been removed.

(F) After any order of the director of public works or the city council, in the case of an appeal, has become final, if the person fails to remove the encroachment within the specified time period, the person may be prosecuted under section 2-12-4 of this chapter or the director of public works may proceed to remove the encroachment as provided herein. The city shall not be liable for any damage to property or persons that may result to the property remaining after removal of the encroachment.

(G) The recovery of costs shall be as follows:

1. The director of public works shall keep an itemized account of the expense incurred in the removal of the encroachment. Upon completion of the work, the director of public works shall prepare and file with the city clerk a report specifying the itemized and total cost of the work, or description of the property that had been encroaching, and the names and addresses of the persons who had owned or were responsible for the encroaching property.

2. Upon receipt of said report, the city clerk shall transmit the report to the city council. The city council shall fix a time, date and place for hearing said report and any protests or objections thereto. The city clerk shall cause notice of said hearing to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city and to be served by certified mail addressed to the owner of the property from which the encroachment emanated or said owner's name and address appear on the last equalized assessment roll of the county, or as known to the city clerk. Such notice shall be given at least ten (10) days before the date set for the hearing.

3. Any person interested in or affected by the proposed charge may file written protests or objections with the city clerk at any time prior to the hearing. Such protests or objections shall be presented to the city council at the time of the hearing and no other protests or objections shall be considered.

4. At the time and place fixed for the hearing, the city council shall hear and pass upon the report of the director of public works together with any written protests or objections. The city council may revise, correct, or modify the report or the charge as it deems just and shall confirm or reject the report together with the charge, as submitted or as revised, corrected or modified. The decision of the city council shall be final and conclusive.

5. After hearing, the city council may order that said charge be made a personal obligation of the property owner or assess said charge against the property involved. If the city council orders that the charge shall be assessed against the property, it shall confirm the assessment, cause the same to be recorded on the assessment roll, and thereafter said assessment shall constitute a special assessment against and a lien upon the property.

6. The validity of any assessment made under the provisions of this chapter shall not be contested in any action or proceeding unless the same is commenced within thirty (30) days after the assessment is placed upon the assessment roll as provided herein.

7. Immediately upon its being placed on the assessment roll, the assessment shall be deemed to be complete, the several amounts assessed shall be payable, and the assessments shall be liens against the lots or parcels of land assessed. The lien shall be subordinate to all existing special assessment liens previously imposed upon the same property and shall be paramount to all other liens except for state, county and property taxes with which it shall be upon a parity. The lien shall continue until the assessment and all interest due are paid.

8. All assessments remaining unpaid for thirty (30) days from the date of recording on the assessment role shall become delinquent and shall bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum from and after said date.

9. After confirmation of the report, a certified copy of the assessment shall be filed with the county assessor, tax collector and auditor on or before August 10.

10. The amount of the assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary property taxes and shall be subject to the same penalties and procedures and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary property taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of property taxes shall be applicable to such assessment. (Ord. 667-99, 3-2-1999)

(A) Any person failing to remove any encroachment from any property of the city, or from any street, avenue, lane, alley, sidewalk, court, place, public way, property or rights of way, now open or dedicated or which may hereafter be opened or dedicated to public use within the city within the time specified in the notice for removal by the director of public works, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(B) The city is authorized to take such actions as may be required for enforcement of this chapter. The city may enforce any violation of this chapter by any and all means available by law, including, but not limited to, civil enforcement through such means as a restraining order and nuisance abatement action for relief such as preliminary or permanent injunction, criminal enforcement, and administrative enforcement. These remedies are intended to be cumulative and may be used in conjunction with or in lieu of each other remedy. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002; amd. Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

The fees charged for the processing of an encroachment permit and/or associated documents shall be set from time to time by the city council by resolution. (Ord. 667-99, 3-2-1999)