Vallejo Municipal Code Ch. 10.02 Construction of Curbs, Gutters and Sidewalks Within the Public Streets

The city council finds and declares that there exist within the city many public streets which lack in varying degrees curbs, gutters and sidewalks causing inconvenience and potential hazard to pedestrians whose number is increasing due to the energy shortages and the desire or need to use public transportation, and damage or deterioration to the roadway pavement resulting from inadequate drainage control and inordinate amounts of foreign matter deposited upon such pavement from the unpaved sides of the roadway. It is the purpose of this chapter to provide for the orderly and systematic construction of curbs, gutters and sidewalks within the public streets of the city which lack such improvements in order to promote and protect the public health and safety, property values, the city's investment in the public streets, and the general well-being of the community.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

Unless the particular provision or the context otherwise requires, the definitions and general provisions contained in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter.

A. "City" means the city of Vallejo, a municipal corporation, and its duly authorized representatives.

B. "City clerk" means the city clerk of the city of Vallejo.

C. "City council" means the city council of the city of Vallejo.

D. "Corner lot reduction" is a reduction in the front footage assigned a parcel of land fronting on the intersection of two public streets. This reduction shall be forty percent of the total of both frontages of the parcel for industrial or residential property, and zero percent for commercial property.

E. "Curb return" means the portion of the curb, gutter and sidewalk at intersections which have no property frontage.

F. "Curbs and gutters" includes curbs, gutters, driveways, pavement to the centerline of the street, full pavement in alleys, or any combination of the foregoing, and shall meet the construction design and standards of the city, and shall be located in conformance with standard street cross-sections approved by the director of public works/city engineer.

G. "Director of public works/city engineer," "public works director" or "city engineer" means the director of public works and the city engineer of the city.

H. "Frontage" is the legal front footage of private or public property measured parallel along the property line of such property adjacent to the public street. "Fronting" and "facing" as used in this chapter means abutting in the case of property adjoining an alley improvement.

I. "Sidewalks" are the paved areas along the frontage of private or public property between the curb line and the property line, including driveways, and constructed in conformance with the standard specifications for such improvements in the city.

J. "Streets" or "public streets" includes avenues, highways, lanes, alleys, crossings or intersections, and courts which have been dedicated and accepted according to law, or which have been in common and undisputed use by the public for a period of not less than five years next preceding the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. They do not include private streets.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

A. The public streets in the city requiring curbs, gutters and/or sidewalks, and upon which notice to construct same is to be given, shall be designated in a resolution adopted by the city council after a public hearing at which the owners of the abutting property or properties and all other interested persons have been given an opportunity to be heard.

B. At least ten days before the date scheduled for the public hearing, the city clerk shall publish notice thereof once in the official newspaper of the city, and mail a copy of the notice to each owner of property on the block of the street or streets being selected for improvement.

C. If the design and layout of the street or streets selected for improvement has created unusual circumstances, such as lots or parcels of land with double or secondary frontages where one or more frontages have no usable or direct access to the public street, the notice herein-above mentioned shall state the method intended to be used to assess the cost of the improvements planned for such portion or portions of the streets so affected, which shall be consistent with generally recognized principles for determining benefit and spreading the cost of making improvements by assessment proceedings.

D. At the public hearing, the city council shall hear and pass upon the objections or protests, if any, which may be made. The decision of the city council on all protests and objections which are made shall be final and conclusive. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the city council may proceed to adopt a resolution designating such street or streets, or sections thereof, for improvement, and authorizing the Public Works Director to proceed with actions outlined in this chapter by requiring the installation of the necessary curbs, gutters and/or sidewalks.

(Ord. 632 N.C.(2d) § 2, 1981: Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

After the city council has adopted a resolution designating a public street or streets, or sections thereof, to be lacking curbs, gutters and/or sidewalks, and authorizing the public works director to give notice to construct such improvements, he, or his authorized representative, shall notify in writing the owners of the abutting property of such deficiency in the manner hereinafter prescribed.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

Such notice to construct shall be given by certified or registered mail and shall be deposited in the United States Post Office at Vallejo, California, with postage thereon fully prepaid, addressed to the person or persons listed as the owner of the property abutting or facing upon the street, streets or sections thereof where no curbs, gutters and/or sidewalks exist, as the owner's name appears in the most current equalized assessment roll of Solano County available to the public works director.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

The notice to construct shall particularly specify what work is required to be done and how the same is to be done and what materials shall be used in the construction; what cost, if any, will be borne and paid for by the city; that if the property owner proceeds to undertake the construction by private contract, his activities will be governed by the provisions of Sections 10.04.110 through 10.04.250 of this title; and that if the construction is not commenced within thirty days after the giving of the notice and prosecuted diligently without interruption to completion, the public works director shall proceed with the installation, and the cost of same shall be a lien on such property. The materials and construction work shall be in strict conformance with the applicable portions of the city's standard specifications as they now exist, or as they may hereafter be amended. The notice shall also advise the property owner of the city's right to cause the amount of the lien for the improvements to be placed upon the county's assessment rolls for collection with the property taxes levied, and the authority of the city council to make advances for the improvements from the curb, gutter and sidewalk revolving fund, subject to the property owner's obligation to reimburse said fund in monthly, semiannual or annual installment payments.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

In the event improvements are to be constructed which do not directly front the lots or parcels of property on the street or streets designated for improvement in the city council resolution, and for which the cost will be spread among the benefited properties on other than strict front footage basis, the notice to construct shall exclude such improvements, and the public works director shall construct or cause to be constructed said improvements, and include such work in the certificate to be filed pursuant to Section 10.02.070.

(Ord. 632 N.C.(2d) § 3, 1981.)

If, upon the expiration of the thirty-day period provided for in Section 10.02.060, the construction work is not commenced, or is commenced within said thirty-day period but not prosecuted to completion with due diligence, or if the construction work is for improvements not directly fronting the affected parcel or parcels, the public works director shall construct or cause to be constructed the required curbs, gutters and/or sidewalks, and file a certificate with the city council setting forth the fact that the construction has been completed and the costs thereof. The costs of the construction work shall include an administrative charge of five dollars or five percent of the construction cost, whichever is the greater. Upon receipt of the public works director's certificate, the city clerk on behalf of the city council shall thereupon fix a time and place for hearing protests and objections against the assessment for the costs of such construction work. The time of hearing shall not be less than twenty days from the date of filing of the public works director's certificate.

(Ord. 632 N.C.(2d) § 4, 1981: Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

The city clerk shall, ten days prior to the date of the public hearing as provided for in Section 10.02.070, send notice by certified or registered mail, deposited in the United States Post Office at Vallejo, California, with postage thereon fully prepaid, addressed to the person or persons listed as the owner of the real property abutting or facing upon the street, streets or sections thereof, where such improvements were made, as the owner's name appears in the most current equalized assessment roll of Solano County available to the city clerk, setting forth a statement of the cost of the improvements and specifying the date, hour and place where the city council will hear protests and objections to the assessment of the cost of such construction work.

Upon the date and hour set for the hearing of protests or objections, the city council shall hear and consider all protests and objections, if any, and then proceed to affirm, modify or reject the assessment of the costs of such construction work upon said real property. The hearing of protests and the affirming, modifying or rejecting of the assessment may be continued from time to time in the manner prescribed in this code. The decision of the city council on all protests or objections which may be made shall be final and conclusive.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

The cost of the construction work may be assessed by the city council against the parcel of real property abutting or fronting upon the sidewalks, curbs and/or gutters so constructed, and such cost so assessed, if not paid within fifteen days after its confirmation by the city council, shall constitute a special assessment against that parcel of real property, and shall be a lien on the property for the amount thereof from the time of recordation of a notice of lien, which lien shall continue until the assessment and all interest thereon is paid, or until it is discharged of record.

The public works director may file, in the office of the county recorder, a certificate substantially in the following form:

"NOTICE OF LIEN

Pursuant to the authority vested in me by Chapter 10.02, Title to of the Vallejo Municipal Code, I did, on the _______ day of _______, 19___, or thereabouts, cause sidewalk, curb and/or gutter to be constructed, and the City Council of the City of Vallejo did, on the day of _______, 19___, by Resolution No. _______ N.C., assess the cost of such construction upon the real property hereinafter described, and the same has not been paid nor any part thereof, and the City of Vallejo does hereby claim a lien on said real property in the sum of _______ DOLLARS ($_______), and the same shall be a lien upon said real property until the said sum, with interest at the rate of _______ percent (_______%) per annum as determined and fixed by the city council from the said _______ day of _______ 19___ has been paid in full and discharged of record.

The real property hereinbefore mentioned and upon which a lien is claimed, is that certain pieces or parcels of land lying and being in the City of Vallejo, County of Solano, State of California and more particularly described as follows, to wit:

(Insert legal description)

DATED this _______ day of _______, 19___, at Vallejo, California.

CITY OF VALLEJO,

a Municipal Corporation

By:___________

Public Works Director"

From and after the date of recording of the notice of lien as provided for in this section, all persons shall be deemed to have had notice of the contents thereof. The notice of lien may include claims against one or more separate parcels of property, whether contiguous or not, together with the amount due, respectively, from each such parcel. The statute of limitations shall not run against the right of the city to enforce the payment of the lien. If any such lien is not paid the city may file and maintain an action to foreclose such lien in the same manner and under the same procedure, so far as applicable, as that under which delinquent bonds are foreclosed under the Improvement Act of 1911 of the state (Division 7, Sections 5000 through 6794 of the Streets and Highways Code).

(Ord. 632 N.C.(2d) § 5, 1981: Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

A. As an alternative method of collection of the amount of the lien, the city council, after confirmation of the report of the public works director, may order that a certified copy of the resolution levying the assessments be delivered to the county auditor, or other appropriate county official, who shall enter the amount thereof on the county assessment book opposite the description of the particular property, and the amount shall be collected together with all other taxes and assessments thereon against the property.

The resolution levying the assessments to be effective for the next taxing year shall be delivered to the county auditor on or before the date fixed by law for the delivery of the certified statement of rates of city tax levies. Thereafter, the amounts of assessments shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary city taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and interest and to the same procedure under foreclosure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary city taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of city taxes and county taxes are made applicable to such special assessments.

B. The city council shall have the authority, in its discretion, to determine that the payment of such assessments of three hundred dollars or more, entered or to be entered in the assessment book as provided for in the preceding paragraph, are to be made in annual installments, in any event not to exceed ten, and that the payment of assessments so deferred shall bear interest on the unpaid balance at a rate to be determined by the city council. Such interest shall begin to accrue on the thirty-first day after the confirmation of the assessments by the city council. The public works director shall submit a report in writing to the city council making recommendation as to the number of installment payments to be allowed, the amount of each such installment payment, the interest rate to be charged, and other pertinent matters. All such determinations shall be expressed by resolution of the city council made at or prior to the time of confirmation of the assessments or at such later date as the council shall deem appropriate. Billing for and collection of the assessments shall be undertaken and processed in accordance with the directions contained in said resolution. When the city proceeds under this method of collection, it shall be proper for the public works director to record a notice of lien as provided for in Section 10.02.090 of this code.

(Ord. 648 N.C.(2d) § 1, 1982: Ord. 632 N.C.(2d) § 6, 1981: Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)

As another alternative method of collection of the amount of the lien, the city council shall have the power, in its discretion, to make advances from the curb, gutter and sidewalk revolving fund created under and pursuant to Chapter 3.52 of this code to construct curbs, gutters and/or sidewalks, and repayment of such advances shall be made in the manner and under the terms and conditions prescribed in Chapter 3.52, and all such determinations to make the advances may be expressed by resolution of the city council at any time prior to the confirmation of the assessments.

(Ord. 269 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1975.)