West Covina Municipal Code § 19-183 Same—Contents; prosecution of work

For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases are defined:

Property shall mean and include any property, rail, tie, wire, pipe, pole, conduit, or any device, fixture, appliance or structure appurtenant thereto, installed, affixed or located, upon, over or under any public street or public place in the city, whether so installed, affixed or located under franchise or otherwise.

Public street shall mean and include a public street, public easement, public right-of-way, public highway, public alley, public way, or public road within the city.

(Code 1960, § 7213)

Cross reference— Definitions for Code generally, §§ 1-8—1-26.

Whenever the city engineer shall determine that it is reasonable and necessary that any property located in, upon, over or under any public street or public place in this city, owned, maintained or controlled by any person, be temporarily disconnected and reconnected, or permanently moved, relocated or removed from any public street or other public place, in order that the city may, most economically under modern engineering and construction methods, install, construct, build or erect any public improvement or works, in, on, over, under or along any public street the city engineer shall give written notice to the person owning, maintaining or controlling such property to move, relocate or temporarily disconnect the same, as may be determined by the city engineer.

(Code 1960, § 7214)

A notice pursuant to section 19-182 shall identify and refer to the property to be moved, relocated or temporarily disconnected. When relocation of any such property is required, such notice shall designate the location in, upon, over or under any public street or public place to which the same shall be removed. Such person shall within ten (10) days after the giving of such notice, or within such additional time as the city engineer may in an emergency prescribe, properly designate in such notice, prosecute such work diligently to completion. Nothing contained in this section shall apply to any improvement, work or works done by the city or other governmental agency or instrumentality, other than in a governmental capacity.

(Code 1960, § 7215)

No person owning, maintaining or controlling any property located in, upon, over or under any public street or public place in the city shall neglect, fail, or refuse to begin the work of moving, relocating or disconnecting such property after the giving of written notice by the city engineer to do so, as provided in section 19-182, or to prosecute such moving, relocating or disconnecting diligently to completion.

(Code 1960, § 7216)

The city engineer shall have power to move, relocate or temporarily disconnect any property located in, upon, over or under any public street or public place in the city, owned, maintained or controlled by any person, in the event such person shall neglect, fail or refuse, after the giving of notice, as provided in section 19-182, to begin the work of moving, relocating or disconnecting the same, or shall fail to prosecute such work diligently to completion. The cost necessarily incurred in doing such work by the city engineer may be recovered by the city from the person owning, maintaining, operating or controlling such property; subject, however, to the provisions of any franchise heretofore granted by the city to the contrary.

(Code 1960, § 7217)

The punishment for violation of the penal provisions of this article shall be cumulative; and in addition to the powers conferred herein to the city engineer, the enforcement of the penal provisions of this article shall not constitute a bar to the exercise by the city engineer of the powers conferred upon him by this article, nor shall the exercise by the city engineer of the powers conferred upon him by this article constitute a bar to a criminal prosecution for the violation of the penal provisions of this article.

(Code 1960, § 7218)