(a) The City of Bexley, Ohio is concerned with the use of all rights-of-way in the City as such rights-of-way are valuable and limited resources.
(b) Changes in the public utilities and communications industries have increased the demand and need for access to rights-of-way and placement of facilities and structures therein.
(c) It is necessary to comprehensively plan and manage access to, and structures and facilities in, the rights-of-way and provide innovative and economic solutions to efficiently and economically utilize limited rights-of-way capacity.
(d) The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the regulation of the use or occupation of all rights-of-way in the City of Bexley, the issuance of permits to persons for such use or occupancy, and to set forth the policies of the City related thereto.
(e) The City has authority under the laws and Constitution of the State of Ohio, including, but not limited to Article 18 §§ 3, 4, and 7, to regulate the public and private entities that use the right-of-way.
(f) A right-of-way permit issued pursuant to this chapter does not take the place of any provider agreement, franchise, license or permit that law may additionally require. Each right-of-way permit holder shall obtain any and all such additional State, Federal or City franchises, licenses or permits necessary to the operation and conduct of its business or its occupation or use of any right-of-way.
(g) The City Service Director is hereby directed and empowered to enforce the provisions of this Chapter, except as otherwise provided herein.
(h) The City's objectives regarding rights-of-way are:
(1) To encourage the high-quality and reliable delivery of utility, communication, and other services to the City's residents and taxpayers at competitive prices;
(2) To promote cooperation among the right-of-way permit holders and the City in the occupation of rights-of-way, and to minimize public inconvenience and eliminate wasteful, unnecessary or unsightly duplication of facilities;
(3) To minimize disruption to public property and ensure safe and efficient use of the City's rights-of-way;
(4) To ensure reimbursement of all costs to the City for the private use and occupancy of public rights-of-way and property and the City administration regarding such activity within the public rights-of-way;
(5) To assure that potential right-of-way permit holders and existing right-of-way users have the financial, technical and managerial resources to comply with this chapter and the provisions of any right-of-way permit issued hereunder;
(6) To promote and require reasonable accommodation of all uses of rights-of-way; and, when all requests for right-of-way use cannot be accomplished, to give priority for use of rights-of-way, in the order indicated, from the highest to lowest, to the following users; provided, however, that the Service Director may reasonably require right-of-way permit holders to cooperate to accommodate use by other right-of-way permit holders, and provided further that the Director may alter these priorities when the Service Director reasonably determines a deviation herefrom to be in the public interest:
A. The City;
B. Another governmental entity with the City's concurrence or other governmental use required by law;
C. Right-of-way permit holder.
(i) This chapter does not apply, and nothing herein should be construed to apply the provisions of this chapter, to structures or facilities owned and operated by the City or any City operations that occupy or use the rights-of-way. It is specifically contemplated, however, that all City Departments or Divisions that utilize the rights-of-way shall carry out their operations in a manner consistent with the policies set forth in this chapter, including participation and cooperation in all joint planning hereunder and identification of structures and facilities located in the rights-of-way.
(Ord. 77-99. Passed 1-11-2000; Ord. 43-19. Passed 1-26-21.)