(a) The purpose of this chapter is to provide requirements for the use or occupation of any and all rights of way and public property in the Municipality, the issuance of permits to persons for such use or occupancy and to set forth the policies of the Municipality related thereto.
(b) This chapter does not take the place of any franchise, license, or permit which may be additionally required by law. Each permittee shall obtain any and all such additional franchises, licenses or permits necessary to the operations and conduct of its business.
(c) No person shall use, occupy, own or operate facilities in, under or over any rights of way within the Municipality unless such person first obtains a franchise and/or permits conforming to the requirements set forth therein and in this chapter.
(d) The policy of Canal Winchester with regards to rights of way is hereby declared to be:
(1) To promote public safety and protect public property;
(2) To promote the utilization of rights of way for the public health, safety, and welfare and to promote economic development in the Municipality;
(3) To promote the availability of a wide range of utility, communication, and other services, including the rapid development of new technologies and innovative services, to the Municipality’s citizens and taxpayers at reasonable rates;
(4) To promote cooperation among the Municipality and franchisees and permittees in the occupation of rights of way, and work therein, in order to minimize public inconvenience during work in the rights of way and avoid uneconomic, unneeded and unsightly duplication of facilities;
(5) To ensure adequate public compensation for the regulation of the private use of the rights of way and the regulation thereof; and
(6) To promote and require reasonable accommodation of all uses of rights of way and to establish the following priority of use of rights of way, when all requested usage of rights of way by permittees cannot be accommodated:
A. Use by the Municipality.
B. Use by another governmental entity with the Municipality’s concurrence or other uses required by law.
C. Telecommunications and utility and general permittees and franchisees shall have third priority.
D. Special permittees shall have fourth priority. (Ord. 41-01. Passed 8-20-01.)
E. Residential permittees shall have the fifth priority; provided, however, that the Director of Construction Services may reasonably require right-of-way permittees and franchisees to cooperate to accommodate use by other permittees and franchisees and provided further that the Director of Construction Services may alter this priority when the Director of Construction Services reasonably determines a deviation here from to be in the public interest.
(Ord. 53-05. Passed 7-18-05; Ord. 22-048. Passed 11-7-22.)
(e) Nothing in this chapter should be construed to apply the provisions of this chapter to facilities owned or operated by the Municipality or any of its operations.
(f) Unless otherwise specifically stated in a permit, all permits or franchises granted hereunder shall be non-exclusive.
(Ord. 41-01. Passed 8-20-01.)
(g) Definitions.
(1) “Applicant” means any person applying for a permit hereunder.
(2) “Best efforts” means the best reasonable efforts under the circumstances, taking into consideration, among other appropriate matters, safety, expedition, available technology and human resource and cost.
(3) “Emergency” means a reasonable unforeseen occurrence with a potential to endanger personal safety or health, or cause substantial damage to property that calls for immediate action.
(4) “Permittee” means any person issued a permit or franchise pursuant to this chapter to use or occupy all or any portion of the rights-of-way in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(5) “Right-of-way” or “Rights-of-way” means the surface of and the space above and below any public street, public road, public highway, public freeway, public lane, public path, public way, public alley, public court, public sidewalk, public boulevard, public parkway, public drive, leisure trail, bicycle path, or any public easement or right-of-way now or hereafter held by the Municipality which shall, within its proper use, entitle a permittee, in accordance with the terms hereof and of any permit, to the use thereof for the purpose of installing or operating any facilities as may be ordinarily necessary and pertinent to the provisions of the utility, cable television, communications or other services as set forth in any permit. Right-of-way shall also include publicly owned property, but only to the extent the use or occupation thereof is specifically granted in a permit or by regulation.
(6) “Right-of-way work permit” means a permit authorizing actual physical work by the permittee in the right-of-way.
(7) “Soft surface” means areas of sod, soil, mulch or other landscape materials and contains no hard surfaces.
(8) “Hard surface” means any pavement, sidewalk, path, or travel way composed of asphalt, concrete, gravel or other surface treatment.
(Ord. 53-05. Passed 7-18-05.)