(a) The purpose and intent of this Chapter is to:
(1) Permit and manage reasonable access to the Public Right-of-Way of the City for utility and telecommunications service purposes on a competitively neutral basis;
(2) Conserve the limited physical capacity of the Public Right-of-Way held in trust by the City for the benefit of the public;
(3) Assure that the City receives cost recovery for the Occupancy and Use of the Public Right-of-Way in accordance with law;
(4) Assure that the City fairly and responsibly protects the public health, safety and welfare; and
(5) Enable the City to discharge its public trust obligations consistent with rapidly evolving federal and State regulatory policies, industry competition and technological development.
(b) For the purpose of this Chapter, and the interpretation and enforcement thereof, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless the context of the sentence in which they are used shall indicate otherwise:
(1) Affiliate means a Person that (directly or indirectly) owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with another Person.
(2) Capital Improvement means an addition made to enhance the value or extend the useful life of an existing System or Facilities, including Construction, Reconstruction, installation, rehabilitation, renovation, improvement, enlargement and extension of Facilities, but not including ordinary or Routine Maintenance.
(3) City means the City of Chardon, Ohio.
(4) City Property means and includes all real property owned by the City, other than Public Streets and Public Easements as those terms are defined herein, and all property held in a proprietary capacity by the City, which are not subject to Public Right-of-Way consent and Permit requirements of this Chapter.
(5) Construct, Constructing, Construction, etc. means installing, repairing, replacing or removing any Facility, regardless of the methods employed, including Excavation.
(7) Director means the City's Director of Public Service.
(8) Emergency means an unforeseen occurrence or condition calling for immediate action due to health, safety, or the protection of property.
(9) Excavate, Excavating or Excavation means cutting, sawing, breaking, drilling into, boring under, or otherwise altering any Public Street or sidewalk pavement, and/or digging, drilling into or boring under any unpaved portion of the Public Right-of-Way, including any other work or activity which disturbs the existing surface or subsurface structure, composition, or soil compaction.
(10) Facilities or Facility means the plant, equipment and property, including but not limited to, cables, fibers, wires, pipes, conduits, ducts, pedestals, antennae, electronics, poles, pipes, mains, plant, equipment and other appurtenances located under, on or above the surface of the ground in the Public Right-of-Way of the City and used or to be used to operate a System to transmit, receive, distribute, provide or offer a Service, but also including Private Systems.
(11) Lane Obstruction means the blocking or diverting of vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic from a street or sidewalk for the purpose of Constructing, Excavating, installing, repairing, maintaining, operating, replacing or removing any Facility, including (i) the lifting or removing of manhole or manhole covers, and (ii) the opening or accessing of at-grade or pole-mounted cabinets, pedestals, transformers, power supplies, amplifiers, splice enclosures, traps or other Facilities.
(12) Manager means the City Manager, or his or her designee.
(13) New Service Orders means the connection from the Public Service Provider's existing Facilities on private property for the purpose of providing a new Service to a customer in the City.
(14) Occupancy, Occupy or Use means, with respect to the Public Right-of-Way, to place a tangible thing in the Public Right-of-Way for any purpose, including, but not limited to, Constructing, repairing, positioning, maintaining or operating lines, poles, pipes, conduits, ducts, equipment or other structures, appurtenances or Facilities necessary to operate a System for the delivery of public utility-like Services, including Service provided by a Cable Operator or Video Service Provider, or other services over Private Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way.
(15) ODOT means the Ohio Department of Transportation.
(16) Other Ways means the highways, streets, alleys, Utility Easements or other rights-of-way within the City, but under the jurisdiction and control of a governmental entity other than the City.
(17) Overhead Facilities means utility poles and wires, cables and other such equipment running between and on such poles, including the underground supports and foundations for such Facilities.
(18) Person means and includes corporations, companies, associations, joint stock companies or associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies, trusts and individuals and includes their lessors, trustees and receivers.
(19) Private Facility means the plant, equipment and property, including but not limited to, cables, fiber optics, wires, pipes, conduits, ducts, pedestals, antennae, electronics and other appurtenances or Facilities used or to be used to operate a system to transmit, receive, distribute or provide telecommunications or other services between or among private buildings or facilities where there is no offer of service to the public.
(20) Private Service Provider means any Person who, pursuant to the consent to Occupy or Use the Public Right-of-Way pursuant to Section 933.02 of this Chapter, directly or indirectly owns, controls, operates or manages Private Facilities within the City's Public Right-of-Way used or to be used for the purpose of operating a System to transmit, receive, distribute or provide telecommunications or other services between or among private buildings or facilities where there is no offer of Service to the public.
(21) Public Easement means any easement under the jurisdiction and control of the City and acquired, established, dedicated or devoted for public purposes, including utility purposes.
(22) Public Right-of-Way or Right-of-Way means the surface of, and the space within, through, on, across, above or below, any Public Street, public road, public highway, public freeway, public lane, public path, public alley, public court, public sidewalk, public boulevard, public parkway, public drive, Public Easement and any other land dedicated or otherwise designated for a compatible public use, which is owned or controlled by the City but excludes a private easement.
(23) Public Service Provider means any Person that, pursuant to the consent to Occupy or Use the Public Right-of-Way pursuant to Section 933.02 of this Chapter, directly or indirectly owns, controls, operates or manages Facilities within the City's Public Right-of-Way, used or to be used for the purpose of operating a System offering Service to the public within the City or outside of the City's boundaries.
(24) Public Street means the paved and unpaved portion of any street, road, boulevard, drives, highway, freeway, parkway, lane court, alley or other Public Right-of-Way in which the City has an interest in law or equity and which has been acquired, established, dedicated or devoted to street purposes.
(25) Public Way Fee means a fee levied to recover the costs incurred by the City and associated with the occupancy or use of a Public Right-of-Way.
(26) PUCO or Public Utilities Commission of Ohio means the State Administrative agency, or lawful successor, authorized to regulate and oversee certain Public or Private Service Providers and Services in the State of Ohio.
(27) Reconstruct, Reconstruction, etc. means substantial physical change to or Capital Improvement of all or a portion of an existing System or Facilities including a change in location, or additional locations, of Facilities along the same Right-of-Way involving Construction in Public Streets, Utility Easements, or Public Right-of-Way.
(28) Routine Maintenance means repair, upkeep, replacement or restoration of existing Facilities located in the Public Right-of-Way that requires no more than three (3) working days to complete, is not an Emergency and does not include Excavation of the Public Right-of-Way.
(29) Service means the offering of water, sewer, electric, gas, telephone, telecommunications, cable television, information or other utility-like service directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available to the public, regardless of the Facilities used.
(30) Service Provider means any Public Service Provider and/or Private Service Provider.
(31) State means the State of Ohio.
(32) Surplus Space means that portion of the Usable Space on a utility pole which has the necessary clearance from other Public or Private Service Providers using the pole, as required by the orders and regulations of PUCO and other applicable State and local orders and regulations, to allow its use by an additional Public or Private Service Provider for a pole attachment.
(33) System means a network of Facilities for the transmission and/or distribution of a Service.
(34) Trenchless Technology means the use of directional boring, horizontal drilling and micro-tunneling and other techniques in the Construction of underground portions of Facilities that result in the least amount of disruption and damage to the Public Right-of-Way as possible.
(35) Underground Facilities means that portion of a System located under the surface of the ground, excluding the underground foundations or supports for Overhead Facilities.
(36) Usable Space means the total distance between the top of a utility pole and the lowest possible attachment point that provides the minimum allowable vertical clearance as specified in the orders and regulations of the PUCO.
(37) Utility Easement means any easement owned by a Service Provider and acquired, established, dedicated or devoted for the purpose of providing Service to the public
(38) Video Service shall have the meaning provided in Section 1332.21(J) of the Ohio Revised Code and means the provision of video programming over wires or cables located at least in part in public rights-of-way, regardless of the technology used to deliver that programming, and may also be referred to as Cable Service.
(39) Video Service Provider means a person granted a video service authorization from the Ohio Department of Commerce under Sections 1332.21 through 1332.34 of the Ohio Revised Code, and may be used interchangeably with Cable Operator.
(Ord. 3158. Passed 3-11-21.)