(a) For a permit for the installation or maintenance of wire, cable, pipe or conduit on, under or over the surface of the public way, the applicable fee shall provide for recovery of the City’s actual costs or reasonably foreseeable estimate of the City’s costs for maintaining and regulating the public way in a manner consistent with the public welfare and suitable for the use of the applicant. Such costs shall include, but not be limited to, the City’s cost of inspection, regulation, maintenance, administration and repair. The Commissioner shall have the authority to determine the applicable permit fee.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a permit may be issued for the installation or maintenance of wire, cable, pipe or conduit on, under, or over the surface of the public way or public property without payment of the appropriate fee provided for in subsection (a) if: (1) the applicant voluntarily enters into an agreement with the City providing for such use; or (2) the Commissioner requires the applicant to enter into an agreement with the City providing for such use because the Commissioner determines that the proposed use is likely to preclude other persons from using the space, would physically or visually interfere with or obstruct the public way or public property, or because the space is on, over or under public property, over which the City may exercise proprietary powers. The terms of such agreements shall include appropriate compensation to the City and such surety, insurance and indemnification provisions as the City may require. All agreements shall be subject to the approval of the City Council and subject to the approval of the Corporation Counsel as to form and legality; provided that, except as set forth below, no approval by the City Council shall be required for the permitting of wires on or inside of available City light poles (including, subject to the conditions set forth in Section 10-29-060, traffic signal poles) pursuant to regulations issued under Section 10-29-060 for periods not exceeding 20 years (including renewals, which shall contain such conditions as the Commissioner shall apply on a competitively neutral basis) and providing for use fees or permit fees in 2005 and 2006 of not less than (i) $1,500.00 per year for each permitted use of each City light pole which is not a traffic signal role and (ii) $3,000.00 per year for use of each traffic signal pole, in each case of (i) and (ii) adjusted upward in each year commencing on January 1, 2007 for the greater of (x) the CPI Adjustment (as defined below) over a one-year period from a base year of 2006 or (y) a five percent per year increase from the preceding year; provided further that the Commissioner may by regulation adjust use fees or permit fees to account for market conditions, but in no event (except as set forth below) shall use fees or permit fees ever be less than the specified amount per year for each category of pole, as applicable, used on an annualized basis. Beginning on the tenth anniversary of the effective date of this ordinance, such fee may be adjusted to add a revenue component or make other reasonable adjustments which are not in excess of prevailing municipal rates; provided that notice of such proposed adjustments is sent to all affected permittees at least one year prior to the implementation date of such adjustments. Such use fees or permit fees shall be applied on a pro rata basis for partial years, may be adjusted to account for multiple attachments to a single City light pole, or size of equipment, or the amount of use of the City light pole and may be established on a calendar year or other 12-month basis as the Commissioner shall determine in regulations. Such regulations may provide for in-kind compensation for a municipal use. The Commissioner may by regulation make adjustments to use fees, establish discounts for advance payments and determine the appropriate application of the proceeds of such payments, and set limits on length or extent of use or set forth other conditions to the extent deemed necessary, with the advice of the Corporation Counsel, to comply with financing or other regulatory restrictions or to reasonably account for the value of in-kind compensation.
For purposes of this Section 10-29-040, "CPI Adjustment" means the percentage increase in the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers for the Chicago metropolitan area. Notwithstanding the foregoing, implementation of and pricing for any wi-fi or wi-max system using City light poles or any other City property shall require City Council approval.
(Added Coun. J. 4-13-94, p. 48633; Amend Coun. J. 12-14-05, p. 66662, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. IX, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-7-18, p. 88803, § 28)