(A) The city has jurisdiction and exercises regulatory management authority over all city public rights-of-way pursuant to the City Charter and state law. The city’s purpose for exerting its management authority over the public rights-of-way is to protect and efficiently manage the public’s resources and to ensure fair and non-discriminatory access to the public right-of-way.
(B) The city has jurisdiction and exercises regulatory management over each public right-of-way, whether the city has a fee, easement, or other legal interest in the right-of-way. The city has jurisdiction and regulatory management of each right-of-way, whether the legal interest in the right-of-way was obtained by grant, dedication, prescription, reservation, condemnation, annexation, foreclosure, or other means.
(C) No person may occupy or encroach on a public right-of-way without the permission of the city. The city grants permission to use rights-of-way through franchise agreements and construction permits.
(D) The exercise of jurisdiction and regulatory management of a public right-of-way by the city is not official acceptance of the right-of-way, and does not obligate the city to maintain or repair any part of the right-of-way.
(E) The city retains the right and privilege to cut or move any communications facilities located within the public rights-of-way as the city may determine to be necessary, appropriate, or useful in response to a public health or safety emergency.
(F) The city desires the ready availability of communication services for all its residential and commercial citizens by providing infrastructure and amenities that make the city a better place to do business. The city is committed to authorizing the private access and use of the public rights-of-way for such services so long as such use is consistent with, and does not unduly burden or interfere with, the principal purpose of the public ways, which is to facilitate the free transit of persons and goods in commerce.
(G) The city holds the health, safety, quality of life, and opportunities to prosper, as well as such physical assets such as the public right-of-way, in trust for all of its citizens, and has a fiduciary responsibility to assure that any use of city resources, especially its public ways, benefits all of the citizens and, where it is deemed appropriate, allows for the recovery of a fair and reasonable compensation from private entities using public resources.
(H) If communications providers make “percentage of gross revenue” payments, which include only a portion of the communications services they provide within the city, then they are not compensating the city fairly for their private use and enjoyment of public assets and resources. Such communications providers may derive an unfair advantage, and their failure to compensate may place similarly-situated communications providers in an inferior and unfair competitive position. Unfair competition does not foster the city’s desired technological and business growth. Among the purposes of this chapter is not only to ensure that the public is properly compensated for the private use and enjoyment of city assets and resources, but also to ensure that all similarly-situated communications providers are treated similarly and fairly in order to foster technological growth and innovation.
(Ord. 557-2019, passed 12-9-2020)