(a) Scope of city's authority. The city may grant one or more franchises, and each such franchise shall be awarded in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this article.
(b) Franchise required. A franchise is required of any person desiring to construct, operate and maintain a cable system within all or any portion of the city. A franchise may be granted by the City Council to any person, whether operating under an existing franchise or not, who or which offers to furnish and provide such cable system under and pursuant to the terms and provisions of this article and a franchise agreement acceptable to the Council. The grant of a cable franchise is not an authorization to provide other services nor is it a bar to the imposition of other compensation requirements.
(c) Rights reserved to city. The city hereby expressly reserves the following rights:
(1) To exercise its governmental powers, now or hereafter, to the full extent that such powers may be vested in or granted to the city.
(2) To adopt and promulgate ordinances as it shall find reasonably necessary in the exercise of its lawful police power. Such power shall include all rights the city may have under 47 U.S.C. section 552 and the absolute right of the city to manage the public rights-of-way and to adopt such regulations relating to the management of the public rights-of-way as the city and/or its departments shall provide. Nothing in a franchise agreement shall be deemed to waive the requirements of the various codes and ordinances of the city regarding permits, fees to be paid, or manner of construction.
The powers of the city may be exercised through amendment of this article as well as through enactment of separate ordinances and regulations.
(d) Unlawful acts; penalties. It shall be unlawful for any person to establish, operate or carry on the business of distributing to any persons in the city any television signals or radio signals by means of a cable system unless a franchise therefore has first been obtained pursuant to the provisions of this article, and unless such franchise is in full force and effect.
It shall be unlawful for any person to make any unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically, acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, with any part of a franchised cable system within the city for the purpose of enabling himself or herself or others to receive any television signal, radio signal, picture, program or sound, without payment to the owner of the cable system.
It shall be unlawful for any person without the consent of a grantee, to willfully tamper with, remove or injure any cables, wires or equipment used for distribution of television signals, radio signals, pictures, programs or sound.
Any person violating any subsection of this section shall be punished by a fine or by imprisonment or by both fine and imprisonment in accordance with federal, state or local law; provided further that, subject to any state or federal law imposing a higher penalty, violation of this article as specified in this subsection (d) is hereby declared a misdemeanor and upon adjudication of guilt thereof, any person who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects, or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of the provisions of this subsection (d) shall be assessed a fine for each offense in accordance with Section 1-4 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Longview, Texas. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall be deemed a separate offense for which a separate fine may be assessed.
(e) Failure of city to enforce compliance. A grantee shall not be excused from complying with any of the provisions of this article or the terms and conditions of a franchise agreement by any failure of the city, upon any one or more occasions, to insist upon the grantee's performance or to seek grantee's compliance with any of the provisions of the ordinance or terms or conditions of a franchise agreement.
(Ord. No. 2801, § 3, 2-25-99)