(A) In general - Except as provided herein, every developer who proposes construction or land development (other than construction or land development on land used exclusively for agricultural purposes both before and after the construction or land development) shall cause all facilities, both existing and installed as part of the construction or land development, both on and adjacent to the developer's construction or land development, to be placed underground according to the following requirements.
(1) Facilities shall be deemed adjacent if they are within a public entity or public utility right-of-way which abuts the developer's property (whether the public entity or public utility owns an easement or other interest in land, or owns the land underlying the right-of-way), including a flood control or drainage channel or a street, or which is separated from the developer's property only by one or more such rights-of-way.
(2) Undergrounding shall be completed to the nearest suitable riser pole beyond the boundaries of the developer's property.
(B) Undergrounding not required -
(1) Appurtenances and associated equipment, such as surface mounted transformers, pedestal-mounted terminal boxes and meter cabinets, and concealed ducts in an underground system, need not be undergrounded.
(2) Facilities on or in a building need not be undergrounded.
(C) New facilities; service laterals - Notwithstanding any other provision of this article except subsections (B) and (G) of this section:
(1) All new facilities, including new service laterals, shall be placed underground.
(2) Existing service laterals to commercial and industrial structures shall be placed underground when changes in service are made which require meter relocation, a change of voltage classification, or an increase in meter panel ampacity.
(D) Reimbursement - If adjacent facilities which the developer is required to underground are located on property which is not owned by the developer and which is beyond the developer's side of the center line of all rights-of-way, if any, which are between the developer's property and such other property, and at the time of undergrounding the owner of such other property refuses to pay the developer's cost of undergrounding performed on the owner's property and beyond the center line of all such rights-of-way:
(1) On completion of undergrounding, the city will offer to enter into an agreement with the developer whereby the city will reimburse the developer up to the developer's cost of undergrounding such adjacent facilities from an amount collected by the city from the owner of such property for such purpose when the owner proposes construction or land development thereon.
(2) When the owner of such property proposes construction or land development thereon, if the owner's project qualifies as a “smaller project” under section 21-29(A), the owner may choose either option (1)(a) or option (1)(c) from subsection (A) of section 21-29, but may not choose option (1)(b). If the owner chooses option (1)(a), the owner shall, in addition to complying fully with the other provisions of section 21-26, pay to the city the cost of undergrounding performed by the developer on the owner's property and on the owner's side of the center line of all rights-of-way between the developer's property and the owner's property, which the city shall then pay to the developer on the terms and conditions of the agreement referred to in subsection (D)(1) of this section. If the owner chooses option (1)(c) from subsection (A) of section 21-29 and makes the in-lieu payment provided for therein, the city shall then pay to the developer on the terms and conditions provided for in such agreement the cost of undergrounding performed by the developer on the owner s property and on the owner's side of the center line of all rights-of-way between the developer's property and the owner's property, but not to exceed the amount of such in-lieu payment.
(3) When the owner of such property proposes construction or land development thereon, if the owner's project does not qualify as a “smaller project” under section 21-29(A), the owner must, in addition to complying fully with the other provisions of this article, pay to the city an amount equal to the developer's cost of undergrounding performed by the developer on the owner's land and on the owner's side of the center line of all rights-of-way between the developer's property and the owner's land, which amount the city will pay to the developer on the terms and conditions of the agreement referred to in subsection (D)(1) of this section.
(4) The provisions of this subsection apply whether the owner of such land who proposes construction or land development is the same person who owned the property when the developer performed the undergrounding thereon, and whether all or part of such property is proposed for construction or land development.
(E) Deferral; security -
(1) The city engineer may defer undergrounding of facilities and accept security to guarantee later undergrounding if, on either of the following criteria, the engineer finds undergrounding to be infeasible at the time of construction or land development:
(a) The construction or land development is not within an underground utility district, but will be included in one within three years; or
(b) The location, topography, soil conditions, or geological factors make undergrounding technically or economically infeasible at the time of construction or land development, but such factors are likely to change within five years to make undergrounding feasible.
(2) At the developer's expense, the developer shall obtain an estimate of the cost of undergrounding and submit the estimate to the city engineer. The developer may have the estimate prepared by the affected utilities, by an engineer licensed in the state, or by the city engineer. The estimate shall include a separate item for contingencies in the amount of 15 percent of the estimated actual cost. Based on such estimate, the city engineer shall determine the estimated cost for the undergrounding, including an amount for inflation and other increases pending completion of the undergrounding. The developer shall post security for the undergrounding for the full amount of the estimated costs as determined by the city engineer. The security shall be of a type specified in Cal. Gov’t Code, Section 66499 and must be approved by the city attorney as to form and legal sufficiency before being accepted by the city engineer.
(F) Waiver - The city engineer may waive the requirement of undergrounding if the engineer finds that the location, topography, soil conditions, or geological factors make undergrounding technically or economically infeasible, and the developer makes to the city the in-lieu payment provided by section 21-29(D).
(G) Exceptions - The requirements of this article shall not apply to:
(1) Facilities approved by the city engineer to be installed and maintained for a period not to exceed 30 days in order to provide emergency services;
(2) Temporary facilities approved by the city engineer used, or to be used, in conjunction with construction projects;
(3) Facilities used for the transmission of electrical energy at voltages in excess of 33,000 volts; or
(4) The rewiring of existing utility services.
(`64 Code, Sec. 32.5-31) (Ord. No. 1733, 2113, 2135, 2207, 2493)