(A) Upon abandonment of the communication facility in the public right-of-way, the permitee shall provide the town with notice within 60 days of the abandonment, and the precise location of the facility. During the 60-day time period, the registrant shall apply for a permit to remove the abandoned facility from the public rights-of-way, or apply for an exemption from the foregoing removal requirement stating with specificity the basis therefore. When a permit application to place a new facility shows a facility to be placed out-of-service, the permit application to place a new facility shall be considered a permit to apply for an exemption to the removal requirement. Removal shall be accomplished at the sole expense of the registrant.
(B) Upon application for an exemption from the requirement to remove an abandoned facility, the town shall grant such request not to remove all or any portion of such abandoned facility, if the town determines that the abandoned facility’s presence will not in the future interfere with the public health, safety, economic order, aesthetics, and welfare of the community and the region, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, a determination that such facility:
(1) Shall not compromise safety at any time for any public rights-of-way user or during construction or maintenance within the public rights-of-way;
(2) Shall not prevent another person from locating facilities in the area of public rights-of-way where the abandoned facility is located when other alternative locations are not reasonably available; and
(3) Shall not create a maintenance condition that is disruptive to the public rights-of-way’s use or to the user or the general public.
(4) In the event of subsection (2), the town may require the third person to coordinate with the registrant that owns the existing facility for joint removal and placement, where agreed to by the registrant.
(C) In the event that the town does not approve the exemption from removal requirement for the facility proposed to be abandoned, the registrant, by its notice of abandonment to the town, shall be deemed to consent to the alteration or removal of all or any portion of the facility by the town or another person at such third party’s cost.
(D) If the registrant fails to remove all or any portion of an abandoned facility as directed by the town within a reasonable time period as may be required by the town under the circumstances, the town may perform such removal and charge the cost of the removal against the registrant.
(Ord. 2010-01, passed 1-26-2010)