(a) Title. This body of regulations shall be known as the “Sioux Falls Public Rights-of-Way Utility Construction and Administration Ordinance.”
(b) Findings and purpose.
(1) In order to provide for the health, safety and well-being of its citizens, as well as to ensure the structural integrity of its streets and the use of the right-of-way, the city strives to keep its right-of-way in a state of good repair and free from unnecessary encumbrances. Although the general population bears the financial burden for the upkeep of the right-of-way, a primary cause for the early and excessive deterioration of its right-of-way is the frequent excavation by persons whose equipment is located therein.
(2) Right-of-way obstruction is a source of frustration for merchants, business owners and the general population which must avoid these obstructions or change travel plans because of them. Persons whose facilities are located within the right-of-way are the primary cause of these frequent obstructions.
(3) The city and other public entities have invested millions of dollars in public funds to build and maintain the right-of-way. The city recognizes that some persons, by placing their equipment in the right-of-way and charging the citizens of the city for goods and services delivered thereby, are using this property held for the public good. Although these services are often necessary or convenient for the citizens, those persons receive revenue and/or profit through the use of public property.
(4) Where roads are being constructed or reconstructed to city standards, existing facilities within the right-of-way which conflict with the proposed construction may have to be modified or relocated.
(1992 Code, § 35.5-1) (Ord. 55-99, passed 5-17-1999)