(A) Reasons for denial. The city may deny a permit for failure to meet the requirements and conditions of this chapter or if the city determines that the denial is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare or when necessary to protect the right-of-way and its current use.
(B) Procedural requirements. The denial or revocation of a permit must be made in writing and must document the basis for the denial. The city must notify the applicant or right-of-way user in writing within three business days of the decision to deny or revoke a permit. If an application is denied, the right-of-way user may address the reasons for denial identified by the city and resubmit its application. If the application is resubmitted within 30 days of receipt of the notice of denial, no additional application fee shall be imposed. The city must approve or deny the resubmitted application within 30 days after submission. (See M.S. § 237.163, Subds. 4(c) and 4(f), as it may be amended from time to time.)
(C) Mandatory denial. Except in the case of an emergency, no right-of-way permit will be granted:
(1) To any person required by § 94.06 to be registered who has not done so;
(2) To any person required by § 94.10 to file an annual report but has failed to do so;
(3) For any next-year project not listed in the construction and major maintenance plan required under § 94.08 unless the person used commercially reasonable efforts to anticipate and plan for the project;
(4) For any project which requires the excavation of any portion of a right-of-way which was constructed or reconstructed within the preceding five years;
(5) To any person who has failed within the past three years to comply, or is presently not in full compliance, with the requirements of the section;
(6) To any person as whom there exists grounds for the revocation of a permit under § 94.24; and/or
(7) If, in the sole discretion of the city, the issuance of a permit for the particular date and/or time would cause a conflict to interfere with an exhibition, celebration, festival, or any other event. The city, in exercising this discretion, shall be guided by the safety and convenience of ordinary travel of the public over the right-of-way, and by considerations relating to the public health, safety, and welfare.
(D) Permissive denial. The city may deny a permit in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, to prevent interference with the safety and convenience of ordinary travel over the right-of-way, or when necessary to protect the right-of-way and its users. The city may consider one or more of the following factors:
(1) The extent to which right-of-way space where the permit is sought is available;
(2) The competing demands for the particular space in the right-of-way;
(3) The availability of other locations in the right-of-way or in other rights-of-way equipment of the permit applicants;
(4) The applicability of ordinance or other regulations of the right-of-way that affect location of equipment in the right-of-way;
(5) The degree of compliance of the applicant with the terms and conditions of its franchise, if any, this chapter, and other applicable ordinances and regulations;
(6) The degree of disruption to surrounding communities and businesses that will result from the use of that part of the right-of-way;
(7) The condition and age of the right-of-way, and whether and when it is scheduled for a total or partial reconstruction; and
(8) The balancing of the costs of disruption to the public and damage to the right-of-way, against the benefits to that part of the public served by the expansion into additional parts of the right-of-way.
(E) Discretionary issuance. Notwithstanding the provisions of divisions (D)(3) and (D)(4) above, the city may issue a permit in any case where the permit is necessary to prevent substantial economic hardship to a customer of the permit applicant, or to allow the customer to materially improve its utility service, or to allow a new economic development project; and where the permit applicant did not have knowledge of the hardship, the plans for improvement of service, or the development project when the applicant was required to submit its lists of next-year projects.
(F) Permits for additional next-year projects. Notwithstanding the provisions of division (D)(3) above, the city may issue a permit to a registrant who was allowed under § 94.10 to submit an additional next-year project, or in the event the registrant demonstrates that it is used commercially, reasonable efforts to anticipate and plan for the project, the permit to be subject to all other conditions and requirements of law, including the conditions as may be imposed under § 94.13.
(Prior Code, § 96.19)