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A right of way permit shall be granted to an applicant upon a determination that the issuance of the permit is consistent with the following:
(a) it will contribute to the public health, safety, welfare or economic development of the City;
(b) it will promote the availability of a wide range of utility, communication and other services, including the rapid deployment of new technologies and innovative services to the City's residents and taxpayers at reasonable costs;
(c) it will promote cooperation among permit holders and the City in the occupation of the right of way in order to minimize public inconveniences during right of way work and reduce wasteful, unnecessary or unsightly duplication of facilities;
(d) it will promote public safety and protect public property;
(e) it will ensure the full reimbursement of costs for private use of the right of way;
(f) it will promote and require reasonable accommodation of all uses of the right of way;
(g) it will ensure that the applicant has the financial, technical and managerial capability to comply with this chapter (which capability is presumed for a public utility subject to the jurisdiction and recognized on the rolls of the public utilities commission) and the provisions of the right of way permit issued to the applicant;
(h) the capacity of the right of way is sufficient to accommodate the applicant's proposed facilities;
(i) the proposed location of the applicant's facilities minimizes the cost and disruption to the right of way considering the availability of alternate routes and/or locations for the proposed facilities and the economic cost to the applicant.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02.)
(a) No permit holder may locate or maintain its facilities so as to unreasonably interfere with the use of the right of way by the City, by the general public or by other persons authorized to use the right of way.
(b) No permit holder shall take or permit any action that may impair the use or damage any City property, the right of way or other property located in, on or adjacent to the right of way.
(c) Each permit holder shall maintain its facilities in good repair and in a manner that complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. The permit holder shall exercise due care in performing work in the right of way and shall maintain barricades, lighting and traffic flow in accordance with City regulations. No permit holder shall construct or maintain any facility that interferes with any traffic control device. If the Director of Public Utilities notifies any permit holder that interference with a traffic control device exists, the permit holder must take immediate action to remove the interference at no cost to the City.
(d) If required by the Director of Public Utilities, each permit holder shall maintain an identification program that will allow all of its facilities to be readily identifiable as to ownership. In addition, each permit holder owning or operating underground facilities shall participate in and register the location of its underground facilities with a protection service as required by Ohio Revised Code sections 3781.25 et seq. Detailed and reasonably accurate maps and records shall be maintained for all facilities located in the right of way and public property and shall be made available for City review without cost.
(e) During the term of the right of way permit each permit holder shall secure and maintain liability insurance in an amount established by regulation of the Director of Public Utilities that is commensurate with its use of the right of way. The regulations shall provide that upon the written application of a permit holder, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, permit holders who maintain a net book value in excess of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) may self-insure in lieu of providing policies of insurance.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02.)
(a) The City has specified that certain areas of Toledo are to be free of permanent overhead aerial wires and appurtenances utilized to support such wiring regardless of purpose or function. The City shall maintain detailed maps illustrating the underground districts which shall be available for review by any interested person. No person shall install any permanent overhead wiring and supporting appurtenances in the underground district unless authorized to do so in writing by the Director of Public Utilities upon a finding that the cost is prohibitive or that there is no feasible alternative method of providing service. Temporary aerial wiring shall be permitted in the underground districts upon the written approval of the Director of Public Utilities for a reasonable time to expedite construction or maintenance in the underground districts. In areas where overhead wires and appurtenances exist in the underground districts, the Director may, upon written request, grant a revocable use of such facilities to other permit holders. No subgrade building facilities shall be constructed in the underground districts in order to maintain space for essential right of way facilities unless specifically approved in writing by the Director of Public Utilities. The Director shall issue a determination in writing within sixty (60) days of the receipt of a request for permission to construct a subgrade building facility within the underground district subject to the appeal procedures specified in section 945.06(e).
(b) The underground district shall consist of the following territory description and street segments:
(1) Beginning at the intersection of the harbor line of the Maumee River and the northeasterly line of Monroe Street, thence along the northeasterly line of Monroe Street to the southeasterly line of Water Street, thence along the southeasterly line of Water Street to the northeasterly line of Cherry Street, thence along the northeasterly line of Cherry Street to the southerly line of Bancroft Street, thence along the southerly line of Bancroft Street across Cherry Street, thence along the southwesterly line of Cherry Street to the westerly line of Canton Street and its extension to the northwesterly line of Michigan Street and its extension to the southwesterly line of Lafayette Street, thence along the southwesterly line of Lafayette Street to the northwesterly line of Erie Street, then along the northwesterly line of Erie Street to the southwesterly line of Market Street extended, thence along the southwesterly line of Market Street and its extension to Swan Creek, thence along Swan Creek and the harbor line of the Maumee River to its intersection with the northeasterly line of Monroe Street, being the place of beginning.
(2) 14th Street between Jackson Street and Washington Street; Collingwood Avenue from Ashland Avenue to Central Avenue; Main Street from the Martin Luther King Bridge to Starr Avenue; Starr Avenue from Main Street to East Broadway; East Broadway between Starr Avenue and Woodville Street; Adams Street from Michigan Street to W. Woodruff; Jefferson Avenue from Michigan Street to Collingwood Avenue; St. Clair Street and Maumee Avenue, from Swan Creek to Broadway; Sylvania Avenue from Lewis Avenue to Jackman Road; Lewis Avenue from Sylvania Avenue to the southerly right of way of the Toledo Terminal Railway; Phillips Avenue from Detroit Avenue to Sylvania Avenue; Lagrange Street from Bancroft Street to Manhattan Road; Indiana Avenue from Hawley Street to Washington Street.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02.)
(a) Every owner or operator of facilities located in the right of way or on public property shall, at its own expense, temporarily or permanently remove, relocate, change, support, hold or alter the position of any facility when the City shall have determined that such removal, relocation, change, support, holding or alteration is reasonably necessary for any one of the following reasons:
(1) the need to construct, repair, maintain, improve or use the right of way or public property;
(2) the need to locate, construct, replace, maintain, improve or use any other City property;
(3) the efficient performance of City operations.
(b) No permit holder shall, without reasonable compensation, be required by the City to:
(1) relocate its existing aerial facilities underground;
(2) relocate, change, support, hold or alter the position of any facility for the benefit of a third party unless that party is performing services in the right of way on behalf of the City or installing facilities that will be owned by the City;
(3) relocate, change, support, hold or alter the position of any facility for the benefit of a municipal utility providing the same service as and competing for customers with any permit holder;
(4) relocate, change, support, hold or alter the position of any facility for an improvement whose purpose is primarily proprietary versus governmental, under the law of Ohio.
(c) Upon written notice from the Director of Public Utilities, any person that owns, controls or maintains any unauthorized facility or related appurtenances within the right of way shall, at its own expense, remove such facilities or appurtenances from the right of way. If any unauthorized facilities are not removed within the time period set by the Director, the City may remove the facilities or appurtenances from the right of way at the expense of the person that owns, controls or maintains the unauthorized facilities. For the purposes of this section, a facility is unauthorized and subject to removal in the following circumstances:
(1) upon failure to obtain a right of way permit or upon revocation of the right of way permit for such facility as provided in section 945.19;
(2) if the facility was constructed or installed or any excavation of the right of way was performed after the effective date of this ordinance without prior issuance of the required right of way permit except as otherwise permitted under this chapter;
(3) if the facility was constructed or installed or any excavation of the right of way was performed after the effective date of this ordinance in a manner inconsistent with the terms of a right of way permit or the provisions of this chapter.
(d) Each permit holder shall notify the City in writing of its intent to abandon facilities in the right of way. Facilities shall be considered to be abandoned when they have not been used to provide services for a period of one year and are unlikely to be used to accommodate future service growth, or when the permit holder notifies the City of its intent to discontinue the use of the facilities. Facilities shall be allowed to be abandoned in place unless the Director specifies in writing otherwise in which case they shall be removed by the permit holder without cost to the City. In the event of an abandonment in place, the City shall notify the permit holder in writing of its intent to take full title and ownership of the abandoned facilities for the purpose of removing the facilities from the right of way or in order to utilize the abandoned facilities. The permit holder shall have thirty (30) days to respond to the notice except that, in an emergency situation, a lesser amount of time may be specified. The permit holder shall be given a reasonable amount of time to either utilize or remove the abandoned facilities prior to the acquisition of ownership by the City. If the permit holder does not utilize or remove the facilities within the specified time period or demonstrate to the City that the facilities are intended to accommodate future service growth, the City shall take title and ownership of the abandoned facilities without the need to pay compensation to the permit holder. Until such time as the City takes title to or the permit holder removes the abandoned facilities, the permit holder shall retain all liability and be responsible for all necessary repairs, maintenance and relocation of the abandoned facilities in the same manner and degree as if the facilities were in active use.
(e) The City retains the right and privilege to stop work on any construction, installation or excavation located within the right of way as the City may determine to be necessary and appropriate to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02; Ord. 141-23. Passed 5-30-23.)
(a) Promptly after completing any work in or affecting any right of way or public property, a permit holder or any person acting on its behalf shall, at its own expense, restore the right of way or public property to its condition before the commencement of work in accordance with applicable City regulations. The permit holder shall restore as nearly as may be practicable all trees, landscaping and grounds to their condition prior to the performance of the work. If weather or other conditions outside the control of the permit holder do not permit the prompt and complete restoration of the right of way or public property, the permit holder shall first temporarily restore the affected property at its own expense. The permit holder shall then promptly undertake and complete the required permanent restoration when the weather or other conditions no longer prevent such permanent restoration.
(b) When warranted by existing conditions, the applicable permit holder shall, at its own expense, cause the trees and vegetation growing upon or overhanging any of the public right of way where its facilities are erected to be trimmed in such a manner that there shall be a proper clearance between the nearest wires or equipment and any portion of the trees or vegetation. Said trees and vegetation shall be trimmed so that no branches, twigs or leaves come in contact with or in any way interfere with the facilities, and all debris shall be removed from the site. The permit holder shall exercise reasonable care to avoid unnecessary destruction of or serious harm to trees and vegetation. The permit holder shall notify the City no less than seven days before it plans to perform such work except in emergency situations.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02.)
(a) Every person issued a general right of way permit shall pay an annual use fee, for each calendar year, based upon the miles of right of way which the permit holder uses or occupies in said calendar year as follows:
Permit holder occupancy | Annual fee |
0 - 3 miles | $ 1,000 |
>3 - 10 miles | $ 5,000 |
>10 - 30 miles | $20,000 |
>30 - 60 miles | $35,000 |
>60 - 90 miles | $50,000 |
over 90 miles | $75,000 |
The use fee shall be paid in quarterly installments made on or before March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 of the calendar year.
(b) Every person issued a special right of way permit shall pay an annual use fee of two dollars ($2.00) per lineal foot of right of way used or occupied in said calendar year but not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). The use fee shall be paid in advance for each calendar year prior to January 31 of such year. The Director of Public Utilities may waive the use fee for special right of way permits granted to federal, state or local agencies.
(c) Each person granted a general right of way permit shall maintain books, records, maps, documents and other evidence directly pertinent to its calculation of payments to the City. The Director of Public Utilities and the Director of Finance shall have reasonable access to any books, records, maps, documents and other evidence for inspection, copying and audit to the extent necessary to ensure that the payments made by the permit holder are accurate and that the permit holder is in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and its right of way permit.
(d) In the event that any use fee is not paid to the City as required by this section, the permit holder shall pay a monthly late charge of one percent (1%) of the unpaid balance for each month or any portion thereof for which payment is not made. In the event of a genuine dispute over the amount of the use fee owed by a permit holder, the late charge shall not be assessed against any disputed balance that is placed into an interest-bearing escrow account held on behalf of the parties pending resolution of the dispute.
(e) No acceptance by the City of any use fee shall be construed as an accord that the amount paid is in fact the correct amount nor shall such acceptance of such use fee be construed as a release of any claim the City may have for additional sums payable. The use fee is not a payment in lieu of any tax, fee or other assessment.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02.)
In order to promote the purposes of this chapter, the Director of Public Utilities may adopt regulations requiring and governing joint planning and construction for all right of way permit holders, however, the City shall not impose any requirement on a permit holder that would impair its contractual rights with third parties or constitute a taking of such permit holder's property without just compensation. Such regulations shall not require a permit holder to divulge trade secrets or other competitively sensitive confidential information release of which would cause material injury to the permit holder. The regulations shall also require any confidential information of a permit holder in the possession of the City be treated as confidential information to the extent determined legally appropriate by the Director of Law.
(Ord. 375-02. Passed 10-8-02.)
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