(A) Application required. An application must be filed with the Department for any work other than normal maintenance on any pole or other support structure, including modification, change or replacement of equipment that would be different in size, weight or appearance than the existing equipment.
(B) Application to modify or replace. An application to modify or replace a facility shall contain a copy of the last certificate of completion issued for that facility.
(C) False or misleading statements. During the application process, or in an application, an applicant may not make statement(s) verbally or in writing that is intended to be relied upon by the city and is fraudulent, misleading or that causes or are intended to cause a reasonable probability of confusion or misunderstanding as to the legal rights, obligations or options of the city, nor fail to inform the city of a relevant fact material to the application that is known or should be known by the applicant, the omission of which is deceptive or misleading.
(D) Urgency. An applicant shall not misrepresent the urgency of the work represented in an application, including any asserted deadline by which action by the city on the application is needed.
(E) Processing urgent requests. The city shall attempt to process urgent requests sooner than the required maximum time allowed by state or federal law. Notwithstanding the preceding, due to the effects of having to re-allocate human resources to accommodate such urgent requests, an applicant shall not misrepresent the urgency of the situation to have a facility(s) permitted or authorized. It shall be a condition of all authorizations for an application requesting urgent treatment that the work shall be completed within 90 calendar days of the issuance of the authorization or pay a penalty as listed in § 157.99(D) until the final inspection is requested, except for force majeure situations and situations not reasonably within the control of the applicant.
(F) Warehousing of authorizations and permit(s) not allowed. Warehousing of an authorization shall never be permitted. To prevent warehousing of authorizations and/or permit(s) for new structures in the severely limited and scarce space of the PROW and on existing poles, thereby preventing another person or entity from using a given location(s) and space because the proposed structure at the location was not built expeditiously, an application shall contain a proposed date for the completion of the construction or modification of any structure, including the placement of equipment attached to or associated with the structure. The completion date shall not be more than 180 days after the issuance of a building permit to occupy a given location and space.
(G) Site visit. Prior to the submittal of an application and following payment of any required fee(s) or anticipatory deposits, a site visit to each facility proposed to be modified or to the proposed location of a new facility, shall be conducted to determine:
(1) The physical condition of the facility or proposed location; and
(2) To identify issues of concern, noncompliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, including, but not limited to, any safety-related issues or concerns and other matters contained in this chapter.
(H) Number of facilities applied for by a given person or entity. Due to limited staff resources, to prevent forced de facto pro-forma or rubber stamping approval of an application without meaningful review for compliance with applicable federal, state and local law and regulations, and to prevent inadvertent noncompliance by the city with any federal or state-imposed time requirements for reviewing an application, no person or entity may make application for more than ten facilities or locations under this chapter within any 30-consecutive calendar day period.
(I) Facilitating applications and mitigating applicant costs.
(1) To facilitate the preparation and submittal of an application in compliance with this chapter, and thereby expedite the review and permitting of an application, a pre-application meeting shall be held, the city’s costs for such being paid for by the applicant prior to the meeting.
(2) To facilitate the application process and to mitigate application-related costs for applicants, depending upon the scope of the proposed work and its impact both visual and physical as determined by the Department, applications not involving new support structures may be submitted in groups of up to three facilities in a single consolidated application and be subject to only one application fee. Notwithstanding this, no application for a new or replacement pole or other support structure shall contain more than a single location or facility.
(J) No unidentified facilities. No authorization shall be granted for new support structures, new equipment or a new facility that is not expressly and individually identified at the time the application is filed, including the specific location and design characteristics of each facility.
(K) No taxpayer subsidization. Historic, current and anticipated subscriber rates for services provided using the PROW are assumed to reflect permitting costs, unless verifiable clear and convincing evidence to the contrary is provided. Therefore, city funds shall not directly or indirectly be used subsidize an applicant’s reasonable application-related review and permitting costs.
(L) Application fee. To prevent taxpayer subsidization of application-related costs, an application fee shall be required of all applications involving:
(1) A new or replacement pole(s) or support structure(s);
(2) Any modification of a facility; or
(3) Any change of existing equipment attached to an existing pole(s) or support structure(s) that is visually discernable, changes the appearance of the facility, changes the structural loading on the pole or support structure, or involves verification of compliance with an aspect of the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC), the National Electrical Code (NEC) or TIA ANSI 222 not previously applicable to that facility. The amount of the appropriate application fee shall be as set forth in the city’s Schedule of Fees in § 21.06.
(M) Payment for legal and/or expert assistance. To prevent taxpayer subsidization of application-related costs as required by this chapter and determined to be appropriate and necessary by the Department, applicants may be required to place on deposit with the city an amount estimated to be sufficient to pay for reasonable legal and/or other expert assistance costs of the city attributable to the application. The minimum amount(s) required shall be as set forth in the city’s Schedule of Fees in § 21.06.
(N) Deposit required prior to work on application. An applicant must deposit the estimated cost of the city’s legal or other expert assistance with the city prior to any work being done related to an application or an anticipated or intended application. Notwithstanding the preceding, inquiries totaling up to one hour of time may be made prior to the required deposit being in place at no cost to the applicant.
(O) Return of unexpended amount of deposit. Any unexpended amount submitted in compliance with the preceding division (N) remaining after the issuance of a certificate of completion shall be promptly returned to the applicant upon written request.
(P) Street opening, street cutting, curb and sidewalk cutting fee. Any person or entity proposing to cut or break the integrity of the surface of a paved street, sidewalk, pedestrian or bicycle way, or who proposes to cut any curb shall:
(1) Pay to the city a fee(s) as set forth in the city’s Schedule of Fees in § 21.06 prior to the issuance of any permit(s); and
(2) Obtain a permit for the proposed type of work.
(Ord. 2017-O-55, passed 9-12-2017) Penalty, see § 155.999