Res P-07-46
RESOLUTION NO. P-07-46
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF POWAY, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING GUIDELINES FOR THE
PLACEMENT OF UTILITY FACILITIES IN THE PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY
WHEREAS, the State Public Utilities Code authorizes the City to impose reasonable
time, place, and manner regulations on utility facilities constructed under, across, and
along public streets and rights-of-way; and
WHEREAS, it has been determined that there is a need for uniform guidelines
regarding the construction and placement of utility facilities in public streets and rights-of-
way; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City to impose these guidelines to the extent legally
possible on all local utility franchise holders, holders of State utility franchises, and other
utility companies that apply for permits to install facilities in the City's public rights-of-way.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Poway as
follows: The City Council hereby approves the Guidelines for the Placement of Utility
Facilities in the Public Rights-of-Way (Exhibit A).
PASSED, ADOPTED AND APPROVED by the City Council ofthe City of Poway at a
regular meeting this 18th day of September 2007.
Mayor
ATTEST:
{J)J-L~~
L. Diane Shea, City Clerk
Resolution No. P-07-46
Page 2
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
)SS
COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO )
I, L. Diane Shea, City Clerk of the City of Poway, do hereby certify under penalty of
perjury that the foregoing Resolution No. P-07 -46 was duly adopted by the City Council at a
meeting of said City Council held on the 18th day of September 2007, and that it was so
adopted by the following vote:
AYES: BOYACK, EMERY, HIGGINSON, REXFORD, CAFAGNA
NOES: NONE
ABSENT: NONE
DISQUALIFIED: NONE ~ ~~ yji-<p
L. Dla e Shea, City Clerk
City of Poway
Resolution No. P-07 -46
Page 3
GUIDELINES FOR THE PLACEMENT OF UTILITY FACILITIES
IN THE PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY
1. Statement of Purpose
Under Public Utilities Code section 7901, utility facilities proposed by telephone
corporations "along and upon any public road or highway" must be constructed "in such
manner and at such points as not to incommode the public use of the road or highway."
Pursuant to Public Utilities Code section 7901.1, the City of Poway ("City") may
"exercise reasonable control as to the time, place, and manner in which roads [and]
highways are accessed." The State Legislature recently adopted Assembly Bill 2987
(Nunez), formally called the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006
(the "Act"). The Act establishes a State franchising system for video service providers
that is administered by the Public Utilities Commission. Under Public Utilities Code
section 5885, state franchise holders are subject to the same 'time, place, and manner'
limitations governing telephone corporations including, but not limited to Public Utilities
Code section 7901.1 .
The City adopts these guidelines pursuant to the Public Utilities Code in order
to establish uniform rules and regulations to the extent legally possible for local cable
franchise holders, holders of State utility franchises, and other utility companies that
apply for permits to install surface-mounted facilities in the City's public rights-of-way.
These guidelines are intended to prevent utility facilities from interfering with the public
use of the City's rights-of-way or otherwise creating significant environmental effects.
2. Definitions
For the purposes of these guidelines, the following terms, phrases, words, and
abbreviations, when capitalized, have the following meanings:
A. "Applicable Law" means all applicable federal, State, and local laws,
ordinances, codes, rules, regulations, and orders, as the same may be amended or
adopted from time to time. Where applicable, Applicable Law also means the
requirements contained in any franchise, encroachment permit, or similar entitlement.
B. "Applicant" means any person filing an application for a Permit to install a
Utility Facility under, across, and along public streets and public rights-of-way in order to
provide telephone, utility, or video services to customers pursuant to a State franchise.
C. "Permit" means an encroachment permit or a permit to perform an
excavation to install a Utility Facility under, across, and along public streets and public
rights-of-way.
D. "Public Rights-of-Way" means the area in, upon, above, beneath, within,
along, across, under, and over the public sidewalks, trails, City maintained streets, or
general utility easements within the City's geographical boundaries.
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Guidelines for the Placement of Utility Facilities in the Public Rights-of-Way
Page 2
E. "Surface-Mounted Facility or Utility Facility" means any physical element,
structure, or other improvement that is installed, attached, or affixed on a site under,
across, and along public streets and public rights-of-way, except a Utility pole or
associated appurtenances.
F. "Utility" means any of the following services: electricity, gas, information,
telephone, telecommunications, high-speed Internet, voiceover Internet protocol, video,
cable television, open video, or other services that are provided to customers by a
service provider pursuant to a state franchise that authorizes the provider to use the
public rights-of-way.
3. Guidelines for Locating Utilitv Facilities
A. In order to determine an appropriate location for a Utility Facility, the
Applicant must complete each of the following steps before applying for a public rights-
of-way permit:
1) Prepare and submit to the City, or have on file with the City, a plan
that shows all Utility Facilities anticipated to be installed under, across, and along
public streets and public rights-of-way in the next year. Any Applicant that does not
anticipate installing any other Utility Facilities in the next year must submit a plan with a
statement to that effect and must immediately report to the City any Utility Facilities that
are later anticipated. The City may refuse to conduct more than five site visits in a
calendar year for any Applicant that has not submitted a one-year plan.
2) Prepare and submit to the City plans showing the type of cabinets
proposed to be used for its Utility Facilities. If the cabinet is larger than 40 cubic feet,
the Applicant must demonstrate why the larger cabinet is necessary. Any Surface
Mounted cabinet with a dimension (width, height, or length) greater than thirty six (36)
inches, or where more than one cabinet of any size are located closer than 100 feet to
another cabinet, shall obtain approval of a Minor Development Review Application
pursuant to Chapter 17.52 of the Poway Municipal Code. The applicant shall make best
efforts to site the cabinet(s) to minimize their visibility from the street or nearby
residence or provide screening in the form of landscaping and/or decorative masonry
screen walls. Where landscaping is used for screening of facilities, the applicant shall
provide for landscape maintenance to the satisfaction of the Director of Development
Services.
3) It is preferred that Utility Facilities (or parts thereof) be placed
underground where technologically and economically feasible. An Applicant may
satisfy this requirement by demonstrating that it is not technologically or economically
feasible to place the facility underground.
4) Notify the City of any special requirements for the Utility Facility that
limits the location for the Utility Facility to a specific site (e.g.: line-of-sight and ADA
requirements).
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Guidelines for the Placement of Utility Facilities in the Public Rights-of-Way
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5) The Utility Facility shall clear the corner sight distance per section
405.1 of CalTrans Highway Design Manual and section 17.21.080 (Walls and Fences)
of the Poway Municipal Code.
6) Explore reasonable opportunities to collocate the Utility Facility with
any other Utility Facility installed or to be installed in the public rights-of-way by the
Applicant, or to locate the Utility Facility in an area where existing Utility Facilities are
already established. Collocation of a surface mounted facility (Le. closer than 100 feet
to an existing surface mounted facility) shall require the approval of a Minor
Development Review Application pursuant to Chapter 17.52 of the Poway Municipal
Code and comply with section 3.A.2. above.
7) Notify the City whether the Applicant is able to remove an existing
Utility Facility from the public rights-of-way because it would no longer be used or useful
to the Applicant as a result of the Applicant's installation of a new Utility Facility.
B. The City may determine that a site visit is necessary to assess a proposed
location for the Utility Facility. Prior to the site visit, the Applicant will identify other
appropriate locations for the Utility Facility. In selecting an appropriate location for a
Utility Facility under, across, and along public streets and public rights-of-way, an
Applicant must minimize the impact that the placement will have on the public rights-of-
way by, among other things:
1) Placing the Utility Facility under, across and along public streets and
public rights-of-way so that the path of pedestrians will not be unreasonably impeded,
paying particular attention to the needs of persons with disabilities. To the extent
possible, the Applicant must locate the Utility Facilities on streets where pedestrian
travel is minimal. Strict compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and
all state disabled access laws will be required.
2) Ensuring that the Utility Facility will not obstruct access to other
facilities that have been installed, or that the City knows will be installed, under, across,
and along public streets and public rights-of-way (whether above or below ground) by
other entities, including City departments and entities providing Utility services.
3) Complying with the following guidelines for determining acceptable
locations for Utility Facilities under, across, and along public streets and public rights-of-
way. The City is not required to apply any guideline that the City determines is not
applicable to a particular installation of a Utility Facility:
a) Surface-Mounted Facilities must be no larger than is reasonably
necessary to contain and protect the required equipment.
b) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not obstruct pedestrians. A
minimum of four feet (4') of pedestrian clearance (free of all
obstacles for an unobstructed pedestrian walkway) must be
maintained at all times.
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Guidelines for the Placement of Utility Facilities in the Public Ri9hts:01~~y
Page 4
c) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not intrude on pedestrian clear
zones at street corners.
d) Surface-Mounted Facilities should not obstruct any part of new or
proposed sidewalks or pedestrian ramps to the satisfaction of the City Engineer.
e) Surface-Mounted Facilities must be set back a minimum of seven
feet (7') from any fire hydrant, driveway, curb ramp, or blue zone parking space. The
fire hydrant port that runs perpendicular to the street center line must remain
unobstructed.
f) Surface-Mounted Facilities must be set back a minimum of forty-
eight inches (48") from any traffic signal facilities and thirty-six inches (36") from other
surface-mounted structures. The setback from any tree shall be a minimum of forty-
eight inches (48") unless a qualified arborist can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the
Director of Development Services that a lesser setback would not harm the tree.
g) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not be placed over any storm
drain or ot~er Utility Facility.
h) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not produce excessive noise that
would disturb the public in using the public rights-of-way or violate the City Municipal
Code.
i) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not emit excessive heat that
could burn a passerby or disturb or annoy the public in using the public rights-of-way, or
violate the City's fire-prevention standards.
I) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not obstruct the view of any
traffic sign, way-finding sign, traffic signal, or similar facility, nor be located within the
sight triangle as shown in Diagram 17.22.100 of the Poway Municipal Code.
m) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not be placed on the property of,
or adjacent to, a designated local, State or national historic landmark, unless they are
collocated with an existing transit shelter, kiosk, or other street fumiture, provided that
the size and footprint of the existing facility is not unreasonably increased by the
addition of the Surface-Mounted Facility. For the purposes of applying the limitations
and conditions specified in this paragraph, the word "adjacent" in relation to any specific
location means on the same side of the street and in front of the subject building or in
front of the next building on either side.
n) Surface-Mounted Facilities must not front the boundaries of a
park, recreation area, or open space, unless they are collocated with an existing transit
shelter, kiosk, or other street furniture, provided that the size and footprint of the existing
facility is not unreasonably increased by the addition. of the Utility Facility.
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Guidelines for the Placement of Utility Facilities in the Public Rights-of-Way
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0) Surface-Mounted Facilities should be painted to match the color
used for utility structures in the vicinity whenever possible, unless otherwise specified by
the City. The City may require that structures have a graffiti-proof coating where
appropriate. All graffiti must be removed by the permittee within 72 hours of receiving
notice of the graffiti.
p) Surface-Mounted Facilities should be screened by landscaping
and/or a masonry wall where appropriate for the neighborhood and required by the City.
q) Utility Facilities must not cause the removal of, or damage to, any
publicly owned or maintained trees or landscaping.