REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on Introduction of an Ordinance to add section 12.25.230 (“Pavement Preservation”) to Chapter 12.25 (“Excavation and Use of City Rights-of-Way”) of Title 12 (“Streets, Sidewalks, and Public Places”) of “The Code of the City of Santa Clara, California”
Report
BACKGROUND
Chapter 12.25 (“Excavation and Use of City Rights-of-Way”) provides for Rules and Regulations governing openings in and use of streets and public ways. The Rules and Regulations (Ordinance No. 1842) were last revised and adopted on April 21, 2009. Under State law and the California Constitution, the City has the right to control access to the public rights-of-way and to regulate its use to maintain the integrity and effective use, and to protect the public health, safety and welfare to the extent that the City’s power is not preempted by state or federal law.
The current Code regulates the City rights-of-way by requiring an encroachment permit from any person proposing to excavate the surface of any street. Under the Code, the City regulates the design, construction, installation, operation, maintenance, relocation, and removal of the permittee’s equipment. Encroachments made by the City’s municipal utility departments are also regulated under this Code. The current Code does not provide Rules and Regulations for persons desiring to make excavations into streets that have been recently resealed, constructed, reconstructed, or resurfaced. As such, the City often experiences cutting, excavating, and trenching in freshly maintained streets, which is counterproductive to the City’s goal to preserve and enhance its street infrastructure.
Many municipalities within the Bay Area have enacted ordinances or policies aimed at preserving street pavements from the effects of excavations, and the City of Santa Clara is one of the few local Cities without a pavement preservation ordinance. All cities immediately adjacent to Santa Clara, including Cupertino, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, and Mountain View have pavement preservation policies or ordinances which were reviewed prior to proposing this Ordinance.
DISCUSSION
The proposed Ordinance (Attachment 1) seeks to preserve street pavements by placing a restriction on the excavation of recently treated pavements for a specific period of time following the pavement treatment. This restriction is 3 years for streets that have been resealed, and 5 years for streets that have been constructed, reconstructed, or resurfaced. These durations are generally consistent with timeframes established by other municipalities in the region. The Ordinance also takes into consideration that although the goal is to avoid cutting into streets during these timeframes, sometimes it cannot be avoided. As such the ordinance allows an exemption for 1) Emergency encroachments that are immediately necessary to preserve life or property; 2) Work that is mandated by a county, State or federal agency; 3) Work necessary to provide utility service for buildings or parcels where no other reasonable means of providing service exists; 4) Repairs or modifications that are necessary to prevent the interruption of essential utility service; and 5) Other situations deemed by the Director of Public Works or City Engineer to be in the best interest of the general public.
In granting an exemption, the Director of Public Works or City Engineer has the authority to impose additional conditions on the permit to ensure the rapid and complete restoration of the street and the pavement. Typical conditions if an exemption is granted might include requiring the permittee to restore excavations by placing thicker pavements or paving a larger area than would be required by the standards for a street not regulated by this Ordinance. However; the ultimate goal of the policy is to try and avoid cuts through new or newly maintained pavements and to help accomplish this, City staff will be coordinating future pavement maintenance plans with other City departments, utility companies and developers. This way they can review the City’s planned 5-year Pavement Maintenance Program (PMP) and schedule their projects within these streets in advance so their work can be accomplished ahead of the paving work.
The City will begin coordinating the 5-year PMP in early 2019 and will begin enforcing the street cut restrictions after the completion of the 2020 paving project in late 2020. This will give utility companies, developers and other City Departments ample time to complete work in roadways scheduled for pavement maintenance in 2020. The advantages of adopting this Ordinance are that the City will be able to better protect and manage street pavements through the specified terms and conditions and the Ordinance will provide uniform Rules and Regulations that can be applied to all persons seeking to make excavations in recently maintained streets.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(a) as it has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no cost to the City other than administrative staff time and expense to adopt the Ordinance. While it is impossible to determine a specific dollar value, there may be a potential fiscal impact to permittees seeking to make encroachments in recently maintained streets that are regulated under the Ordinance. Permittees may need to expedite or delay planned excavations, modify work plans or service routes, or request an exemption from the Director of Public Works or City Engineer. This could require additional permit conditions to ensure the complete restoration of the street and pavement, each of which could have a potential fiscal impact on the permittee greater than if the Ordinance was not adopted. However, there is also a potential fiscal impact of not adopting the Ordinance. Failing to preserve recently maintained streets from the effects of encroachments may greatly reduce the pavement service life extension expected from a maintenance treatment, resulting in higher costs for the City to maintain street pavement infrastructure.
COORDINATION
This report has been coordinated with the Finance Department, Water and Sewer Utilities Department, Silicon Valley Power, and the City Attorney’s Office.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov <mailto:clerk@santaclaraca.gov> or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
A copy of this Ordinance has also been transmitted to utility companies and developers currently operating or performing work in the City rights-of-way for review and comment. All comments received through the time of preparation of this Report along with responses by staff are attached to this report for Council’s information (Attachment 2).
ALTERNATIVES
1. Introduce an Ordinance which adds section 12.25.230 (“Pavement Preservation”) to Chapter 12.25 (“Excavation and Use of City Rights-of-Way”) of Title 12 (“Streets, Sidewalks, and Public Places”) of “The Code of the City of Santa Clara, California”.
2. Do not introduce an Ordinance adding Section 12.25.230 (“Pavement Preservation”) to Chapter 12.25 (“Excavation and Use of City Rights-of-Way”) of Title 12 (“Streets, Sidewalks, and Public Places”) of “The Code of the City of Santa Clara, California”.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 1:
Introduce an Ordinance which adds section 12.25.230 (“Pavement Preservation”) to Chapter 12.25 (“Excavation and Use of City Rights-of-Way”) of Title 12 (“Streets, Sidewalks, and Public Places”) of “The Code of the City of Santa Clara, California”.
Staff
Reviewed by: Craig Mobeck, Director of Public Works
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Ordinance
2. Response to Comments