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, ...
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