[Adopted as Secs. 32-38 through 32-43 of
the 1963 City Code (Ch. 222, Art. V, of the 1980 Code)]
No person shall hereafter construct or maintain
any cellar, vault, coal hole or other area or structure for light
or air or for the storage of coal, merchandise or other articles under
the surface of any street or sidewalk, or within street lines, without
first obtaining a written permit therefor from the City Council, which
permit shall contain such restrictions and conditions relative to
the location and dimensions of the proposed area or structure and
to the weight and character of its materials and its method of construction
as the City Council may deem necessary for the safety and convenience
of the public.
No permit required by § 222-30 shall be issued by the City Council until detailed plans in duplicate of such proposed area or structure shall have been filed with and approved by the Superintendent of Highways and the City Engineer, and, in no case shall the Superintendent of Highways and City Engineer approve plans for underground construction extending under the streets from any abutting estate more than the width of the sidewalk, or more than four feet where there is no sidewalk.
A.
No permit under the provisions of § 222-30 shall be issued by the City Council until the applicant therefor shall have executed and delivered to the City a bond in the sum of $100,000 in such form as the City Solicitor shall approve and with surety or sureties satisfactory to the City Council, such bond to be conditioned to guarantee the proper fulfillment of all terms, requirements and conditions in such permit contained and of all the provisions of this article and to be further conditioned to indemnify and save harmless the City from all costs, actions, suits and claims whatsoever arising from the construction or maintenance of any cellar, vault, coal hole or other area or structure authorized by the permit.
[Amended 7-10-2007 by Doc. 76]
B.
In place of any indemnity bond called for under this section, an owner or applicant for a permit under § 222-31 may deposit with the City Clerk a public liability insurance policy, approved as to form by the City Solicitor and issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in this commonwealth, insuring the City for not less than $10,000 against all claims, loss, costs, damage to persons or property and expense arising out of the erection and maintenance of such area or vault.
Every person obtaining a permit for the purposes described in § 222-31 shall, during the entire progress of the work of excavation or construction authorized thereby, cause the portion of street or sidewalk opened, occupied or obstructed to be guarded by suitable fences or railings and properly lighted during the whole of every night, and on the completion of the work shall restore and reconstruct to the reasonable satisfaction of the Superintendent of Highways so much of the surface of such street or sidewalk as shall have been disturbed thereby.
No approval on the part of the City Council,
the Superintendent of Highways or the City Engineer of any materials,
dimensions or method of construction shall in any way relieve the
person constructing or maintaining any such cellar, vault, coal hole
or other area or structure authorized as hereinbefore provided from
full responsibility for its proper construction and maintenance.
No easement shall be acquired in any public street or way by the maintenance of any cellar, vault, coal hole or other area or structure authorized under the provisions of § 222-31, however long the same may be continued, and the privilege so exercised shall at all times be subject to the rights of the public. Whenever all or any part of the space occupied by any such area or structure shall be needed for the laying of sewers or water pipes or for any public purpose, the person maintaining such area or structure shall, without expense to the City, remove the same or make such alterations therein as may be required by the City Council and shall in no event be entitled to damage or compensation therefor.
