This article is established for the following
purposes:
A. To assist the Township in managing its public rights-of-way,
with respect to telecommunications services providers in accordance
with applicable law;
B. To regulate the erection, construction, reconstruction,
installation, operation, maintenance, repair and removal of a telecommunications
system in, upon, along, across, above, over, under or in any manner
connected with the public rights-of-way of the Township, as now or
in the future may exist; and
C. To provide the Township with appropriate compensation
for occupation and use of the Township's public rights-of-way for
a telecommunications system and for the cost of regulating providers
of telecommunications services consistent with this article and applicable
law.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meaning of the terms used in this article shall be as follows:
APPLICANT
The person who has applied for a right-of-way permit or a
construction permit.
APPLICATION
The form prescribed by the Township, which the applicant
must complete in order to obtain a right-of-way or construction permit.
CONSTRUCTION
The building, erection, or installation in, on, over or under
a right-of-way. It does not include maintenance or repair of existing
aerial cables or equipment in a right-of-way or a single line extension
from equipment in the right-of-way.
CONSTRUCTION PERMIT
The written authorization granted by the Township to an applicant
in order to perform construction in a right-of-way.
EMERGENCY
A condition that poses a clear and immediate danger to life
or health, or significant loss of property.
EQUIPMENT
Any tangible property located or proposed to be located in
a right-of-way, including, but not be limited to, wires, lines, cables,
conduits, pipes, supporting structures or other facilities.
MAINTENANCE
Work of a minor nature that will keep an existing condition
from failure or decline.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or other business entity.
RESTORE or RESTORATION
The process by which a right-of-way is returned to a state
that is as good or better as its condition before construction.
RIGHT-OF-WAY or PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
The surface and space in, on and above any real property
in which the Township has an interest in law or in equity, including,
but not limited to, any public street, boulevard, avenue, road, highway,
easement, freeway, alley, court or any other place, other than real
property owned in fee by the Township.
RIGHT-OF-WAY PERMIT or PERMIT
A written authorization granted by the Township to an applicant
for use of the rights-of-way in the Township for wires, lines, cables,
conduits, pipes, supporting structures and other facilities.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The transmission, between or among points specified by the
user, of information of the user's choosing, without change in form
or content of the information sent and received.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
The offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to
the public, or to users who will make telecommunications available
directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.
A right-of-way permit may be transferred or
assigned provided that the transferee/assignee agrees in writing,
prior to the transfer or assignment, to comply with all of the obligations
and requirements contained in this article. The transferee/assignee
shall notify the Township in writing at least 30 days prior to the
transfer or assignment.
If the Township has reason to believe that the
permit holder has violated any of the terms of this article, it shall
notify the permit holder in writing of the nature of the violation
and the section of this article that it believes has been violated.
Except in the case of an emergency, the permit holder shall have 30
business days to cure the violation. If the nature of the violation
is such that it cannot be fully cured within such time period, the
Township may, in its reasonable judgment, extend the time period to
cure. If the violation has not been cured within the time period allowed,
it shall be subsequently punishable by a fine of up to $600 per day
until the violation is cured. Such fine shall be collected by civil
suit brought in the name of the Township before any District Justice
having jurisdiction in the Township and shall be paid over to the
Township Treasury. In the case of an emergency which is discovered
by the Township or reported to the Township, the Township shall notify
the permit holder via the permit holder's emergency telephone number.
In the event that the permit holder does not repair the emergency
within six hours, the Township may repair the emergency at the permit
holder's expense. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no provision hereof
shall prohibit the Township from exercising its right to enforce this
article through an action in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of
Montgomery County, in accordance with the Pennsylvania First Class
Township Code, Section 1501 and Section 1502, II.
The Township, by granting any permit under this
article, does not waive, lessen, impair or surrender the lawful police
powers vested in the Township under applicable federal, state and
local laws pertaining to the regulation or use of the rights-of-way.
The provisions of this article shall be imposed
upon and enforced against all persons requiring a permit for the provision
of telecommunications services or construction of a telecommunications
system within the Township.