[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
West Mifflin as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 5-21-1958 by Ord. No. 331; amended in its entirety 3-16-1999 by Ord. No.
1094 (Ch. 21, Part 3, of the 1999 Code of Ordinances)]
A.
EXCAVATION
PERSON
STREET
The following words, when used in this article, shall have the meanings
ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Any activity within the right-of-way of any street, alley,
or cartway which involves cutting, breaking, or disturbing the surface
thereof. In this article, the term "opening" shall have essentially
the same meaning as "excavation."
Any natural person, partnership, firm, association, corporation
or municipal authority.
Any public street, avenue, road, square, alley, highway,
or other public place located in the Borough and established for the
use of vehicles, but shall not include state highways.
B.
In this article, the singular shall include the plural, and the masculine
shall include the feminine and the neuter.
It shall be unlawful for any person to open or to make any excavation
of any kind in any of the streets in the Borough without first securing
a permit therefor, as hereinafter provided.
[Amended 9-16-2014 by Ord. No. 1189]
Any person who shall desire to make any opening or excavation
in any of the streets in the Borough shall make application to the
Building Inspection Department in writing for that purpose. Such application
shall be made upon blanks to be furnished by the Borough and shall
set forth the name of the applicant, the exact location of the proposed
opening or excavation, and the approximate size or depth thereof and
shall contain an agreement on the part of the applicant that the work
shall be done in full compliance with the ordinances of the Borough
and the laws of the commonwealth in relation thereto and that the
applicant shall well and truly save, defend and keep harmless the
Borough from and indemnify it against any and all actions, suits,
demands, payments, costs and charges for or by reason of the proposed
opening or excavation and all damages to persons or property resulting
in any manner therefrom or occurring in the prosecution of the work
connected therewith or from any other matter, cause or thing relating
thereto. Each application for the permit must set forth the date when
the work shall be commenced and completed and the date when the restoration
of the opening or excavation will be completed. Such dates of work
and restoration must be approved by the Community Development Department.
It is the intent of this article that street openings and restorations
be conducted and completed in a reasonable manner and within a reasonable
time. The Community Development Department shall have discretion to
set timelines for the commencement of such work, the completion of
such work and the time when restoration must be completed. These dates
shall be recited in the permit.
Before any permit shall be issued to open or excavate any street
in the Borough, the applicant shall pay a permit fee in the amount
fixed according to a schedule established pursuant to resolution.
When application shall be made to open or excavate any longitudinal
opening or excavation in excess of 10 feet, before any permit shall
be issued to open or excavate, the applicant shall pay, in addition
to such minimum fee, an additional fee at the rate, for each 100 feet
or fraction thereof to be opened or excavated upon such street, pursuant
to the fee schedule.
Permits shall be issued only to persons furnishing public utility
services or the owner or owners of the real property adjoining the
location where such opening or excavation is to be made.
Any permit issued hereunder shall specify the exact location
where the opening or excavation is to be made, the approximate permitted
size or depth thereof and the time within which the work for which
the permit is granted is to be completed.
A permit may be issued to the applicant after all the requirements
therefor have been filled. If the application is disapproved, written
notice of disapproval, together with reasons therefor, shall be given
to the applicant.
The work authorized by the permit is subject to all the provisions
of the Act of December 10, 1974, P.L. 852, No. 287, 73 P.S. § 176
et seq., as amended or supplemented from time to time. It shall be
the permittee's responsibility to contact the utilities that
have recorded their facilities in compliance with said Act. A partial
list of utilities providing services in the Borough and their office
addresses may be obtained from the County Recorder of Deeds.
Any person who shall open or excavate any street in the Borough
shall thoroughly and completely refill the opening or excavation in
such a manner as to prevent any settling thereafter and shall restore
the surface to the same condition as it was before the opening or
excavation, and such restoration shall be in accordance with the specifications
of the Department of Transportation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
which are hereby adopted as specifications of the Borough for restoration
of surfaces of streets in the Borough. As restored, the surface shall
conform to the proper grade and be of the same surface covering as
the part of the thoroughfare immediately adjoining the opening. If,
within two years after the restoration of the surface as herein provided,
defects shall appear therein resulting from defective backfilling
by the applicant, the applicant shall reimburse the Borough for the
cost of all necessary repairs to the permanent paving.
All other work in connection with openings in any street, including
excavation, protection, refilling and temporary paving, shall be done
by or for the person to whom or which the permit has been issued,
at his or its expense, and all such work shall be subject to the provisions
of this article and to the supervision and approval of the Building
Inspection Department, provided that the designated official may,
if he deems it necessary to the proper performance of the work, require
that cutting of the surface of streets and the backfilling of all
excavations therein shall be done by the Borough, in which event the
applicant shall pay the actual cost of the work performed by the Borough.
A.
No opening or excavation in any street shall extend from the curbline
into the highway a distance greater than one foot beyond the center
line of the street before being refilled and the surface of the highway
restored to a condition safe and convenient for travel.
B.
No more than 500 feet longitudinally shall be opened in any street
at any one time.
C.
The work of excavation shall be so conducted as not to interfere
with the water mains, sewers or their connections with the houses,
or any other subsurface lines or constructions, until permission of
the proper authorities in connection with such subsurface lines or
constructions shall have been obtained.
D.
No tunneling shall be allowed without the express approval of the
Borough and permission therefor endorsed upon the permit. The backfilling
of a tunnel excavation shall be made only in the presence of the Building
Inspection Department, or an inspector designated by it, and shall
be done only in a method approved by it.
E.
Restoration requirements.
[Amended 6-15-2010 by Ord. No. 1168]
(1)
All driveways, walkways, sidewalks, steps or other surfaces which
require opening for the installation or repair of utility lines or
for any other reason, or by any other persons or entities requiring
the opening of a public street or walkway in the Borough, shall be
restored in accordance with the "Paved Surface Restoration Specification,"
Drawing No. 1, which is attached hereto and made a part hereof.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Drawing No. 1 is on file in the Borough offices.
(2)
Any materials and construction methods employed shall conform to
both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Specifications, Publication 408, current edition, and as it may be
amended from time to time, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation, Standards for Roadway Construction, Series RC-1M
to 100M, current edition, and as it may be amended from time to time.
Both publications are incorporated into and made a part of this article.
(3)
If there is a conflict in interpretation between any of the three
sources above described, the one setting the most stringent obligations
shall govern.
F.
A temporary paving of cold patch premix, thoroughly bound and compacted,
shall be installed flush with the surface of the adjoining paving
and maintained for a period of 90 days.
G.
On concrete base streets, such base shall be replaced with concrete,
and the minimum size of the opening or excavation shall be 16 square
feet.
H.
During the making of any excavation in the street, every necessary
and reasonable precaution shall be taken by the applicant and the
parties making the same to keep the street in a safe and passable
condition both day and night by guards, barriers, lanterns and other
devices, and all excavating permits granted hereunder are granted
under and subject to the express condition that the person to whom
the same is issued shall indemnify, save and keep harmless the Borough
from any loss in damages, or otherwise whatsoever, which may or shall
be occasioned at any time by the said excavation or by any leak, explosion
or other injury from any pipe, apparatus, conduit, or any other matter
placed in the said excavation.
I.
The applicant shall notify the Building Inspection Department when
the opening or excavation is ready for backfilling before any backfilling
is done, when backfilling work is completed, when the temporary paving
has been installed and when the street has been permanently restored,
so that inspections may be made.
J.
In the event that any work performed by or for a permit holder shall,
in the opinion of the Building Inspection Department, be unsatisfactory,
and the same shall not be corrected in accordance with its instructions
within the time fixed by it, or in the event that the work for which
the permit was granted is not completed within the time fixed by the
Building Inspection Department, it may proceed to correct such unsatisfactory
work or complete any such work not completed and charge the cost thereof,
plus 20%, to the applicant.
In the case of any leak, explosion or other accident in any
subsurface pipe, line, construction or apparatus, it shall be lawful
for the person owning or responsible for such pipe, line, construction
or apparatus to commence an excavation to remedy such condition before
securing a permit, provided that application for a permit shall be
made immediately and not later than the next business day thereafter,
and that all other provisions of this article are fully complied with.
If any such emergency condition shall not be immediately attended
to by the owner or person responsible for such pipe, line, construction,
or apparatus, the Building Inspection Department, after such notice
as it shall deem necessary under the circumstances of the particular
case, shall proceed to do the work necessary and required by such
emergency and charge the same, on the basis of cost plus 20%, to such
owner or person.
The permission herein granted does not confer upon the permittee
or its contractors the right to cut, remove or destroy trees or shrubbery
within the legal right-of-way, except under specifications, regulations
and conditions as the Borough may prescribe.
The Building Inspection Department shall give timely notice
to all persons owning property abutting on any street within the Borough
about to be paved or improved and to all public utility companies
operating in the Borough, and all such persons and utility companies
shall make all water, gas or sewer connections, as well as any repairs
thereto which would necessitate excavation of the said street, within
30 days from the giving of such notice, unless such time is extended,
in writing, for cause shown by the Building Inspection Department.
New paving shall not be opened or excavated for a period of five years
after the completion thereof, except in case of emergency, the existence
of which emergency and the necessity for the opening or excavating
of such paving to be determined by the Building Inspection Department.
If it is sought to excavate upon or open a sewer within five years
after the completion of the paving, the applicant shall make written
application to the Borough Council, and a permit for such opening
shall be issued only after express approval of the Borough Council.
If at any time in the future the roadway is widened, reconstructed
or the alignment or grades are changed, the permittee further agrees
to change or relocate all or any part of the structures covered by
this permit which interfere with the improvement of the roadway at
its own cost and expense.
No new water, sewer, steam or gas main or electric, telephone
or other utility line shall hereafter be laid or constructed, and
no such existing main or line shall be extended, in any of the streets
of the Borough until the plan therefor shall have been first filed
with the Building Inspection Department and such plan and the exact
location of such main or line approved by it. The Building Inspection
Department shall not approve the locating of any such main or line
at a depth of less than 30 inches from the surface of the street unless
it shall be convinced that locating the same at a depth of more than
30 inches from the surface is impossible or impractical.
No company, corporation or association shall dig up any street
or alley without first giving to the Borough a bond, with some acceptable
trust or surety company as surety, in the sum determined by the schedule
of fees, conditioned for the faithful performance of these provisions
and also for any and all damages, claims, demands, suits, costs and
counsel fees occasioned or arising from the digging up, opening or
closing of said streets and alleys.
Payment for all work done by the Borough under the provisions
hereof shall be made by the person made liable therefor under the
provisions hereof within 30 days after a bill therefor is sent to
such person by the Borough. Upon failure to pay such charges within
such time, the same shall be collectible by the Borough by an action
in assumpsit or in the manner provided by law for the collection of
municipal claims.
[Amended 9-16-2014 by Ord. No. 1189]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600, plus costs, and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days. Every day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense. Violations shall also be deemed to include failure to comply with the timelines established for the work as required in § 246-3.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to laying sidewalks
or curbs.
[Adopted 2-4-1969 by Ord. No. 656; amended in its entirety 3-16-1999 by Ord. No.
1094 (Ch. 21, Part 2, of the 1999 Code of Ordinances)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated, unless a different meaning clearly appears from
the context:
Any day not a Sunday or a national holiday.
Hours between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on any business day.
Portion of a street or highway improved, designed, or ordinarily
used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder.
Natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
any other legal entity.
Portion of a street between the curblines, or the lateral
lines of a cartway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for
use by pedestrians.
The entire width between the boundary lines of a way publicly
maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public
for purposes of vehicular travel.
A.
Every person in charge or control of any building or lot of land
fronting or abutting on a paved sidewalk, whether as owner, tenant,
occupant, lessee, or otherwise, shall remove and clear away, or cause
to be removed or cleared away, snow and/or ice from a path of at least
30 inches in width from so much of said sidewalk as is in front of
or abuts on said building or lot of land.
B.
Except as provided in Subsection C hereof, snow and ice shall be removed from sidewalks within 12 hours after the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain.
C.
In the event snow and/or ice on a sidewalk has become so hard that it cannot be removed without likelihood of damage to the sidewalk, the person charged with its removal shall, within the time mentioned in Subsection B hereof, cause enough sand or other abrasive to be put on the sidewalk to make travel reasonably safe and shall, as soon thereafter as weather permits, cause to be cleared a path in said sidewalk of at least 30 inches in width.
Every person in charge or control of any building or other structure,
whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise, shall remove
and clear away, or cause to be removed and cleared away, any accumulation
of snow and ice on said building or other structure which is liable
to fall on any sidewalk, roadway, or other public way. Such work shall
be completed within a reasonable time, but not later than 12 hours
after the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet, or freezing rain.
No person shall deposit or cause to be deposited any snow or
ice on or immediately next to a fire hydrant or on any sidewalk, roadway,
or loading and unloading areas of a public transportation system,
except that snow and ice may be mounded by the Borough on public cartways
incident to the cleaning thereof or mounded on curbs incident to the
clearing of sidewalks in business districts.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall,
upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than
$600, plus costs, and, in default of payment, to imprisonment for
a term not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation continues
shall constitute a separate offense.
