This chapter No. 474 shall be known and may be cited as the "Cable Ordinance."
A.
The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares that
the public rights-of-way within the Township of Lower Providence:
(1)
Are used and useful for the travel of persons and the
transport of goods and other tangibles in the business and social life of
the community by all citizens;
(2)
Can be partially occupied by the facilities of public
utilities, cable, and communications entities for use in the delivery, conveyance,
and transmission of communications, cable, utility, and public services rendered
to the public for profit to the enhancement of the health, welfare, general
economic well-being, and good government of the Township of Lower Providence
and its citizens, trade, commerce and manufacturers;
(3)
Are physically limited so that proper management by the
Township of Lower Providence is necessary to maximize the efficiency and to
minimize the costs to the taxpayers of the foregoing uses, to prevent foreclosure
of future uses through premature exhaustion of available right-of-way capacity,
and to minimize the inconvenience to the public from such facilities' construction,
emplacement, relocation, and maintenance in the public rights-of-way; and
(4)
The public deserves fair and reasonable compensation
for the public rights-of-way and other public property held by the Township,
whether in trust or in fee simple, and made available to private entities
providing for-profit services.
B.
The Board of Supervisors of Lower Providence further
finds and declares in regard to the development of cable and open video systems
and communications services delivered over such systems within the public
rights-of-way of Lower Providence:
(1)
The promotion of competitive entry and deployment of
such systems has the potential of having great benefit and impact upon the
citizens, trade, commerce and manufacturers of Lower Providence Township;
(2)
Such systems have the capacity to provide not only entertainment
to the Township's citizens and businesses, but may also provide a variety
of advanced, broadband, information, and interactive communications services
to institutions and individuals; and
(3)
Because of the complex and rapidly changing technology
associated with cable and other communications services, the continued de
facto monopoly power of cable incumbents, and limited market power of competitive
cable and communications service providers, the maintenance of the peace,
good government, health, and welfare of the Township and its citizens, trade,
commerce and manufacturers can best be served by exercising reasonable local
regulation as permitted by state and federal law over rates, services, and
facilities of cable providers as a condition of their use of the public rights-of-way.
The Board of Supervisors adopts this chapter to better:
A.
Manage a limited resource to the long-term benefit of
the public;
B.
Prevent premature exhaustion of capacity in the public
rights-of-way to accommodate telecommunications, utility, and other public
services;
C.
Recover the costs of maintaining and managing the public
rights-of-way;
D.
Receive fair and reasonable compensation for the value
of the public rights-of-way used by cable and communications entities;
E.
Recover the burden imposed on taxpayers by occupation
of the public rights-of-way by nongovernmental businesses;
F.
Minimize inconvenience of the public occasioned by the
emplacement and maintenance of telecommunications facilities in the public
rights-of-way;
G.
Ensure that cable and communications services delivered
via the public rights-of-way are available to all Township citizens and businesses;
H.
Ensure that in the absence of effective competition,
cable entities provide service at such reasonable rates as they would exist
if effective competition did exist;
I.
Ensure that the system(s) deployed within the public
rights-of-way of the Township be capable of accommodating both the present
and reasonably foreseeable future cable and communications needs of the Township
and its citizens and businesses; and
J.
Ensure that new cable or communications systems shall
be constructed and maintained during the franchise term so that new components
may be integrated to the maximum extent possible with existing facilities.
