[Adopted 2-27-2001 by Ord. No. 01-11]
This article may be cited as the "Street Openings
and Excavations Ordinance of the Borough of Glassboro."
It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership,
association or corporation to cut, break into, excavate or open any
road, street, avenue, highway or sidewalk in the Borough of Glassboro,
or any portion of the right-of-way, without first making written application
to the Public Works Department stating the kind, character and purpose
of the proposed excavation or opening and such other information which
may be reasonably required to fulfill the requirements of this article.
Applications shall be accompanied by two copies of a scaled plan,
showing its location and size, to be distributed, to the Superintendent
of Highway Department. There shall be obtained from the Superintendent
a permit for each and every opening.
Permits shall be issued, subject to the terms
hereof, by the Public Works Department upon the approval of the application
by the Superintendent, which approval shall be given if the application
and plans conform to the requirements of this article and provide
for the work to be performed in accordance with the current New Jersey
State Highway Department Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge
Construction. Permit (application and plans) must be signed by the
Borough Highway Department Superintendent to be valid.
Upon review and approval of permit (application
and plan), with any necessary revisions, the Superintendent shall
return one signed set of same to the applicant.
The permit for street opening shall be valid,
as prescribed herein, for a period of one year from the date of issuance.
All proposed work and all temporary and permanent repairs shall be
completed in this one-year period, after which the security deposit
will be returned if all repairs are completed to the satisfaction
of the Superintendent.
A. The proposed construction shown on the permit (application
and plan) shall proceed, during the one-year permit period, in accordance
with the following phase sequence:
Time Frame
|
Actual Time
|
Activity
|
---|
First to second month
|
2 months
|
Proposed construction and all temporary repairs
to be completed
|
Second month
|
2 weeks
|
Temporary repairs removed and permanent concrete
repairs completed
|
Second to sixth month
|
4 months
|
Time period to allow disturbed subsurface soil
to settle and/or compact (streets)
|
Sixth to seventh month
|
1 month
|
Temporary repairs removed and permanent repairs
completed
|
Seventh to twelfth month
|
5 months
|
Time period for permanent repairs to be tested
and inspected
|
B. The one-year permit validation period may be changed
or revised as may be necessary when recommendation by the Superintendent
is reviewed and approved by the Council.
Before an issuance of any street opening permit,
fees and cash security performance deposit shall be received in the
offices of the Borough Clerk as follows:
A. Single street openings involving only one lot frontage.
(1) Filing fee (nonrefundable): $100.
(2) Superintendent review and inspection fee (nonrefundable):
$200.
(3) Cash security performance deposit: $750.
NOTE: Superintendent shall make recommendation
of additional escrow funds should the project repair costs exceed
the initial escrow deposit.
|
B. Multiple openings per street or multiple lot frontages
per application during a one-year period commencing on January 1 and
ending December 31.
(1) Filing fee (nonrefundable): $100.
(2) Superintendent review and inspection fee (nonrefundable):
$500.
(3) Cash security performance deposit: $5,000 for a period
of one year.
(4) For utility companies and/or contractors anticipating
numerous multiple road opening permits per calendar year, the applicant
may post a one-time $10,000 cash security deposit for a one-year period
beginning January 1 and ending December 31. However, the applicant
must submit the appropriate filing, review and inspection fees on
a per-application basis.
Upon such notice to the Superintendent and under
his inspection, the contractor securing the permit hereunder shall
immediately, after completing the work necessitating the excavating
or opening, refill with material suitable to the Highway Superintendent,
properly tamped, and restore the excavation or opening with a temporary
cover as follows: earth and gravel roads with gravel not less than
eight inches thick; all other roads with four inches of bituminous
stabilized base course, Mix I-2, and all walkways with four inches
of bituminous cold patch. The applicant shall maintain the area of
excavation free from potholes and depressions until the final surface
has been applied and approved. The final surface for streets shall
require the milling of two inches of stabilized base course and installation
of two inches of bituminous surface course, I-5. The final surface
for sidewalks shall be four-inches-thick Class (B) concrete.
A. If the Borough completes either temporary or permanent
repairs following a street opening, all costs incurred by the Borough
shall be deducted from the cash security performance deposit, along
with new filing fee and new Superintendent inspection and review fees.
Costs for such repairs shall include but shall not be limited to all
labor, wages, supervision, equipment, materials, gas, oil and advertising.
B. If the Borough completes both temporary and permanent
repairs, the entire cash security performance deposit shall be made
available to a cost incurred by the Borough by affecting said repairs
with the balance of deposit, if any, to be credited to the general
revenues of the Borough. The holder of the permit shall be considered
in default on the permit when the applicant fails to make needed repairs
within 10 days after written, regular mail notification from the Superintendent.
After a permit is in default, the Borough shall make all necessary
repairs without any further notification to the holder of the permit.
Unless written permission is obtained from the
Superintendent, no permit holder shall be allowed permission to cut,
break into, excavate or open a road, street, avenue or highway for
a greater distance than 300 feet at one time or keep the same open
for a longer period than one week. For all the period during which
such road, street, avenue or highway is being cut, broken into, excavated
or opened by the permit holder, there shall be provided by the permit
holder a space of street level of at least 10 feet in width for the
purpose of allowing vehicles free and unimpeded use of the same. In
no event shall a permit be valid for a period of time in excess of
60 days after its issuance without the written approval of the Superintendent.
All cuts, breaks, excavations or openings shall
conform in size to the application on which the permit is based and
shall be performed in neat, even and rectangular sections. All excavations
to a depth of four feet or over, and such other excavations as may
be required by the Superintendent of Highway Department, shall be
shored and braced to support the walls of the trench in accordance
with applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
regulations for the protection of workmen and to prevent the unintentional
widening of the trench.
All permit holders shall, whenever any cut,
excavation or opening would be dangerous if left exposed, erect a
suitable barricade or railing [in accordance with the Manual on Uniform
Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)] around the same in such manner as
to prevent danger to pedestrians or vehicles and place upon such fence
or railing and upon any building materials and appliances suitable
and sufficient warning lights during the period of darkness.
All permit holders shall keep the area of their
work clear of dirt and debris at all times and shall carry away and
dispose of excess dirt, debris and other materials resulting from
their work.
All moneys received hereunder by the Public
Works Department shall be accounted for and deposited with the Borough
Treasurer.
In case of any emergency involving any underground
gas, water, sewer, telephone or electric facility, where immediate
repair is imperative to prevent loss or damage to streets or property
or discontinuance of service, it shall not be necessary to obtain
a permit before commencing such repair, but such permit shall be obtained
within two days thereafter, and this section shall not be held or
taken in any case to exempt the person, partnership, association or
corporation repairing said facility from any other of the provisions
of this article.
The terms of this article shall not apply to
a street in any subdivision approved by the Borough of Glassboro Planning
Board prior to acceptance of said street for maintenance by the Borough.
A. Any person to whom a permit is issued who fails to
provide the appropriate notices to either the Borough, the Highway
Department Superintendent or any Borough employee charged with the
responsibility of inspecting said street opening shall be required
to reimburse the Borough of Glassboro for any and all costs incurred
in correcting any deficiencies in the street opening or the subsequent
repair of same.
B. Any person violating or failing to comply with any
of the provisions of this article shall, in addition to the liability
as set forth above, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine
of not less than $500 and not more than $2,000, imprisonment for a
term not to exceed 90 days or a period of community service for not
more than 90 days, or any combination thereof, at the discretion of
the Municipal Court Judge. Each day such violation is committed or
permitted to continue shall constitute a separate and distinct offense
and shall be punishable as same.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
[Added 8-27-2019 by Ord.
No. 19-38]
No permit shall be issued for any street opening which would
disturb the pavement of any road having been constructed, reconstructed
or overlaid until a period of two years after the completion of said
construction, reconstruction or overlay, except in the event of an
emergency or hardship as described below. The two-year period as articulated
herein shall be calculated from December 31 of the year in which said
road was constructed, reconstructed or overlaid and run two years
thereafter.
A. Notice of improvement. Before any street is improved or paved, the
Borough Clerk shall give notice to all persons owning property abutting
on the street and to all public utilities and authorities operating
in the Borough that the street is about to be paved or improved. Such
notice shall state that all connections and repairs to utilities in
the street and all other such work which requires excavation of the
street, including the installation of sewer laterals and other utility
connections from gas or water mains to the curbline of unimproved
lots shall be completed within 30 days of the receipt of notice. This
subsection shall not excuse any person from the requirement of obtaining
a permit as provided herein, except that there will be no requirement
of posting a performance guarantee for the street restoration.
B. Emergency opening.
(1)
If an emergency opening is made, telephone notice of the opening
shall be immediately given to the Police and Fire Departments of the
Borough of Glassboro, and a permit application shall be filed on the
next business day.
(2)
In the event that an entity shall be required to open a street
and/or roadway as a result of an emergency, said emergency opening
shall be reviewed by the Borough Engineer, and if the Borough Engineer
shall determine that no such emergency existed, then the entity so
opening the street and/or roadway shall have a fine imposed upon such
entity in the amount of $1,000 for the first nonemergency opening,
a fine of $5,000 for a second nonemergency opening, and a fine of
$10,000 for a third nonemergency opening.
C. Hardship condition.
(1)
In the event in which a property owner has a hardship condition
which requires a street opening permit to be issued contrary to this
section, the Borough of Glassboro may grant relief if all of the following
conditions are met:
(a)
A letter addressed to the Borough, care of the Borough Clerk,
is received detailing the hardship and necessity of opening the street
in lieu of waiting the prescribed period of time.
(b)
Upon receipt of the letter, a public meeting date will be set
for the Borough to take formal action.
(c)
The property owner making the request shall serve a notice to
all property owners within 200 feet, by certified mail, return receipt
requested, or by personal hand delivery, a minimum of 10 days prior
to the public meeting.
(d)
The property owner shall file a copy of the notice served to
adjoining property owners with an affidavit of proof of delivery of
notice with the Borough Clerk at least three days prior to the public
meeting. The notice must:
[1] Identify the property by street address and block
and lot.
[2] State the reason for the hardship.
[3] State the type and size of the utility opening.
[4] Advise the adjoining property owners that if they
have any objections, they must advise the Borough Clerk, in writing,
as to their objections to the proposed street opening at least three
days in advance of the public meeting.
[5] State the date and time of the public meeting.
[6] Be approved by the Borough Clerk prior to mailing.
(2)
The Borough shall consider the request at a public meeting and
review all objections received, in writing. Approval or denial of
the request shall be through formal adoption of a resolution.
(3)
A request which includes the extension of a utility main shall
not be considered and will be automatically denied.
(4)
A request based solely on economic savings shall not be considered
and will be automatically denied.
D. Roadway restoration.
(1)
In the event that an emergency or hardship requires the opening
of a roadway that has been resurfaced by the Borough during the previous
five years, a full width restoration will be required. The restoration
will consist of six-inch dense graded aggregate base course, and a
six-inch bituminous stabilized base course, Mix I-2, brought to existing
grade, within the excavated area. A full width, curb to curb, milling
two inches in depth to extend 20 feet beyond the limit of excavations
will be performed after proper settlement in the trench area. The
allowable time for the settlement shall be 45 days unless otherwise
directed by the Borough Engineer. The final surface course shall be
a two-inch bituminous concrete surface course, Mix I-5.
(2)
Trench restoration may be permitted under special circumstances
and at the option of the Borough of Glassboro and the Borough Engineer
for openings having a minimum impact on the longevity and serviceability
of the street in question.