[Adopted 12-15-1975 as
Ch. 44, Art. II, of the 1975 Ogdensburg Municipal Code]
[Amended 6-25-2001 by Ord. No. 8-2001]
A.
Application to Director of Public Works. No person shall open or
cause to be opened by cutting or digging the surface, pavement or
soil in any street, highway or public place under the jurisdiction
of the city without first obtaining the written consent of the Director
of Public Works and paying the prescribed fees therefor, or without
complying with the provisions and condition relating thereto as hereinafter
provided.
B.
Fees established by City Council. The City Council shall by resolution
establish a uniform set of fees, for the written consent, which shall
be based upon the estimated actual costs and expenses to be borne
by the city in restoring the street, highway or other public property
to its former usefulness. The City Council may, from time to time,
change said fees to reflect changes in costs and expenses.
C.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections A and B, above, a property owner may choose to cover the grass surface of property directly adjacent to his front yard lot line, and between the sidewalk and curb, with paving block, concrete or "Checker Block" (or its equivalent), under the following stipulations:
(1)
The property must be a single-family house.
(2)
The property must have no side yard suitable for a driveway.
(3)
There must be no other access to the property for parking.
(4)
There must be a minimum of seven feet in width between the sidewalk
and curb, and the maximum area to be paved shall be eight feet in
width and 20 feet in length.
(5)
There must be no trees removed as a result of the paving.
(6)
Vehicles parked in the paved area will not, at any time, obstruct
the sidewalk.
(7)
The paved area shall be installed and maintained according to the
specifications of the Director of the Department of Public Works.
(8)
There must be unanimous consent of all property owners within a 100-foot
radius of the center point of the grassy area to be altered. The Director
of the Department of Public Works shall notify the affected property
owners, who shall be given 10 days within which to indicate, to the
Director, their consent or disapproval of the proposed alteration.
The cost of notification shall be borne by the property owner seeking
to make the alteration.
(9)
The property owner seeking to make the subject alteration shall provide
proof, acceptable to the City Attorney, of title ownership (subject
to rights-of-way and easements of the city and/or other infrastructure
owners) of the property to be altered.
(10)
There shall be no alteration of any area within 20 feet of a
crosswalk (as the same is defined by the Vehicle and Traffic Law of
the State of New York).
(11)
The property owner must assume responsibility for restoration
of the area if the paved area needs to be excavated by the city or
other infrastructure owners.
(12)
There shall be no paving or alteration within four feet of the
property line.
(13)
The property owner must agree not to park in the paved area
from April 1 through November 30.
Any person making or causing to be made any such excavation
in the streets, highways or public places of the city shall properly
guard or barricade such excavation at all times, and install and maintain
adequate and sufficient warning devices to warn the public, and shall
restore the street, highway or public property to its former usefulness
according to the next section of this Article.
All excavated materials shall be removed, following which all
openings shall be carefully backfilled for their entire length, width
and depth in the street or highway area, including the area between
the curb and the property line, with bank run gravel or crushed stone
well tamped. Additional bank run gravel or crushed stone shall be
added by the permittee as long as any settlement occurs, following
which the pavement, curbing or other improvements shall be restored
by the city, as required.
A.
Bond in lieu of paying fees. Public service corporations may, in lieu of paying the fees established pursuant to § 189-12 of this Article, file with the City Clerk a bond to be approved as to form, amount and sufficiency of sureties by the City Attorney, conditioned upon the proper restoration of streets, highways and public places, in accordance with the directions of the Director of Public Works and to his satisfaction; the payment to the city, upon demand, of and costs and expenses incurred by said city; and the saving of the City of Ogdensburg, its officers and its employees, harmless of any loss, injury or damage due to opening streets, highways or public places or to any negligence or fault of such corporation, their employees or agents, in connection therewith.
B.
Separate permits not required; amount of bond. All persons engaged
within the City of Ogdensburg in the telephone, gas or electric business
or any other business, the nature of which would require or result
in frequent applications for permits to make obstructions or excavations
in the streets, highways or public places of the City, shall not,
however, be required to obtain separate permits but in all such cases,
a general bond shall be given in lieu of any permit indemnifying the
City of Ogdensburg from any and all loss, cost or damage as aforesaid
resulting or arising directly or indirectly at any time from any act
done by said public service corporation. Said bond shall be in that
amount as determined by the City Council and shall be renewed annually
or as long as such person continues to do business within the City
of Ogdensburg.
C.
Notification required.
(1)
Notwithstanding the foregoing, public service corporations shall
advise the Director of Public Works in writing as soon as feasible
but no later than 30 days prior to making any obstructions or excavations
of its intention to do so, except in case of emergency in which event
notification shall be made as soon as possible prior to or after the
emergency and need not be in writing.
(2)
The Director of Public Works shall have the power and authority to
direct any public service corporation to coordinate its work with
the city, its independent contractors or other persons authorized
to make excavations or work in streets, highways or public places.
D.
Backfilling requirements. Excavations made by a public service corporation must be backfilled by it with bank run gravel or crushed stone, in accordance with the provisions of § 189-15 of this Article, except that the pavement, curbing and other improvements must be restored by and at the expense of said corporation.
