This chapter shall be known as the "Condemnation of Utility Pole Space
Law of the Town of North Hempstead."
It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the Town of North Hempstead
that the public health, safety and welfare require adequate streetlighting
and attachments for fire and police equipment on utility poles to avoid the
unnecessary expense, environmental damage and hazards to travel which may
be incurred by the installation of separate poles. In furtherance of such
public policy, the Town of North Hempstead may acquire an interest in utility
poles for the purpose of attaching municipal apparatus thereto pursuant to
the power granted to the town by Article IX, § 1(e), of the Constitution
of the State of New York and § 10(2) of the Statute of Local Governments.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
INTEREST
A permanent nonexclusive easement in so much of a utility pole or
a replacement or substitute pole to permit the attachment of municipal apparatus
or the continued maintenance of existing municipal apparatus.
MUNICIPAL APPARATUS
All fixtures, appurtenances, wires, signals for streetlighting and
fire alarm, police telecommunication and traffic control systems owned or
leased by the town.
TOWN RIGHT-OF-WAY
Public roads, streets or highways belonging to or controlled by the
town or upon which the town has the duty, obligation or right to provide streetlighting
or traffic controls, or other town property.
UTILITY COMPANY
Any person, partnership, association, company or corporation possessing
a franchise or a special franchise to construct, maintain or operate in, under,
above, upon or through any public road, street, highway, waterway or other
public place within the Town of North Hempstead mains, pipes, tanks, conduits,
wires or transformers, with the appurtenances, for conducting water, steam,
light, power, electricity, gas or other substance or communication.
UTILITY POLES
Those upright poles constructed or erected, or to be constructed
or erected, owned, leased or maintained by utility companies in the town right-of-way
by virtue of and pursuant to the special franchises held by such utility corporations
for the purpose of attaching wires, equipment, appurtenances and other facilities
for the public utility purposes of such utility company.
The town, for its own use or for the use of any special district operating within the town which performs a town function, shall have the right, exercisable as set forth in §
64-6 of this chapter, to acquire an interest in a utility pole.
No such acquisition or use shall:
A. Unreasonably interfere with the right of the utility
company and its licensees to use such utility poles for the purpose of its
franchise.
B. Interfere with the right of any utility company to remove,
eliminate or relocate any utility pole which it may own, lease or maintain
to which municipal apparatus may or may not have been attached.
C. Limit the right of the utility to adopt and enforce reasonable
safety rules and regulations relating to the use of its poles.
Pursuant to Section 11.10.0(a) of the Nassau County Administrative Code, the procedure for the acquisition of an interest in a utility pole or poles shall, as far as practicable, be as provided in Title B of Chapter
XI of the Nassau County Administrative Code.
If, after acquisition of an interest in and/or installation of municipal apparatus on utility poles, the utility changes or desires to change its use of such pole(s) for utility purposes in such a way as the continued use of the pole(s) for such municipal apparatus would violate §
64-5 of this chapter, the utility shall serve a written notice of such change on the Town Engineer. The town shall remove such apparatus within sixty (60) days after receipt of such notice.
If a utility upon whose poles municipal apparatus has been installed
hereunder desires to move or remove such a pole, it shall give written notice
to the Town Engineer. The town shall remove such apparatus from such pole
within sixty (60) days after receiving such notice.
Nothing in this chapter shall affect the town's right to install, maintain
or remove municipal apparatus on utility poles in accordance with a voluntary
agreement heretofore or hereafter made or the town's right to make and the
utility's right to receive payments thereunder.
For the purpose of this section, a proceeding shall be commenced when
the Town Board of the Town of North Hempstead authorizes an acquisition map
to be prepared and filed pursuant to Section 11-22.0(b) of the Nassau County
Administrative Code.
This chapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate the declaration
of policy contained herein.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or Article of this chapter
shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such
judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but
shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section
or Article thereof directly involved in said judgment.