Town of Brighton, NY Article IV Street Openings

[Adopted 1-24-1996 by L.L. No. 1.1996]

§ 166-21 Permit and notice required.

A. No person or corporation shall open, disturb or work within, erect fences or structures, plant trees within or cause to be opened or disturbed by cutting, missiling, boring, digging, resurfacing or excavating the surface, soil, pavement or sidewalk within any street, highway, sidewalk or right-of-way, for any purpose whatever, without having:

(1) Secured a permit to perform such work.

(2) Provided notice to the Highway Superintendent of the specific location of each such excavation.

(3) Secured any necessary site plan approvals required by the town's Comprehensive Development Regulations, Volume II, of the Code of the Town of Brighton.

B. The term "corporation," as used herein, shall include public service corporations such as Rochester Gas & Electric, Rochester Telephone, Greater Rochester Cablevision and the Monroe County Water Authority.

§ 166-22 Qualification for permits.

The Highway Superintendent may issue a permit to any applicant meeting the following qualifications:

A. Such applicant or the applicant's agent shall have filed in the office of the Commissioner an insurance certificate showing coverages of the types and amounts as established by resolution of the Town Board. Such insurance certificate shall name the Town of Brighton as an additional insured and shall include the coverage of completed operations.

B. Such applicant shall have paid the appropriate fee to the town.

C. Such applicant shall have completed and signed an application form (as provided by the Highway Superintendent), which shall include a statement that the applicant has received and will comply with the standards and specifications of the Town for work within its rights-of-way.

D. Such applicant shall not have had a permit revoked within the past three years.

E. Franchises.

[Added 10-11-2000 by L.L. No. 7-2000]

(1) Such applicant shall have either:

(a) Duly obtained a franchise from the Town Board for the use of the town's rights-of-way; or

(b) Signed an agreement, in a form as prepared by the Commissioner, committing the applicant to retroactively comply with any franchise legislation duly adopted by the town and uniformly applicable to similar users of the town's rights-of-way, or to remove the applicant's facilities promptly after adoption.

(2) These qualifications shall not apply to property owners or their agents, engaged in the construction or maintenance or driveways, commercial entrances of mailboxes.

§ 166-23 Types of permits.

Permits shall be of two types: annual and new.

A. Annual permits shall permit the holder to maintain existing facilities, including emergency repairs, to install new services from mains to existing structures and to widen or resurface existing driveways. The annual permits shall be valid only for the calendar year in which they are issued.

B. New permits shall permit the holder to install new facilities, new mains or new driveways. New permits shall be valid for a period not to exceed eight months or as directed by the Highway Superintendent.

§ 166-24 Permit fees.

Fees for annual permits and new permits shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.

§ 166-25 Transfer of permits.

The permit holder shall not assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of the permit to any person or corporation.

§ 166-26 Notice to the town.

Notice to the town of the location of work requiring such permits shall be upon forms or facsimiles thereof as developed by the Highway Superintendent. Notice to the town for emergency repairs shall be made no later than one business day after the start of the work. Notice to the town for all other work shall be furnished at least five business days prior to the start of the work. For these purposes, "emergency repairs" shall be defined as those unforeseeable repairs to existing facilities necessary to protect the public from imminent danger or necessary to assure uninterrupted utility service and shall also be defined to include new, temporary facilities as necessary to provide continuous utility service while repairs are made to existing facilities.

§ 166-27 Revocation of permit.

The Highway Superintendent may revoke any permit issued hereunder for any or all of the following reasons:

A. Failure to maintain an insurance certificate showing the required coverages for the entire duration of any work.

B. Failure to pay fees.

C. Failure to provide the required notice of the location within the required schedule.

D. Failure to adhere to the town's standards and specifications for work within the right-of-way.

E. Failure to comply with the Highway Superintendent's direction to suspend work under § 166-29.

F. Other good and sufficient reason.

§ 166-28 Town standards and specifications.

A. The town specifications and standards shall be proposed from time to time by the Commissioner of Public Works and shall be adopted and amended by resolution of the Town Board. These standards shall deal with such subjects as the materials to be used, the tools and techniques, the execution of the work, the restoration of the site and the maintenance and protection of traffic.

B. The following are hereby adopted as a part of the town's standards and specifications:

(1) All maintenance and protection of traffic shall be in complete accord with the New York State Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, as it may be amended from time to time by the State of New York.

(2) All disturbed areas within the right-of-way are to be restored to their original condition on a schedule to be approved by the Highway Superintendent. Absent satisfactory evidence from the applicant to the contrary, it shall be presumed that the facilities, in their undisturbed condition, were fully operable, safe for public travel and in good condition.

(3) All utilities and facilities in the area of the work are to be located, protected and (if disturbed or damaged) repaired by the permit holder.

(4) The highway must be kept clean of mud, dirt and other debris at all times.

(5) No asphalt may be placed over sidewalks.

(6) Temporary pavement must be immediately placed in all road cuts until weather conditions permit permanent pavement restoration.

(7) The permittee must maintain the road cut (temporary and permanent) until the road is overlaid.

C. The Commissioner of Public Works, in granting a permit, may impose any and all special conditions as may be reasonably required to protect the interests of the town and of all other users of the town rights-of-way.

[Added 10-11-2000 by L.L. No. 7-2000]

§ 166-29 Scheduling of work.

Work shall be conducted only after specific notice to the Highway Superintendent as provided in § 166-26 above and only if no verbal or written notice to the permittee to suspend work has been provided by the Highway Superintendent or designee. Work shall be delayed, at the direction of the Highway Superintendent, as necessary to coordinate it with the work of the town or with the approvals of related developments.

§ 166-30 Activities not requiring a permit.

The following activities within the right-of-way shall not require a permit:

A. The application of a liquid seal coating or of a patch to a driveway.

B. Mowing.

C. The collection of yard debris.

D. Gardening (excluding the planting of shrubs and trees).

E. The maintenance of plantings.

§ 166-31 Liability for costs.

In the event that any permit holder fails to do anything required hereunder, the Highway Superintendent may cause the same to be done, and the cost of the same shall be charged to the permit holder who shall be liable therefor.

§ 166-32 Penalties for offenses.

Failure to comply with any of the requirements herein shall constitute a offense against this article, punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions. Each unlicensed or unnoticed location and each day that passes without the proper restoration of a location shall constitute a separate offense.