HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 03/16/2004 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 048, 2004, AMENDINGAGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL
ITEM NUMBER: 13
DATE: March 16, 2004
STAFF: Cam McNair
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 048, 2004, Amending Chapter 23, Article III, Division 3 of the City
Code Pertaining to Encroachments.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Ordinance revises Sections 23-81 and 23-82 of the City Code. The proposed changes clarify
the requirement for encroachment permits when privately-owned utilities, telecommunications lines,
irrigation pipes, and similar facilities are allowed to reside within the public rights-of-way. The
changes also give the City Manager the ability to require liability insurance to protect the City, if
necessary and appropriate.
BACKGROUND
With increasing frequency, the City is being asked to allow portions of its public rights-of-way to
be used for semi-permanent installations of facilities owned by private companies and other
government agencies. Examples include fiber-optic telecommunications lines connecting various
facilities, such as the encroachment permits recently approved by Council for Hewlett-Packard and
for Poudre School District. Irrigation pipes are another example. Also, there are examples of
portions of buildings and private access bridges being proposed to encroach on, under and over our
public rights-of-way.
Public rights-of-way are lands intended to be reserved for public transportation facilities, public
utilities, and telecommunications facilities that serve the public. The City Code allows for other
types of encroachments, subject to a permitting process. The permitting process is intended to
prevent interference or damages among the various users of the rights-of-way.
The proposed changes to Sections 23-81 and 23-82 of the City Code are relatively minor, and have
been identified as staff has begun to deal with the more frequent applications for encroachment
permits. The change to Section 23-81 substitutes the word “within” for the word “upon” in order
to make it clear that encroachments under and over the surface of the public land must follow the
permitting process. The change to Section 23-82 allows staff to require proof of liability insurance
covering the City in instances where there may be a need for insurance associated with the proposed
encroachment.
ORDINANCE NO. 048, 2004
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING CHAPTER 23, ARTICLE III, DIVISION 3
OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
PERTAINING TO ENCROACHMENTS
WHEREAS, Section 23-81 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins authorizes certain
encroachments “upon” the City's streets and rights-of-way; and
WHEREAS, the language of Section 23-81 should be changed to authorize encroachments
“within” the streets and rights-of-way and not merely "upon" them; and
WHEREAS, the Council has further determined that applicants for encroachment permits
should, if required by the City Manager, provide evidence of their ability and willingness to provide
liability insurance to the City, not only in the context of encroachments for the purpose of serving
food and/or beverages, but also for the issuance of any other type of encroachment permit.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That Section 23-81 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 23-81. Permit required; application.
Any person desiring to place or erect a building, fence, barrier, post or other
obstructions or encroachments uponwithin any street, avenue, alley, sidewalk,
highway, public right-of-way or other public ground within the city shall file a
written application for a permit upon a form prepared and provided by the city. The
provisions of this Division shall not apply to special events as defined in § 23.5-2 of
this Code.
Section 2. That Section 23-82(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be amended by
the addition of a new subparagraph (8) which reads in its entirety as follows:
Sec. 23-82. Contents of application.
. . . . .
(8) Evidence of the applicant's ability and willingness to provide liability
insurance insuring the city in a sum not less than one million dollars
($1,000,000.), proof of which insurance shall be provided to the city prior
to issuance of the permit, unless the requirement to provide such insurance
is waived by the City Manager.
Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 16th day of
March, A.D. 2004, and to be presented for final passage on the 6th day of April, A.D. 2004.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading this 6th day of April, A.D. 2004.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk