19. Encroachment permits
CITY
CUPEI\fINO
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Summary
AGENDA ITEM ---19
AGENDA DATE June 5. 2006
SUBJECT AND ISSUE
First reading of Ordinance No. 07- ~ "An Ordinance ofthe City Council ofthe City of
Cupertino adding section 14.08.010K and 14.08.035 to chapter 14.08, Obstruction of
Streets, of the Cupertino Municipal Code, regarding the noticing required for the issuance
of certain encroachment permits. II
BACKGROUND
On May 10, 2007, .the City Council discussed the process for administrative appeals.
During the discussion, Vice-Mayor Kwok raised a question about noticing adjacent
property owners prior to the issuing of an encroachment permit for construction within
the City right-of-way. The Council directed staff to draft an ordinance to provide for the
noticing of the issuance of encroachments and to return to Council with appropriate
recommendations.
DISCUSSION
The City issues approximately 250 encroachment permits during a typical year. Of these
nearly 99% are for either utility cuts by a utility or communications company (pG&E,
AT&T, Sanitary District, Water Company, etc.) or are for the installation or repair of
street improvements (curb, gutter, sidewalk and paving, utility poles, etc.). The balance
are for the installation of fixtures as part of a minor residential modification (mailboxes,
fences, landscape enclosures, etc.). It is these latter items, which seem to have been the
focus of attention for the Council discussion.
As an example, in all of 2006, 222 encroachment permits and 20 development
agreements with encroachment rights within them were issued for a total of 242
encroachments during the year.
Temporary Encroachments
Temporary encroachment permits are issued for the purposes of allowing for normal and
routine street construction activities, including utility installations and repairs. The
encroachment, Le., the activity conducted during the construction or maintenance work is
temporary in nature and solely for the purposes of working in the street until the work is
done, then the encroachment is over, and the permit is concluded.
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Prinled on Recycled Paper
Of the 242 encroachment permits issued in 2006, 188 were terriporaryencroachments for
utility work, 37 were for work in the street that was eventually dedicated to the city, and 9
were to other cities or for temporary signs and for a monitoring well, and 6 for the
construction of pools and water conneCtions for a total of 240, none of which generated
any controversy or protest.
Revocable Encroachment
A revocable encroachment permit is issued for the purposes of allowing some permanent
fixture or structure to encroach into the right-of-way for an undetermined period of time.
These are typically part of a minor residential modification and could include some
portion of a light fixture that may be necessary or a permanent structure to hold a mailbox'
or a fence extension of some kind and usually have conditions associated with them. A
particular condition, owing to the revocable nature of the encroachment is that the City,
with proper notice and for some purpose, may order that the encroachment be revoked
and the right-of-way be returned to an unobstructed condition.
These are not common, in fact, the remaining two encroachment permits were for two
mailbox installations on Tressler Court, and up to this point in 2007, the only
encroachment permit other than the normal and routine ones described above was for the
fence across the end of Carmen Road.
CONCLUSION
Given the city's experience with encroachment permits and in the face of the facts noted
above, staff has concluded that to require a ten-day delay and public notice for anything
but the minor residential encroachments would serve no useful purpose. At the very least,
the utilities companies who have to schedule their work to coincide with other activities
and are often called upon to respond to emergency situations (water main ruptures, etc.)
will find such a requirement an unnecessary hindrance to their work.
Therefore staff recommends that the noticing requirement of ten days for properties
within 500 feet or two homes, whichever is greater, be limited to installations that are part
of a residential modification permit or similar activity, and that temporary encroachments
for street work, utility work and any other similar activity not be subject to the noticing
requirement.
In addition, in order to clear up some ambiguities and to keep this section of the code
consistent with the Appeals section, it is further recommended that the defInition of "City
Manager"he added as defIned by the Appeals section to be "the City Manager of the City
or his or her designee."
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FISCAL IMPACT
Staff would propose increasing the fee for the permits that require noticing under the new
ordinance such there would be no fiscal impact of this pr~posal. After one fiscal year of
experience with this condition, staff will make appropriate recommendations for the
Council's consideration in the 2008 fee schedule.
STAFFRECO~NDATION
Conduct the first reading of Ordinance No. 07- ;200(: "An Ordinance of the City Council
of the City of Cupertino adding section 14.08.01OK and 14.08.035 to chapter 14.08,
Obstruction of Streets, of the Cupertino Municipal Code, regarding the noticing required
for the issuance of certain encroachment permits."
Submitted by:
Approved for submission:
~
'-l.. '" cO UP. U tf
Ralph A. Qualls, Jr. . .
Director of Public Works
David W. Knapp
City Manager
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/t)1Vl~ #/9
Cc ~/ 5/07
ORDINANCE NO. 07-2005
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CUPERTINO ADDING SECTION 14.08.010K AND 14.08.035 TO
CHAPTER 14.08, OBSTRUCTION OF STREETS, OF THE
CUPERTINO MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING THE NOTICING
REQUIRED FOR THE ISSUANCE OF CERTAIN
ENCROACHMENT PERMITS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN that Section 14.08.010K Definitions, of the Cupertino Municipal Code shall be
added to read as follows:
K. The term "City Manager" shall mean the City Manager of the City or his or her
designee.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN that Section 14.08.035 Encroachments-Permit-Notice Requirements, of the
Cupertino Municipal Code shall be added to read as follows:
A. Prior to the approval of any encroachment permit which is to be issued as part
of a minor residential modification, including, but not limited to mailboxes,
fences, permanently installed landscaping enclosures or other permanent
features, the Director of Public Works shall give a ten (10) day written notice
of his or her intent to issue such permit to the owners of all properties within
two residential units, or 500 feet of the proposed encroachment, whichever is
greater. Any person wishing to object to the issuance of such permit shall do
so in writing to the Director of Public Works prior to the permit's issuance.
Any appeal from Public Works Director's decision regarding the permit may
be made to the City Manager as prescribed in Chapter 1.16 of the City's
Ordinance Code.
B. Encroachment permits issued as part of any street improvement work to be
accomplished in the public right of way when such improvements and right-
of-way or are to be dedicated to the city upon completion and any other
activity including but not limited to work by public utilities as part of either
maintenance work or a building permit or other like activity will not require
any special form of notice.
This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days after its passage.
INTRODUCED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino
the 5th of May 2007 and ENACTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City
of Cupertino the day of , 2007, by the following vote:
Ordinance No. 07-2005
V ote Members of the City Council
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
ATTEST:
City Clerk
APPROVED:
Mayor, City of Cupertino
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