“Applicant” means any person requesting permission to excavate or obstruct a right-of-way.

“Central business district” means that portion of the City lying within the area defined in TMC 3.40.010.

“City” means the City of Topeka, Kansas, to include its elected officials, officers, employees.

“City cost” means the actual cost incurred by the City for public rights-of-way management, including, but not limited to, costs associated with registering applicants; issuing, processing, and verifying right-of-way permit applications; inspecting job sites and restoration projects; maintaining, supporting, protecting, or moving user equipment during public right-of-way work; determining the adequacy of right-of-way restoration; restoring work inadequately performed; revoking right-of-way permits and performing all other tasks required by this chapter, including other costs the City may incur in managing the provisions of this chapter.

“Degradation” means the accelerated deterioration of the right-of-way caused by excavation in or disturbance of the right-of-way, resulting in the need to reconstruct such right-of-way, earlier than would be required if the excavation did not occur.

“Department” means the Department of Public Works of the City of Topeka.

“Department Inspector” means any person authorized by the Director to carry out inspections related to the provisions of this chapter.

“Director” means the Director of the Department of Public Works of the City, or her or his designee.

“Driveway permit” means the City authorization for construction or reconstruction of driveway approaches including the cutting and/or removal of curbs and gutters.

“Emergency” means a condition that:

“Equipment” means any type of utility service or system component, including but not limited to pipe, electric cable, cable, or fiber optic cable located within the right-of-way, but shall not include plantings maintained in the right-of-way between the property line and the street curb.

“Excavate” means to dig into or in any way remove, physically disturb, or penetrate any part of a right-of-way, except horticultural practices of penetrating the boulevard area to a depth of less than 12 inches.

“Excavation permit” means the City authorization for excavation within that part of the right-of-way described in such permit.

“In,” when used in conjunction with “right-of-way,” means over, above, in, within, on, or under a right-of-way.

“Local representative” means a local person(s) authorized by an applicant to accept service and to make decisions for that applicant regarding all matters within the scope of this chapter.

“Obstruct” means to place any object in a right-of-way so as to hinder free and open passage over that or any part of the right-of-way.

“Permittee” means any person to whom a permit to do work within a right-of-way has been granted by the City under this chapter.

“Person” means any natural or corporate person, business association or other business entity including, but not limited to, a partnership, a sole proprietorship, a political subdivision, a public or private agency of any kind, a utility, a successor or assignor of any of the foregoing, or any other legal entity which has or seeks to have equipment in any right-of-way.

“Probation” means the status of a person that has not complied with the conditions of this chapter.

“Probationary period” means the time period in months or days from the date that a person has been notified in writing that he has been put on probation.

“Registrant” means any person who has or seeks to have its equipment located within any right-of-way. Examples of registrant include public utilities providing utility service, telecommunication providers and carriers.

“Repair” means the temporary construction work necessary to make the right-of-way usable for travel.

“Restoration bond” means a performance bond or cash deposit posted to ensure the availability of sufficient funds to complete, if necessary, right-of-way excavation and obstruction work in both a timely and quality manner.

“Restoration cost” means an amount of money paid or owed to the City by a permittee to cover the cost of restoration.

“Restore” or “restoration” means the process by which an excavated right-of-way and surrounding area, including pavement and foundation, is returned to the same condition that existed before the commencement of the work.

“Right-of-way” means the surface and space above and below a public roadway, highway, street, alley, bicycle lane and public sidewalk in which the City has legal interest, including other dedicated rights-of-way for travel purposes and utility easements of the City.

“Right-of-way permit” means the driveway permit, excavation permit, sidewalk permit, temporary use of right-of-way permit, or traffic disruption permit, or all of these, depending on the context, as required by this chapter.

“Service” or “utility service” includes but is not limited to:

“Sidewalk permit” means the City authorization for construction or reconstruction of public sidewalk.

“Supplementary application” means an application made to excavate more of the right-of-way than allowed in a permit that had already been issued, or to extend the time of City authorization.

“Temporary use of right-of-way permit” means the permit which, pursuant to this chapter, authorizes the temporary encroachment upon public streets, sidewalks, or other public property during construction for storage of materials construction or equipment, or for the erection of fencing, barricades, sidewalk, passageways, or construction office, such area being used in a manner as to deny the public the use of such street, alley, or public property.

“Traffic disruption permit” means the City authorization for closing down lane(s) of traffic, utilizing proper traffic control devices and, if applicable, providing detour route(s). (Ord. 17587 § 2, 10-24-00. Code 1995 § 130-632.)