§ 7-2.02. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a)

"Applicant" shall mean any owner, or contractor, who has submitted an application for a permit to excavate.

(b)

"Chapter" shall mean this Chapter 2 of Title 7 of the Modesto Municipal Code.

(c)

"City" shall mean the City of Modesto.

(d)

"City street" shall mean any public highway, road, street, avenue, alley, lane, driveway, place, court or trail, which has been accepted, or is hereafter accepted, by the City Council into the City road system pursuant to Section 941 of the California Streets and Highways Code.

(e)

"Crack" shall include any crack with a measurable opening in the pavement of one-fourth (¼) of an inch or more.

(f)

"Department" shall mean the Public Works Department.

(g)

"Director" shall mean the Public Works Director or his/her designee.

(h)

"Excavation" shall mean any opening in the paved surface or subsurface of the public right-of-way in excess of four (4) square feet or four (4) feet long, whichever is smaller.

(i)

"Facility" or "facilities" shall mean any and all cables, cabinets, ducts, conduits, converters, equipment, drains, handholds, manholes, pipes, pipelines, splice boxes, surface location markers, tunnels, utilities, vaults, wells, and other appurtenances or tangible things that are located or are proposed to be located in the public right-of-way.

(j)

"Major project" shall mean the installation or replacement of any underground facility other than a service.

(k)

"Owner" shall mean any person, including any agency, department, or subdivision of the City, who owns, or maintains, any facility or facilities that are, or are proposed, to be installed or maintained in the public right-of-way.

(l)

"Permit" or "permit to excavate" shall mean a permit to perform an excavation as it has been approved or may be amended or renewed by the Department.

(m)

"Person" shall mean one or more natural persons, any corporation, partnership, or other business or enterprise, or any governmental agency, department, or subdivision of the City, of the State of California, or United States of America.

(n)

"Pothole" shall mean any excavation less than four (4) square feet of any depth necessary to locate a subsurface utility, facility or structure. The structure of a pothole shall be such that the vertical alignment of the sides of the excavation shall not exceed that of the surface cut.

(o)

"Public right-of-way" shall mean the area across, along, beneath, in, on, over, under, upon, and within the City streets, as they now exist or hereafter will exist, including any associated public utility easements, and which are under the permitting jurisdiction of the Public Works Department.

(p)

"Street cut" shall mean the action of or the result of opening, tearing up, excavating, repairing, installing, adding to, removing or otherwise altering any portion of any public roadway, street, alley or thoroughfare for any purpose whatsoever.

(q)

"Structural overlay" shall mean any repaving, overlay, seal or reconstruction which constructs a new pavement surface of greater than one (1) inch thickness over the entire width of the street, excluding crack seals, and not including micropaving, Class 1 to 3 slurry seals, cape seals, and chip seals.

(r)

"Surface irregularity" shall mean any hump or settlement such that the surface shall have no irregularity greater than three-eighths ( 3/8 ) of an inch in ten (10) feet in any direction.

(s)

"Trench failure" shall mean any condition that causes surface irregularities, cracking, severe spalling or raveling of the patch area, surface buckling, upheaval, frac-outs and other failures resulting from trenchless excavation methods.

(t)

"Trench influence area" shall mean an area four (4) feet adjacent to the trench where the excavation is greater than four (4) feet in depth, or an area two (2) feet adjacent to the trench where the excavation is four (4) feet or less in depth.

(Added by Ord. 3196-C.S., § 2, and Ord. 3366-C.S., § 2, effective 12-9-04)