RIGHT(S)-OF-WAY OCCUPANCY AGREEMENT

Jacksonville Ordinance Code tit. XXI, ch. 711, pt. 2

in effect

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.201 Part designation.

Sec. 711.201. - Part designation. This Part shall be known and may be hereafter referred to as the "occupancy agreement" provisions of the City relative to the use of City rights-of-way for certain installations. This Part shall not apply to a communications service provider governed by Part 4 of this Chapter. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.202 Intent.

Sec. 711.202. - Intent. It is the intent of the City to provide a process whereby any person desiring to occupy any City rights-of-way may do so pursuant to an occupancy agreement protective of the public convenience and public investment and public property interests in said rights-of-way. It is the further intent of this Chapter to effectively manage and control the rights-of-way. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.203 Definitions.

Sec. 711.203. - Definitions. The following words, terms, and phrases (whether capitalized or not) listed in alphabetical order, where used in this Part, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this Part and in the definitions Section of Part 1 of this Chapter, unless different meanings are clearly indicated by the context. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense shall include the future, words in the plural include the singular, and words in the singular include the plural. The word "shall" is always mandatory. Occupancy agreement means the written contract for nonexclusive use of any portion of City rights-of-way. At the discretion of the Director, an occupancy agreement may or may not be required of those persons subject to parts 3 and 4 of this Chapter. It is not intended that the occupancy agreement be in lieu of or to in any way impact the need for a permit as may be required by City Code. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.204 General authority and power to grant occupancy agreement.

Sec. 711.204. - General authority and power to grant occupancy agreement. (a) To protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the City and to preserve the necessary control and monitoring of the occupation and use of the City's rights-of-way, on and after the effective date of this Part (or not to exceed 120 days after the effective date of this Part if the Director deems necessary a delayed enforcement) no person shall occupy or use any City rights-of-way for the purpose of installing any wire, pipe or any other material without an occupancy agreement. The Director is authorized and empowered to grant and execute an occupancy agreement in accordance with the terms of this Part. Any contractor or other agent acting on behalf of a person having an occupancy agreement must have a letter from said person describing the scope of the proposed "use" of City rights-of-way and specifying that said agent is authorized to act on the person's behalf, all "use" being subject to all terms of the occupancy agreement. Every occupancy agreement granted is conditioned upon the person paying any fee or communications service tax when due and complying with the terms thereof. The Director may suspend and revoke the occupancy agreement and right to pull permits(s) upon any default by the person of any terms of an occupancy agreement upon written notice as set forth in the occupancy agreement further described in this Part. (b) The occupancy agreement fees required by this Part shall not be applicable to either any unit of federal, State, or City government (or any other body politic as established by law or exempt from the payment of said fees by law or court order) or to any person governed by parts 3 or 4 of this Chapter. (c) The grant of an occupancy agreement shall not relieve, limit or alter a person's obligations to comply with, obtain, and maintain any business or occupational license or construction permit required by the City Code or other applicable law. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.205 Procedure for granting occupancy agreement.

Sec. 711.205. - Procedure for granting occupancy agreement. (a) Information submission. (1) No occupancy agreement shall be granted prior to the applicant's submittal to the Director of information/data therefor on a form supplied by the department. No occupancy agreement shall be granted to those persons required to have a franchise agreement or registration (pursuant to parts 3 and 4 of this Chapter) unless and until the person presents evidence to the Director of having obtained said franchise agreement/registration. Applications for an occupancy agreement may be made at any time. (2) Information on the occupancy agreement application shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (i) Applicant's full name and address; (ii) Type of legal entity (e.g. individual, corporation, etc.); (iii) Listing of any State or federal certificates; (iv) Description of type of use (communications, electric, water line, etc.); (v) Name, address, phone/fax and cellular/pager numbers for local point of contact (to include similar data for any and all persons who have authority to authorize agents/contractors to pull permits pursuant to the occupancy agreement; (vi) Such other information as deemed necessary by the Director to protect the City's interests, including any bond and insurance as may be required in parts 3 and 4 hereof; and (vii) The Director shall assign an exclusive alphanumeric number to each person's occupancy agreement to facilitate identification and references on both the franchise agreement or registration and all City permits. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.206 Occupancy agreement term, conditions and form.

Sec. 711.206. - Occupancy agreement term, conditions and form. (a) Term. The occupancy agreement shall be granted for a term expiring on December 31 of the next even numbered year, with the initial term being from the date of execution by the Director until December 31 of said even numbered year, renewable thereafter for two-year periods. The initial term, regardless of the number of days, shall be for the full fee set forth herein. A registrant that initially registers during the even numbered year when renewal would be due or the odd numbered year immediately preceding such even numbered year shall not be required to renew until the next even numbered year. (b) Conditions. Each occupancy agreement shall be conditioned upon the faithful performance of all duties and requirements imposed by existing law, this Chapter, and rules established by the department (to include, but not be limited to rules pertaining to City projects on City-owned properties and rights-of-way which require the person, in a timely manner, to: 1. participate in design coordination meetings when either the City's project or the person's occupancy will be impacted; 2. provide accurate horizontal and vertical information on the person's facilities to assist in design phase and construction phase conflict resolution; 3. assist the City in developing utility relocation schedules; and 4. reimburse the City for delay costs resulting from the person's failure to relocate their facilities within the time frame provided herein or in the project relocation schedule). Failure to so perform, including, but not limited to, not making or reimbursing the costs of all necessary repairs to City property resulting from damage caused by the person's installation and maintenance of facilities covered by an occupancy agreement, failure to abide by department rules, not being current in the payment of all applicable franchise/registration fees, etc., shall be grounds for the Director to notify the person that their occupancy agreement will not be renewed and that all authorization to occupy City rights-of-way shall terminate and all installations be removed within 90 days of said written notice. (c) Form. The form of the occupancy agreement shall be as approved by the Director and on file with the Council Secretary. Revisions to the form shall be placed on file with the Council Secretary and any outstanding occupancy agreements shall be made subject to said revisions upon their renewal. The forms for the occupancy agreement shall be as detailed as required to accomplish the intent as stated herein above and there may be a variety of forms to cover the different types of uses (said forms taking into account the public interests of the City in preserving and managing its rights-of-ways and the franchising/registration provisions of parts 3 and 4 of this Chapter and any State or federal laws which create limitations as to the scope or termination of any occupancy agreement). The form shall be sufficient to provide the department with all information needed to monitor and protect the safety of City rights-of-way and may be coordinated with other City Code permitting requirements and the indemnification and insurance requirements pursuant thereto or to parts 3 and 4 of this Chapter. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.207 Occupancy agreement fees.

Sec. 711.207. - Occupancy agreement fees. The biannual (and initial term) occupancy agreement fee for any City rights-of-way shall be as set forth herein, payable in advance upon the effective date for the initial term and on or before December 31 for each biannual term thereafter, and shall be billed/invoiced and collected by the Director (with assistance from City departments as required by the Director). If the use involves the franchise/registration provisions of parts 3 and 4 of this Chapter, there shall be no fee in consideration of the payments received by the City pursuant to said parts 3 and 4. The biannual fee for the occupancy agreement shall be sufficient to recover the City's costs of administration and is initially established at $250 as of October 1, 2001. Depending upon the administrative costs as determined by the Director, the biannual occupancy agreement fees shall be increased from time to time subject to City Council approval. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 711.208 Indemnification, bond and insurance.

Sec. 711.208. - Indemnification, bond and insurance. Each applicant (or their agent/contractor) shall execute (within the form of the occupancy agreement or by separate agreement) an indemnification agreement and provide evidence of bonding and insurance coverage in a form and amount that meets the requirements of the City Code for the pulling of a permit(s). Compliance with the provisions of Part 4 of this Chapter with reference to bond/insurance shall be deemed compliance with this Section. The Director may waive the requirements of this Section for any nonprofit organization in situations where the use of City rights-of-way is deemed by the Director to provide public benefit. (Ord. 2001-427-E, § 2)

Source: City of Jacksonville, Ordinance Code and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/fl/jacksonville/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITXXIPUWOUT_CH711CIRI-W_PT2RI-WOCAGFetched: 10/27/2026