Owner business plans; coordination of excavations.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 40-144
in effectSec. 40-144. - Owner business plans; coordination of excavations.
(a) On or before June 1 of each year, owners shall submit a plan of excavations anticipated to be done in the public way during the five-year period commencing on July 1 of that year. Additionally, the city engineer shall annually solicit a five year transportation improvement plan from the various public way construction entities. As soon as practicable following receipt and compilation of the plans, the city engineer shall make available for inspection a composite list of all projects and transportation improvements designated in the various plans. Applicants are responsible for keeping themselves apprised of the current status of the list. An owner or public way construction entity may change, add, or delete any project in its five year business plan, and if any modification is made, the owner and/or public way construction entity shall notify the city engineer.
(b) Prior to issuance of a permit, the city engineer shall check the application against the composite list. The city engineer may require owners to (i) coordinate their excavations; (ii) coordinate excavations with transportation improvements that are ongoing or are scheduled by public way construction entities; and (iii) complete excavations before transportation improvements commence. The city engineer may grant a waiver of coordination requirements for good cause. The city engineer shall consider the following before granting a waiver:
(1) Effect of each proposed excavation(s) on the surrounding vicinity and on traffic mobility;
(2) The applicant's need for the facility;
(3) The need to facilitate the deployment of new technology as directed pursuant to official city policy; and
(4) Public health, safety, welfare, and convenience.
(Ord. No. 00-1115, § 2, 12-20-00; Ord. No. 06-595, § 11, 6-7-06)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH40STSI_ARTVEXPUWA_DIV2PE_S40-144OWBUPLCOEXFetched: 10/26/2026