HomeMy WebLinkAboutD_Comcast_OHJT#303696_MFP18006390_190128
January 29, 2019
Cody Shackett
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
410 Valley Ave NW
Puyallup, WA 98371
Via Email: owen_shackett@comcast.com
SUBJECT: Request for Undergrounding Exemption (JT#303696, MFP18006390, 17816 108th Avenue SE)
Dear Mr. Shackett:
The City of Renton has reviewed your request to grant Comcast an exemption from Renton Municipal Code (RMC) 4-6-090(C) which states that all new electrical or communication facilities
shall be required to be installed underground, pursuant to the standards of the section of RMC.
Comcast proposes to have Cannon Construction overlash approximately 441 lineal feet of new 24-count aerial fiber to existing Puget Sound Energy (PSE) poles beginning at the following
two locations:
South side of NE 10th Street approximately 140 feet east of NE Sunset Boulevard continuing east approximately 430 feet to an existing pole on the south side of NE 10th Street; and
Southwest corner of NE 10th Street and Jefferson Avenue NE continuing approximately 330 feet northeast to an existing pole located on the on the east side of Jefferson Avenue NE.
ANALYSIS: The City has considered the request for an exemption from RMC 4-6-090(D)(1)(h) i and ii. Ordinance 5720 grants Comcast, the right to install fiber optic cable and related
appurtenances under, along, over, below, through and across the streets, avenues and alleys of City of Renton within the right-of-way of Renton. Section 3.4 of the franchise ordinance
states that if all of the distribution lines all the wireline service providers, such as telecommunications service providers, as defined in RCW 35.99.010, a utility service provider
or a Cable Operator (collectively “Service Providers”) in any portion of the Franchise Area are underground, Grantee shall place its Cable System’s distribution cables underground within
that area; provided that such underground locations are actually capable of accommodating Grantee’s cable and other equipment without technical degradation of the Cable Systems’ signal
quality.
The proposal would utilize existing poles and attach to the existing Comcast aerial path. As minimum vertical height clearance of 15’-6” would need to be provided for, and existing
obsolete cable would need to be removed; staff recommends these as conditions of approval. Therefore, the City is granting an exemption with conditions, per RMC 4-6-090(D)(1)(h) i
and ii which allows for extensions of existing overhead communication facilities when there are continuing requirements for poles and it is not likely that there will be undergrounding
in the foreseeable future; and, when there are existing overhead
electrical or communication facilities that will not be removed and the facilities that would have been required to be removed are parallel to the facilities that will not be removed.
DECISION: The requested exemption from underground utility installation requirements (RMC4-6-090 (C) as requested by the applicant is approved with conditions subject to the conditions
below as the request complies with exemption criteria of RMC 4-6-090(D)(1)(h) i and ii.
Conditions of Approval:
Any existing height violations within the Project Reach must be resolved at the time of construction. New aerial lines within the Project Reach must have a minimum vertical clearance
of 15’-6”.
Any abandoned or unused lines within the Project Reach must be removed at the time that construction is taking place.
A traffic control plan must be separately submitted to the City, and no construction may take place until the City has approved a traffic control plan.
The new aerial fiber lines within the Project Reach must be converted to underground facilities in the future, at Comcast’s cost, when any one of the following events occurs: (1) any
other utilities are undergrounded within the Project Reach, (2) a joint use trench is proposed by a franchisee within the Project Reach, in which case Comcast shall participate in the
joint use trench installation for the purpose of undergrounding its aerial lines, or (3) a conduit is made available within the Project Reach that will accommodate the aerial lines.
The new aerial lines must be undergrounded within one year, or approved otherwise by the City of Renton Community and Economic Development Administrator or designee, from the first
event triggering the requirement to underground the aerial lines.
This decision to approve the exemption with conditions is subject to a fourteen (14) day appeal period from the date of this letter per RMC 4-8-110. Any appeals of the administrative
decision must be filed with the City Clerk, along with the required appeal fee, by 5:00 pm, February 12, 2019.
Sincerely,
Brianne Bannwarth, PE
Development Engineering Manager
cc: C.E. “Chip” Vincent, CED Administrator
Gregg Zimmerman, PW Administrator
Jennifer Henning, Planning Director
Justin Johnson, Civil Engineer II
Scott Warlick, Engineering Specialist II
Holly Powers, Permit Technician
Pat Miller, Construction Inspection Supervisor
Franchise Permits