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ORD 1985-20ORDINANCE 85-20 E wFm 3 E A BY ORDINANCE 91-03 January 15, 1991 TOWN OF TROPHY CLUB, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 0 R9 20 AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF TROPHY CLUB, TEXAS-, REQUIRING THE UNDERGROUNDING OF ELECTRIC AND CO1vI- MUNICATION TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES: REQUIRING BUILDING PERMITS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, ERECTION, CONVERSION, ENLARGEMENT AND STRUCTURAL ALTERATION OF ELECTRIC AND COM- MUNICATION TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY NOT EXCEEDING TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($204.00) FOR EACH OFFENSE; PROVIDING AN EF- FECTIVE DATE AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that the Town of Trophy Club is a community consisting of a prestigious country club development and is relatively free of billboard signs and large electric, telephone and cable television transmission poles; and WHEREAS, the Town Council hereby determines that overhead electric and communication transmission and distribution lines create hazards, poor aesthetics and clutter which adversely affect the stability and value of property, produce degeneration of property with attendant deterioration of conditions affecting the peace, safety, health and welfare of the Town; and WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that electric and communication transmission and distribution lines which are erected above ground are offensive, dangerous and pollute the scenic beauty of the Town of Trophy Club; and WHEREAS, the Town Council declares that it is the policy of the Town of Trophy Club to require undergrounding of all electrical and communication transmission and distribution facilities within the Town of Trophy Club; and WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that the public interest requires that, unless and until the Town Council should determine undergrounding of electric and communication transmission and distribution lines in any particular instance is not feasible or is inconsistent with sound environmental planning, overhead construction should not be authorized; and WHEREAS, in order to protect the peace, health, safety, general welfare and environment of the citizens of the Town of Trophy Club, it is necessary to regulate the installation and construction of all electric and communication transmission and distribution facilities within the corporate limits of the Town of Trophy Club; and WHEREAS, the Town Council finds and determines that an emergency is apparent for the immediate preservation of the environment because one or more public utility companies is proposing to erect a series of ninety foot towers supporting high-tension wires carrying electricity to or through the Town of Trophy Club. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF TROPHY CLUB, TEXAS: Section 1. Overhead Transmission Facilities Prohibited. After the effective date of this ordinance, no electric or communication utility, whether privately or publicly owned, shall install or reconstruct, or cause to be installed or reconstructed, any overhead electric or communication transmission or distribution facility within the corporate limits of the Town of Trophy Club unless a showing is made before the Town Council and a finding made by. the Town Council that undergrounding such facility would not be feasible or would be inconsistent with sound environmental planning. The term "reconstruct" shall not include repairs or replacements of existing overhead facilities in the same location unless the visual impact would be significantly altered, but shall include moving to, or replacing at, a new location. Section 2. Substations, etc. To Be Concealed. All substations, padmount transformer facilities, and similar padmount equipment constructed within the Town of Trophy Club shall be placed in vaults where feasible, and otherwise shall be concealed behind shrubbery or otherwise shall be screened from view throughout the Town of Trophy Club. Section 3. Building Permit. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to commence the construction, reconstruction, erection, conversion, enlargement or structural alteration of any electric or communication trans- mission or distribution facility in the Town of Trophy Club without first applying for and securing a building permit. Applications for a building permit shall be made on forms furnished by the Town Secretary. Section 4. Enforcement. The provisions of this ordinance shall be administered and enforced by the Town Secretary of the Town of Trophy Club, or such other person as may be designated by the Town Council. All applications for building permits hereunder shall be accompanied by a plat, in duplicate, drawn to scale, showing the actual dimensions and location of the premises and the right-of-way to be built upon, the size, capacity and other pertinent characteristics of the facility to be erected, the purpose of same and such other information as may be necessary to fully inform the Town Council of the characteristics of the facility to be erected. A record of such applications and plats shall be rept in the office of the Town Secretary, or such other person as may be designated by the Town Council. Section 5. Penalty of Violation. Any person or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance or fail to comply therewith or with any of the requirements thereof, or who shall build or alter any facility or use any facility in violation of any detailed statement or plan submitted and approved hereunder, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of the Town of Trophy Club, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each offense and each day such violation shall be permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. The owner and owners of any right-of-way or premises or part thereof, where -2- anything in violation of this ordinance architect, builder, contractor, agent, connection therewith and who may have violations shall be guilty of a separate fined as provided herein. shall be placed or shall exist, and any person or corporation employed in assisted in the commission of any such offense and, upon conviction, shall be Section 6. Severability. If any section, article, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word in this ordinance or application thereto any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional by a Court of competent jurisdiction such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance; and the Town Council hereby declares it would have passed such remaining portions of this ordinance despite such invalidity, which remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect. Section 7. Repealing Clause. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance or any part thereof are hereby repealed. Section 8. Emergency. The fact that the present ordinances and regulations of the Town are inadequate to properly safeguard the health, safety, morals, peace and general welfare of the inhabitants of the Town creates an emergency for the immediate preservation of the public business, property, health, safety and general welfare of the public which requires that this ordinance shall become effective from and after the date of its final passage, and it is accordingly so ordained. PASSED AND APPROVED the 24 day of ,Tune , 1985. [SEAL] APPROVED AS TO FORM: Town Attorney IBM