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Section 74. Franchises to operate. Section 75. Authority to grant franchises. Section 76. Franchise terms, conditions and procedures. Section 77. Method of granting franchise. Section 78. Term of franchise. Section 79. Purchase or condemnation by City. Section 80. Article not applicable in certain cases. Section 74. Franchises to operate. No person, firm or corporation shall exercise any franchise right or privilege mentioned in this Article, except insofar as he, she, or it may be entitled to do so by direct authority of the Constitution of the State of California or of the United States, in the City of Berkeley, unless he, she, or it shall have obtained a grant therefor in accordance with the provisions of this Article of this Charter and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by ordinance. Nothing in this Article contained shall be construed to invalidate any lawful franchise heretofore granted nor to necessitate the obtaining of a new franchise for a use for which a franchise holder shall have a valid unexpired franchise. Section 75. Authority to grant franchises. The City Council is empowered to grant by ordinance a franchise to any person, firm or corporation, whether operating under an existing franchise or not, to furnish the City and its inhabitants with transportation, communication, terminal facilities, water, light, heat, power, refrigeration, storage or any other public utility or service, or to use the public streets, ways, alleys and places, as the same may now or may hereafter exist, in connection therewith. Section 76. Franchise terms, conditions and procedures. The City Council shall, by ordinance, prescribe the terms and conditions under which franchises will be granted, subject to the provisions of this Charter, and the procedure for granting franchises; providing, however, that such procedural ordinance or ordinances shall make provisions for the giving of notice of franchise applications, for protests against the granting of such franchises and for public hearings on such applications. The City Council, in granting franchises, shall prescribe the terms and conditions of such franchises in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Charter and any ordinance adopted pursuant thereto, and may in such franchise impose such other and additional terms and conditions not in conflict with said Charter or ordinances, whether governmental or contractual in character, as in the judgment of said Council are in the public interest or as the people, by initiative, indicate they desire to have so imposed. Section 77. Method of granting franchise. The City Council may grant a franchise without calling for bids or may, in its discretion, advertise for bids for the sale of a franchise upon a basis, not in conflict with the provisions of this Article, to be set out in the advertisement for bids and notice of sale. Section 78. Term of franchise. Every franchise shall be either a fixed term not to exceed twenty-five (25) years, or for an indeterminate period. If for a fixed term, the franchise shall state the term for which it is granted; if indeterminate, it shall set forth the terms and conditions under which it may be terminated. Section 79. Purchase or condemnation by City. No franchise grant shall in any way or to any extent impair or affect the right of the City now or hereafter conferred upon it by law to acquire the property of the grantee thereof either by purchase or through the exercise of the right of eminent domain, and nothing herein contained shall be construed to contract away or to modify or to abridge either for a term or in perpetuity the City's right of eminent domain with respect to any public utility. Section 80. Article not applicable in certain cases. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as applying to spur or side tracks provided for in subdivision fifty-two (52) of section forty-nine (49) of this Charter, nor to require the operators of refrigeration or storage facilities or the carriers of freight or passengers not operating over a fixed route, or other public utilities or services not specifically listed in section seventy-five (75), to obtain a franchise to operate within the City unless required so to do by ordinance of the City of Berkeley. City of Berkeley Home /
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