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Authorizing the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (“SEPTA”) to construct, own and maintain digital outdoor advertising signs, encroaching on the public right-of-way at various subway, elevated train and rail entrances in the City, under certain terms and conditions.
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THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Permission is hereby granted to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (“SEPTA”) as owner or lessee to construct, own and maintain digital outdoor sign encroachments (“Encroachment”) at certain subway, elevated train and rail entrances, in accordance with site plans subject to review and approval by the Department of Streets and as follows:
Encroachment Description:
Each digital outdoor sign consists of a double-sided panel enclosure measuring not more than 56 inches wide, 42.3 inches high and 14.3 inches deep with a digital screen display area measuring not more than 47.6 inches wide by 26.8 inches high. Such signs shall display service and emergency information and advertisements. No such sign shall obstruct the public footway. Only a series of still images and graphics shall be permitted on the digital display area; motion is prohibited. A display change between messages shall not constitute motion. Holographic or three-dimensional projections are prohibited. The digital display shall contain a default mechanism that will freeze the sign in one position or show a black blank screen if a malfunction occurs. The Department of Streets is authorized to promulgate regulations, including maximum brightness rates, refresh rates and frequency of message changes, in order to minimize glare, preclude impairment of the vision of the driver of any vehicle, and preclude interference with the effectiveness of any traffic control device.
Permitted Locations:
One digital outdoor sign, as described in Section 1, is permitted at each of the locations listed in Exhibit “A” (attached).
SECTION 2. The construction, use and maintenance of the Encroachment described and listed in Section 1 shall be in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations of the City of Philadelphia, and specifically those of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Department of Streets, and the Art Commission, provided that the Department of Streets, in its sole, unreviewable discretion, may allow minor variations of the dimension limits of Section 1, within standard tolerances of currnt engineering practice.
SECTION 3. Before exercising any rights or privileges under this Ordinance, SEPTA must first obtain or have its contractor(s) obtain all required permits, licenses and approvals from all appropriate departments, boards, agencies or commissions. No such department, board, agency or commission shall be required to issue any such permit, license or approval solely because this Ordinance has been enacted, it being the express intent of this Ordinance not to supersede any other provision of law governing the issuance of such permits, licenses or approvals. In addition, before exercising any rights and privileges under this Ordinance, SEPTA shall enter into an agreement (“Agreement”) with the appropriate City department or departments, satisfactory to the City Solicitor, to provide that SEPTA, inter alia:
(a) agrees that upon one hundred and eighty (180) days notice from the City, it shall remove the Encroachment without cost or expense to the City and shall remove the Encroachment at no cost and expense to the City of Philadelphia when given written notice to do so by the City of Philadelphia to accommodate a municipal or municipal sponsored construction project;
(b) shall secure all necessary permits, licenses and approvals from all appropriate departments, agencies, boards or commissions of the City as may be required by regulation or law. No such department, board, agency or commission shall be required to issue any such permit, license or approval solely because this Ordinance has been enacted;
(c) shall assume the costs of all changes and adjustments to, and relocation or abandonment of City utilities and City structures wherever located as may be necessary by the reason of the construction of the Encroachment;
(d) shall carry public liability and property damage insurance, co-naming the City of Philadelphia as an insured party, in such amounts as shall be satisfactory to the City Solicitor, or in lieu thereof, submit documentation in form and content acceptable to the City that SEPTA is self-insured and is providing the City of Philadelphia the same coverage and benefits had the insurance requirements been satisfied by an insurance carrier authorized to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
(e) shall insure that all construction contractors for the Encroachment carry public liability and property damage insurance, naming the City of Philadelphia as an insured party in such amounts as shall be reasonably satisfactory to the City Solicitor;
(f) shall give the City and all public utility companies the right-of-access, ingress and egress for the purpose of inspection, maintenance, alteration, relocation or reconstruction of any of their respective facilities which may lie within the public footway adjacent to the Encroachment described in Section 1;
(g) indemnify and hold harmless the City, its officers, employees and agents from and against any and all loss resulting from injury to, or death to persons or damage to property arising out of, resulting from, or in any manner caused by the presence, location, use, operation, installation, maintenance, replacement or removal of the Encroachment. SEPTA shall also agree to release the City from any and all claims relating to the Encroachment, including if ordered removed or when street, sidewalk or utility construction occurs; and
(h) furnish the City with either a bond with corporate surety in an amount required by the Department of Streets and in a form satisfactory to the Law Department to insure the compliance with all the terms and conditions of this Ordinance and the Agreement, or in lieu thereof, submit documentation in a form and content acceptable to the City that SEPTA self-assumes the liabilities and obligations normally covered by the Surety Bond.
SECTION 4. The City Solicitor shall include in the Agreement such other terms and conditions as shall be deemed necessary to protect the interests of the City.
SECTION 5. The permission granted to SEPTA to legalize the Encroachments described in Section 1 shall expire without any further action by the City of Philadelphia if SEPTA has not entered into an Agreement and satisfied all requirements of the Agreement that are listed in Section 3 of this Ordinance within one (1) year after this Ordinance becomes law.
SECTION 6. This Ordinance shall not become effective unless the sum of two hundred dollars ($200.00), toward costs thereof, is paid into the City Treasury within sixty (60) days after the date this Ordinance becomes law.
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