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Newton Law
Chapter 23 of the Ordinances of Newton, Massachusetts were clearly designed to minimize the intrusiveness of overhead utility wires.
Notably, the chapter includes the following ordinances which seem to be frequently violated. Please notify the Task Force chairman (undergrounding@newton.ma.gov) with details of violations of which you are aware so that we may keep track of problems around the city and attempt to have them corrected.
Section 23-8: Height of wires and poles
Without special permission of the board of aldermen, no wire across any public way or public grounds may hang lower than 20 feet from the ground.
No pole for supporting wires and lines may be higher than 40 feet.
Section 23-9: Specifications for poles and manner of installing: replacements
Poles should not have a curvature of more than one to forty in the length above the ground.
Section 23-13: Pieces of wire in streets, etc.
No unused coil or loose end of wire may be left on the surface of any street or sidewalk, and no unused coil or loose end of wire may remain attached to any pole for more than 24 hours.
Section 23 –14: Abandoned and unmarked wires to be removed.
The company owning or responsible for maintaining wires must cut out and remove within 24 hours any which are no longer in use. If this is not done after due notice, the city’s inspector of wires shall remove same and collect the expense of doing this from the responsible party.
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You can read the full text of the Newton ordinances at
www.ci.newton.ma.us/.../chapter_23
Massachusetts Law
Massachusetts General Laws include a chapter dealing with the right of municipalities to prohibit the construction of overhead wires and also to require the removal of overhead wires. This law also provides for surcharges on utility bills to cover the cost of undergrounding. The utilities are not required to bear any of the cost of moving utilities underground. www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/166-22b
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Models From Other Towns/Cities/States
Undergrounding projects have been undertaken in many other communities. Some have been successful, others not. The links below provide details on the efforts made in other places.
www.sfgov.org
San Francisco Department of Public Works.
This is the undergrounding site. There is an enormous amount of information here, including the bylaws for an Undergrounding taskforce that includes representatives from the utilities. Pacific Gas & Electric apparently covers most of the cost of undergrounding there — a drastically different situation than that prescribed by Massachusetts law.
www.undergrounding.com
(not to be confused with our site, www.newtonundergrounding.com)
San Francisco’s Undergrounding History. California has a law, Rule 20A, that has been used in implement undergrounding in many cities and towns. This link is to a website sponsored by a group of San Francisco residents trying to increase the rate of undergrounding in their city. Unfortunately, there appears to have been no postings to this site for the past several years.
www.ci.sausalito.ca.us
Procedures and progress in Sausalito.
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