2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 34 - Public Utilities › Chapter 19 - Telegraph and Telephone Companies › Subchapter II - Telephone Poles, Wires, and Conduits, 1902 › § 34–1911.04. Erection and maintenance of telephone poles in alleys; poles outside designated limit; temporary permits

§ 34–1911.04. Erection and maintenance of telephone poles in alleys; poles outside designated limit; temporary permits.
Said Mayor is empowered to authorize the erection and maintenance of poles in the alleys of said city and District and the stringing thereon of telephone conductors from alley poles or housetop fixtures in one square to alley poles or housetop fixtures in another square for the purpose of enabling house connections to be made, and also to authorize the erection of telephone poles in the District of Columbia outside the limits of the section of said District described in § 34-1911.01 and the stringing thereon of telephone conductors for house connections or for connection with lines outside the District of Columbia; also to authorize the erection of such poles and the stringing thereon of such wires in the streets and avenues of said city and District in the parts thereof in which there are no public alleys, and in such other places as the public interests do not require that the lines be placed underground, or in places where it shall be deemed by said Mayor impracticable to advantageously place or operate such lines underground. During the progress of the work provided for in § 34-1911.01 said Mayor is also empowered to issue temporary permits for the erection and maintenance of poles and overhead conductors in places where the lines are ultimately to be placed underground, but where the work can not be immediately done because of the greater urgency of work in other localities, or for other reasons satisfactory to said Mayor; but in issuing such temporary permits said Mayor shall bear in mind the purpose and policy of this subchapter, which is to cause to be removed from the streets and avenues within the section of said District described in § 34-1911.01 all poles and wires attached thereto, except as hereinbefore provided, as expeditiously as may be without interfering with or impairing the efficiency of the telephone service in said District and without denying to the public reasonable telephone facilities at all times.
(June 20, 1902, 32 Stat. 394, ch. 1136, § 4.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 43-1405.
1973 Ed., § 43-1405.
Change in Government
This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.