§ 90-35. Franchise as contract.

A franchise issued pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be deemed to constitute a contract between the franchisee and the cable television commission. Each franchisee shall be deemed to have contractually committed itself to comply with the terms, conditions and provisions of the franchise documents, and with all rules, orders, regulations, and determinations applicable to the franchise which are issued, promulgated or made pursuant to the provisions of this article. The regulatory authority conferred by the provisions of this article, including the power to amend the provisions of this article as reserved under section 90-45, below, shall constitute a reserved authority under the contract.

All terms, conditions and provisions of the contract shall be deemed to be embodied in the franchise documents, and conflicts in terms, conditions or provisions of the franchise documents shall be resolved as follows:

a.

The express terms of this article shall prevail over conflicting or inconsistent provisions in any other franchise document;

b.

The express terms of any amended and restated resolution regarding a franchise issued to any franchisee shall prevail over conflicting or inconsistent provisions in any other franchise document (including any prior amended and restated resolution), except the express terms of this article;

c.

The express terms of the resolution offering the franchise shall prevail over conflicting or inconsistent provisions in any other franchise document, except the express terms of this article and any subsequently adopted, amended and restated resolution regarding the franchise;

d.

The express terms of the request for proposals shall prevail over conflicting or inconsistent provisions in either the application for the franchise or the certificate or acceptance of the franchise; and

e.

The express terms of the application for the franchise shall prevail over inconsistent or conflicting provisions in the certificate of acceptance of the franchise.

The provisions of the franchise documents shall be liberally construed in order to effectuate the purposes and objects thereof. Prior to the initial enactment of this article, the provisions of this article were developed pursuant to numerous public hearings conducted for the purpose of receiving comments from the citizenry, operators interested in applying for a franchise in meetings with staff and through the submission by the operators of public oral and written comments, and the submission of independent staff recommendations. Operators interested in applying for a franchise have either directly or indirectly made it clear that any ordinance must contain minimum terms satisfactory to the operators in order to induce their interest in applying for a franchise, and innumerable changes have been made in drafts of this article at the request of operators. The franchise documents shall not be construed to constitute a contract of adhesion.

(Ord. No. 97-12, § 2(5.50.018), 2-13-1997; Ord. No. 97-21, § 2, 12-10-1997)