(A) Intent and purpose. The intent and purpose of these regulations is to accommodate the communications needs of people while protecting the public health, safety and general welfare of the community. These regulations will:
(1) Facilitate the provision of wireless telecommunication services to the residents and businesses of the city;
(2) Minimize adverse visual effects of towers through design and siting standards;
(3) Avoid potential damage to adjacent property from tower failure through structural standards and setback requirements; and
(4) Maximize the use of existing approved towers and buildings to accommodate new wireless telecommunication facilities in order to reduce the number of towers necessary to serve the community.
(B) Existing towers and/or structural supports. A wireless communication facility shall require a building permit in all instances and may be permitted in all districts as follows.
(1) A wireless service facility may locate on any existing commercial guyed tower, lattice tower, monopole, electric utility transmission tower, fire tower or water tower, provided that the installation of the new facility does not increase the height of the existing structure except as provided in the height regulations in this chapter. Such installations shall be permitted by right in all zoning districts and be permitted through city staff review.
(2) Towers supporting amateur radio antennas and conforming to all applicable provisions of this chapter shall be allowed in the rear yard of parcels. Amateur towers shall not support any commercial use antennas.
(3) Commercial or municipal towers conforming to all applicable provisions of this chapter shall be allowed only on the following sites by right and shall be permitted through the site plan review procedures outlined in this chapter:
(a) Church sites, when camouflaged as steeples or bell towers;
(b) Park sites, when compatible with the nature of the park; and
(c) Government, school, utility and institutional sites, according to the statement of priority of users and minimum requirements for use of city-owned properties.
(4) Wireless telecommunication antennas on roofs, walls and existing towers may be approved by the city staff provided the antennas meet the requirements of this chapter after submittal of a final site plan and a report prepared by a licensed professional engineer indicating the existing structure or tower’s suitability to accept the antenna and the proposed method for affixing the antenna to the structure. Complete details of all fixtures and couplings and the precise point of attachment shall be indicated.
(C) Newly constructed towers. A wireless communication facility shall require a building permit in all instances and may be permitted in all districts as follows.
(1) Newly constructed towers in residentially zoned areas are only permitted if they are towers supporting amateur radio antennas and conforming to all applicable provisions of this chapter. Amateur radio towers shall only be allowed in the rear yard of parcels. Amateur towers shall not support any commercial use antennas.
(2) Newly constructed towers in business or industrial district areas are allowed by special use permit under the following situations. The City Commission finds that the telecommunications equipment planned for the proposed tower cannot be accommodated on an existing or approved tower or building within a one and one-half mile radius of the proposed tower location due to one or more of the following reasons:
(a) The planned equipment would exceed the structural capacity of the existing or approved tower or building, as documented by a qualified and licensed engineer, and the existing or approved tower cannot be reinforced, modified or replaced to accommodate planned or equivalent equipment at a reasonable cost;
(b) The planned equipment would cause interference materially impacting the usability of other existing or planned equipment at the tower or building as documented by a qualified and licensed professional engineer and the interference cannot be prevented at a reasonable cost;
(c) Existing or approved towers and buildings within the search radius cannot accommodate the planned equipment at a height necessary to function reasonably as documented by a qualified and licensed professional engineer; and/or
(d) Other unforeseen reasons make it infeasible to locate the planned telecommunications equipment upon an existing or approved tower or building.
(D) Collocation.
(1) Licensed carriers shall share wireless service facilities and sites where feasible and appropriate, thereby reducing the number of wireless service facilities that are stand-alone facilities.
(2) All applicants for a special use permit for a wireless service facility shall demonstrate a good faith effort to collocate with other carriers.
(3) Such good faith effort includes:
(a) A survey of all existing structures that may be feasible sites for collocating wireless service facilities;
(b) Contact with all the other licensed carriers for commercial mobile radio services operating in the county; and
(c) Sharing information necessary to determine if collocation is feasible under the design configuration most accommodating to collocation.
(4) In the event that collocation is found to be infeasible, a written statement of the reasons for the lack of feasibility shall be submitted to the city.
(5) The city may retain a technical expert in the field of RF engineering to verify if collocation at the site is not feasible or is feasible given the design configuration most accommodating to collocation. The cost for such a technical expert will be at the expense of the applicant. The city may deny a special use permit to an applicant who has not demonstrated a good faith effort to provide for collocation.
(E) Tower construction.
(1) Any proposed commercial wireless telecommunication service tower shall be designed, structurally, electrically and in alt respects to accommodate both the applicant’s antennas and comparable antennas for at least two additional users.
(2) Towers must be designed to allow for future rearrangement of antennas upon the tower and to accept antennas mounted at varying heights. Towers shall be constructed to ANSI EIA TIA-222-F Structural Standards for Steel Antenna Towers and Antenna Supporting Structures and National Building Code construction standards for steel structures.
(F) Tower, and accessory building design. Proposed or modified towers and antennas shall meet the following design requirements.
(1) Towers and antennas shall be designed to blend into the surrounding environment through the use of color and camouflaging architectural treatment, except in instances where the color is dictated by federal or state authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration.
(2) Commercial wireless telecommunication service towers shall be of a monopole design unless the City Commission determines that an alternative design would better blend into the surrounding environment.
(3) All utility buildings and structures accessory to a transmission structure shall be architecturally designed to blend in with the surrounding environment and shall meet the minimum setback requirements of the underlying zoning district. Ground-mounted equipment shall be screened from view by suitable vegetation, except where a design of non-vegetative screening better reflects and complements the architectural character of the surrounding neighborhood.
(G) Tower setbacks. Towers shall conform to each of the following minimum setback requirements.
(1) Towers shall meet the setbacks of the underlying zoning district with the exception of industrial zoning districts, where towers may encroach into the rear setback areas, provided that the rear property line abuts another industrially zoned property and the tower does not encroach upon any easements.
(2) Towers shall be set back from planned public rights-of-way as shown on the city’s Master Plan by a minimum distance equal to one-half of the height of the tower including all antennas and attachments.
(3) Towers shall not be located between a principal structure and a public street, with the following exceptions:
(a) In industrial zoning districts, towers may be placed within a side yard abutting an internal industrial street; and
(b) On sites adjacent to public streets on all sides, towers may be placed within a side yard abutting a local street.
(4) A tower’s setback may be reduced or its location in relation to a public street varied at the discretion of the City Planning Commission to allow the integration of a tower into an existing or proposed structure such as a church steeple, light standards, power line support device or similar structure.
(5) Towers and associated structures, including fencing, may not be constructed within 500 feet of a dwelling unit, except where they are being collocated on existing towers or structures.
(H) Tower height. In all zoning districts, the maximum height of any tower, including antennas and other attachments, shall not exceed 150 feet, except as granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
(I) Tower lighting. Towers shall not be illuminated by artificial means and shall not display strobe lights unless such lighting is specifically required by the Federal Aviation Administration or other federal or state authority for a particular tower. When incorporated into the approved design of the tower, light fixtures used to illuminate ball fields, parking lots or similar areas may be attached to the tower.
(J) Signs and advertising. The use of any portion of a tower for signs or other forms of advertising other than warning or equipment information signs are prohibited.
(K) Abandoned or unused towers or portions of towers. Abandoned or unused towers or portions of towers shall be removed as follows.
(1) All abandoned or unused towers and associated facilities shall be removed within 12 months of the cessation of operations at the site unless a time extension is approved by the Zoning Administrator. A copy of the relevant portions of a signed lease that requires the applicant to remove the tower and associated facilities upon cessation of operations at the site shall be submitted at the time of application. In the event that a tower and associated facilities are not removed within 12 months of the cessation of operations at a site, the tower and associated facilities may be removed by the city and the costs of removal assessed against the property.
(2) Unused portions of towers above a manufactured connection shall be removed within six months of the time of antenna relocation. The replacement of portions of a tower previously removed requires the issuance of a new special use permit.
(3) If the abandoned status of a tower or facility is contested, it is the obligation of the owner or lessee to provide documentation that the tower is currently in use within 30 days of written notification of abandoned status.
(L) Interference with public safety telecommunications.
(1) No new or existing telecommunications service shall interfere with public safety telecommunications.
(2) All applications for new service shall be accompanied by an inter-modulation study that provides a technical evaluation of existing and proposed transmission and indicates all potential interference problems.
(3) Before the introduction of new service or changes in existing service, telecommunication providers shall notify the city at least ten calendar days in advance of such changes and allow the city to monitor interference levels during the testing process.
(M) Modifications. A modification of a wireless service facility may be considered equivalent to an application for a new wireless service facility and will require a special use permit when the following events apply:
(1) The applicant and/or co-applicant wants to alter the terms of the special use permit by changing the wireless service facility in one or more of the following ways:
(a) Change in the number of facilities permitted on the site; and/or
(b) Change in the technology used for the wireless service facility.
(2) The applicant and/or co-applicant wants to add any equipment or additional height not specified in the original design filing.
(N) Site plan submission requirements.
(1) General filing requirements.
(a) Name, address and telephone number of applicant and any co-applicants as well as any agents for the applicant or co-applicants;
(b) Co-applicants may include the landowner of the subject property, licensed carriers and tenants for the personal wireless service facility; and
(c) Original signatures for the applicant and all co-applicants applying for the special permit. If the applicant or co-applicant will be represented by an agent, original signature authorizing the agent to represent the applicant and/or co-applicant. Photo reproductions of signatures will not be accepted.
(2) Location filing requirements.
(a) Identify the subject property by including the municipality as well as the name of the locality, name of the nearest road or roads, and street address, if any;
(b) Tax map and parcel number of subject property;
(c) Zoning district designation for the subject parcel; and
(d) A line map to scale showing the lot lines of the subject property and all properties within 300 feet and the location of all buildings, including accessory structures, on all properties shown.
(3) Siting filing requirements.
(a) A one-inch equals 40-feet vicinity plan showing the following:
1. Property lines for the subject property;
2. Property lines of all properties adjacent to the subject property within 300 feet;
3. Tree cover on the subject property and adjacent properties within 300 feet, by dominant species and average height, as measured by or available from a verifiable source;
4. Outline of all existing buildings, including purpose (e.g., residential buildings, garages, accessory structures and the like) on subject property and all adjacent properties within 300 feet;
5. Proposed location of antenna mount and equipment shelter(s);
6. Proposed security barrier, indicating type and extent as well as point of controlled entry;
7. Location of all roads, public and private, on the subject property and on all adjacent properties within 300 feet, including driveways proposed to serve the personal wireless service facility;
8. Distances, at grade, from the proposed personal wireless service facility to each building on the vicinity plan;
9. All proposed changes to the existing property, including grading, vegetation removal and temporary or permanent roads and driveways; and
10. Representations, dimensioned and scale, of the proposed mount, antennas, equipment shelters, cable runs, parking areas and any other construction or development attendant to the personal wireless service facility.
(b) Siting elevations, or views at-grade from the north, south, east and west for a 50-foot radius around the proposed personal wireless service facility plus from all existing public and private roads that serve the subject property. Elevations shall be at either one-quarter inch equals one foot or one-eighth-inch-equals-one-foot scale and show the following:
1. Antennae, mounts and equipment shelter(s), with total elevation dimensions and AGL of the highest point;
2. Security barrier. If the security barrier will block views of the personal wireless service facility, the barrier drawing shall be cut away to show the view behind the barrier;
3. Any and all structures on the subject property; and
4. Existing trees and shrubs at current height and proposed trees and shrubs at proposed height at time of installation, with approximate elevations dimensioned.
(4) Design filing requirements.
(a) Equipment brochures for the proposed personal wireless service facility such as manufacturer’s specifications or trade journal reprints shall be provided for the antennas, mounts, equipment shelters, cables as well as cable runs, and security barrier, if any.
(b) Materials of the proposed personal wireless service facility specified by generic type and specific treatment (e.g., anodized aluminum, stained wood, painted fiberglass and the like). These shall be provided for the antennas, mounts, equipment shelters, cables, as well as cable runs, and security barrier, if any.
(c) Dimensions of the personal wireless service facility specified for all three directions: height, width and breadth. These shall be provided for the antennas, mounts, equipment shelters and security barrier, if any.
(d) Landscape plan including existing trees and shrubs and those proposed to be added, identified by size of specimen at installation and species.
(e) If lighting of the site is proposed, the applicant shall submit the manufacturer’s computer-generated point-to-point printout, indicating the horizontal foot candle levels at grade, within the property to be developed and 25 feet beyond the property lines. The printout shall indicate the locations and types of luminaries proposed.
(Ord. passed 11-2-2005)