(a) Use of Rights-of-Way. In accordance with ORC Chapter 4939, this section establishes terms and conditions for the use of the right-of-way by an operator to collocate small cell facilities and construct, maintain, modify, operate, or replace wireless support structures to distribute wireless service in the City.
(b) Applicability. The application procedures, permit fees, and auditing procedures outlined in this chapter and the City's design guidelines shall be applicable to applications to establish wireless facilities. However, wireless facilities that are not small cell facilities or wireless support structures as defined in this chapter are not subject to this section.
(c) Right-of-Way Permit Required. In accordance with this chapter, and unless otherwise prohibited by law, each person who occupies, uses, or seeks to occupy or use the rights-of-way to operate a small cell facility or wireless support structure in the right-of-way, or who has, or seeks to have, a small cell facility or wireless support structure located in any right-of-way, shall apply for and obtain a right-of-way permit pursuant to this chapter.
(d) Work Permit Required. All applications for the construction or modification of a small cell facility or wireless support structure shall comply with the work permit requirements set forth in this chapter and any other applicable law.
(e) Micro Wireless Permit Submission. In addition to the requirements in (c) and (d) of this Section 1028.23
, a micro wireless permit shall be submitted by any person that seeks to construct, modify, collocate, or replace a small cell facility or wireless support structure in any right-of-way. The City's consent shall not be required for the replacement of a small cell facility and/or wireless support structure with a small cell facility and/or wireless support structure, respectively, that is consistent with the City's design guidelines and is substantially similar to the existing small cell facility and/or wireless support structure, or the same size or smaller than the existing small cell facility and/or wireless support structure and complies with the requirements for work permits as provided in this chapter.
(1) For processing a micro wireless permit, the City may charge a fee for each small cell facility and/or wireless support structure in accordance with law and as listed on the micro wireless permit forms.
(2) The City shall grant or deny a micro wireless permit in accordance with any required timelines under law.
A. If the City fails to approve or deny a micro wireless permit within the required time period, provided that the time period is not otherwise tolled in accordance with the provisions of this section, the micro wireless permit shall be deemed granted upon the requesting entity notifying the City that the time period for granting or denying the request of consent has lapsed.
(3) Requests for consent that do not meet the requirements listed on the application or stated herein or in the City's design guidelines shall be deemed incomplete or shall otherwise be denied by the City.
A. If a micro wireless permit is deemed incomplete, within thirty days of receiving the application, the City shall provide written notice to the applicant that clearly and specifically delineates all missing documents or required information.
1. Once the applicant submits the documents or information in response to the City's notice of incompleteness, the time period for review resumes and the City shall grant, deny, or deem the micro wireless permit to be incomplete due to not providing the information identified in the original notice of incompleteness.
2. For A micro wireless permit that is deemed incomplete for a second or subsequent time, the city shall notify the applicant within ten days and continue to follow the process in Section 1028.23(e)(3)(A)(i) of this section until such time that a complete application is received from the applicant. At such time, the City shall, within the required time period for review, grant or deny the micro wireless permit.
B. If a micro wireless permit is denied, the City shall provide in writing its reasons for denying the request, supported by substantial, competent evidence, and such information that the applicant may reasonably request to obtain consent.
1. Except in the case of a public utility subject to the jurisdiction and recognized on the rolls of the public utilities commission or a cable operator possessing a valid franchise awarded pursuant to the "Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984," 98 Stat. 2779, 47 U.S.C.A. 541, the City, for good cause shown, may withhold, deny, or delay its consent to any person based upon the person's failure to possess the financial, technical, and managerial resources necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
(4) The City shall permit a person seeking to construct, modify, collocate, or replace more than one small cell facility or more than one wireless support structure within the right-of-way to file a consolidated application for consent.
A. No more than thirty small cell facilities or thirty wireless support structures shall be proposed within a single application to receive a single micro wireless permit for the construction, modification, collocation, or replacement of small cell facilities or wireless support structures in the right-of-way.
B. A single application may only address multiple small cell facilities or wireless support structures if they each involve substantially the same type of small cell facility and/or substantially the same type of wireless support structure.
C. If an applicant intends to submit five or more small cell facilities or wireless support structures in a single application, a pre-application meeting that includes the applicant and the service department may be required by the City in order to help expedite the permitting process. This pre-application meeting may also include a site visit if so requested by the City.
D. The City Building Department may separately address applications for which incomplete information has been received or which are denied.
(5) If the number of requests for consent is likely to result in difficulty processing applications within the time limits set forth in law due to the lack of resources of the City, then the City may toll the time limits as follows:
A. The time period for the City to grant or deny a micro wireless permit may be tolled for up to twenty-one days for the first fifteen requests for consent for small cell facilities or wireless support structures received by the City above an initial threshold of fifteen applications.
B. For every additional fifteen requests for consent that the City receives, the City may toll the time period to grant or deny its consent for up to fifteen additional days.
C. In no instance shall the city toll the time period for any small cell facility or wireless support structure micro wireless permit by more than ninety consecutive days.
D. Upon request by the applicant, the City shall provide written notice of the time limit for a small cell facility or wireless support structure micro wireless permit.
(f) Annual Charge. The total annual charge to reimburse the City for collocation of a small cell facility by an operator to a wireless support structure owned by the City and located in the right-of-way shall be in accordance with law.
(g) Term. The City's approval term of a collocation to a wireless support structure shall be for a period of not less than ten years, with a presumption of renewal for successive five-year terms, unless otherwise terminated or not renewed for cause or by mutual agreement between the operator and the City.
(1) An operator may remove its small cell facilities at any time subject to applicable right-of-way permit and work permit requirements and may stop paying annual charges or fees established by law.
(2) In the event that use of a small cell facility or wireless support structure is discontinued, the owner shall submit written notice to the City to discontinue use and the date when the use shall be discontinued. If the small cell facility or wireless support structure is not removed within 365 days of discontinued use, the small cell facility or wireless support structure shall be considered abandoned and the City may remove the small cell facility or wireless support structure at the owner's expense.
(h) Design Guidelines. The City of Bexley Building Department is authorized to establish, implement and amend, from time to time, design guidelines regarding, among other things: the location of any ground-mounted small cell facilities; the location of a small cell facility on a wireless support structure; the appearance and concealment of small cell facilities, including those relating to materials used for arranging, screening or landscaping; and the design and appearance of a wireless support structure, including any height requirements adopted by the City.
(1) The City, as opposed to the construction of a new wireless support structure in the right-of-way, shall prefer locating small cell facilities on existing wireless support structures without increasing the height of the wireless support structure by more than five feet, including the antenna and any associated shroud or concealment material.
(2) The City shall permit, consistent with law and for the purpose of providing wireless service, collocation of a small cell facility by an operator to a wireless support structure owned by the City and located in the right-of-way, provided that the operator comply with the design guidelines under Section 1028.23(h) and any reasonable terms and conditions for such collocation that are adopted by the city and consistent with the design guidelines and this chapter.
A. The City may condition approval of the collocation on replacement or modification of the wireless support structure at the operator's cost if the City determines that replacement or modification is necessary for compliance with its construction or safety standards.
B. A replacement or modification of the wireless support structure shall conform to the applicable design guidelines and the City's applicable specifications for the type of structure being replaced.
C. The City may retain ownership of a replacement wireless support structure.
D. The City may require removal and relocation of a small cell facility or wireless support structure, at the permittee's sole expense, in order to accommodate construction of a public improvement project by the City.
(3) The City may propose an alternate location to the proposed location of a new wireless support structure that is within 100 feet of the proposed location or within a distance that is equivalent to the width of the right-of-way in or on which the new wireless support structure is proposed, whichever is greater, which the operator shall use of it has the right to use the alternate location on reasonable terms and conditions and the alternate location does not impose technical limits or additional costs. In the event that the operator determines the alternate location imposes technical limits or additional costs, the operator must provide satisfactory material support, in writing, by a third-party professional with an appropriate expertise in small cell telecommunications infrastructure engineering and costing, as to the technical limits and/or additional costs imposed by the proposed alternate site.
(Ord. 43-19. Passed 1-26-21.)