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1. Priority. Priority of the use of City-owned land for communications antennas and towers will be given to the following entities in descending order of priority:
A. All functions of the City.
B. Public safety agencies that are not a part of the City, including law enforcement, fire and ambulance services, and private entities with a public safety agreement with the City.
C. Other governmental agencies for uses which are not related to public safety.
D. Entities providing licensed commercial communications services, including cellular, personal communications services (PCS), specialized mobilized radio (SMR), enhanced specialized mobilized radio (ESMR), paging and similar services that are marketed to the general public for business and/or personal use.
2. Placement. The placement of communications antennas or towers on City-owned property must comply with the following requirements:
A. The antenna or tower will not interfere with the purpose for which the City-owned property is intended.
B. The antenna or tower will have no adverse impact on surrounding private property.
C. The applicant will produce proof of adequate liability insurance for potential damage antennas or towers could reasonably cause to City property and facilities and commit to a lease agreement which includes equitable compensation for the use of public land and other necessary provisions and safeguards. The fee shall be established by the Council (Section 161.10) and shall reflect potential expenses and risks to the City and other appropriate factors.
D. The applicant will submit a letter of credit, performance bond, or other security acceptable to the City to cover the cost of antenna or tower removal.
E. The antennas or towers will not interfere with other uses which have a higher priority as discussed in the paragraphs above.
F. Upon reasonable notice, the antennas or towers may be required to be removed at the user’s expense.
G. The applicant must reimburse the City for any costs which it incurs because of the presence of the applicant’s antenna or tower.
H. The user must obtain all necessary land use approval.
I. The applicant will cooperate with the City’s objective to promote collocations and thus limit the number of separate antenna sites requested.
1. All applicants who wish to locate a communications antenna or tower on City-owned or private property must submit to the City Manager a completed application accompanied by a fee of $100.00 and the following documents, if applicable:
A. One copy of typical specifications for proposed structures and antennas, including description of design characteristics and material.
B. A site plan drawn to scale showing property lines, tower location, tower height, guy wires and anchors, existing structures, photographs or elevation drawings depicting typical design of proposed structures, parking, fences, landscape plan, and existing land uses on adjacent property. A site plan is not required if the antenna is to be mounted on an approved existing structure.
C. A current map or update for an existing map on file showing locations of applicant’s antennas, facilities, existing towers and proposed towers which are reflected in public records, serving any property within the City.
D. A report from a structural engineer showing the tower antenna capacity by type and number, and a certification that the tower is designed to withstand winds in accordance with ANS/EIA/TIA 222, latest revision, standards.
E. Identification of the owners of all antennas and equipment to be located on the site.
F. Written authorization from the site owner for the application.
G. Evidence that a valid FCC license for the proposed activity has been issued.
H. A line of sight analysis showing the potential visual and aesthetic impacts on adjacent residential districts.
I. A written agreement to remove the tower and/or antenna within 180 days after cessation of use.
J. Additional information, as required, to determine that all applicable zoning regulations are met.
K. Any communications facilities located on the roof of an antenna support structure must be set back at least one foot from the edge of the roof of the structure. This setback requirement shall not apply to: (i) communications facilities located above the roof of the structure if the facilities are appropriately screened from view through the use of panels, walls, fences or other screening techniques approved by the City; or (ii) camouflage antennas that are mounted to the exterior of the antenna support structures below the roof, but do not protrude more than 24 inches from the side of such an antenna support structure.
2. Applicant must also show evidence that all of the following conditions which are applicable are met:
A. Applicant must show that the proposed communications tower, antenna or accessory structure will be placed in a reasonably available location that will minimize the visual impact on the surrounding area and allow the facility to function in accordance with minimum standards imposed by applicable communications regulations and applicant’s technical design requirements.
B. Applicant must show that a proposed antenna and equipment cannot be accommodated and function as required by applicable regulations and applicant’s technical design requirement without unreasonable modifications on any existing structure or tower under the control of the applicant.
C. Applicant for a permit in a residential district must show that the area cannot be adequately served by a facility placed in a nonresidential district for valid technical reasons.
D. Prior to consideration of a permit for location on private property which must be acquired, applicant must show that available publicly owned sites, and available privately owned sites occupied by a compatible use, are unsuitable for operation of the facility under applicable communications regulations and applicant’s technical design requirements.
E. Applicant must provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all owners of other towers or useable antenna support structures within a one-half mile radius of the proposed new tower site, including City-owned property, and written documentation that the applicant: (i) made diligent but unsuccessful efforts for a minimum of 40 days prior to the submission of the application to install or collocate the applicant’s telecommunications facilities on towers or useable antenna support structures owned by the City and other persons located within a one-half mile radius of the proposed tower site; or (ii) written technical evidence from an engineer that the proposed tower or facilities cannot be installed or collocated on another person’s tower or support structure within a one-half mile radius of the proposed tower and must be located at the proposed site in order to meet the coverage requirements of the applicant’s wireless communications system.
F. Applicants must show that a new tower is designed to accommodate additional antenna equal in number to applicant’s present and future requirements.
G. Applicant must show that all applicable health, nuisance, noise, fire, building and safety code requirements are met.
H. All towers and communications facilities shall be of camouflage design standards. Examples of camouflage facilities include, but are not limited to, architecturally screened roof, roof-mounted antennas, antennas integrated into architectural elements, telecommunications towers designed to blend into the surrounding environment or to look other than a tower, such as light poles, power poles and trees. At a minimum, all towers not requiring FAA painting or markings shall have an exterior finish which is galvanized or painted dull blue, gray or black.
I. Applicant must show by certificate from a registered engineer that the proposed facility will contain only equipment meeting FCC rules, and must file with the Clerk a written indemnification of the municipality and proof of liability insurance or financial ability to respond to claims up to $1,000,000.00 in the aggregate which may arise from operation of the facility during its life, at no cost to the municipality, in form approved by the City Attorney.
J. Land use regulations, visibility, fencing, screening, landscaping, parking, access, lot size, exterior illumination, sign, storage, and all other general zoning district regulations, except setback and height, shall apply to the use. The following height conditions apply:
(1) Residential Districts. Freestanding tower with height not exceeding 85 feet is a permitted conditional use; height exceeding 85 feet requires special exception.
(2) Commercial or Business Districts. Freestanding or guyed tower with height not exceeding 150 feet is a permitted conditional use; height exceeding 150 feet requires special exception.
(3) Industrial Districts. Freestanding or guyed tower with height not exceeding 360 feet is a permitted conditional use; height exceeding 360 feet requires special exception.
(4) Agricultural Districts. Freestanding or guyed tower with height not exceeding 500 feet is a permitted conditional use; height exceeding 500 feet requires special exception.
In Residential, Commercial, Business and Industrial Districts, setback on all sides shall be a distance equal to the height of the tower. In Agricultural Districts, setback on all sides shall be the distance equal to the collapse/fall distance or one-half of the tower’s height, whichever is greater. Engineer-certified collapse/fall distance documentation shall be submitted with the application. If no engineer-certified documentation is provided, the minimum setback shall be equal to the height of the tower.
K. A tower must be a minimum distance equal to one and one-half the height of the tower from property designated historic or architecturally significant, and must be set back from all lot lines distances equal to the district maximum setback requirements or the tower height, whichever is greater.
All responses to applications for siting of telecommunications towers and facilities shall be in writing and shall be made within 30 days after all application materials are received.
1. Noise. No equipment shall be operated at towers and telecommunications facilities so as to produce noise in excess of applicable noise standards under WAC 173-60, except during emergencies or periodic routine maintenance which requires the use of a back-up generator, where the noise standards may be exceeded temporarily.
2. Emissions. The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 gives the FCC sole jurisdiction to regulate radio frequency emissions. Facilities that meet the FCC standards shall not be conditioned or denied on the basis of emissions impacts. Applicants for tower sites shall be required to provide information on the projected power density of the facility and how this meets the FCC standards.
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