There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any tower, base station, transmission equipment, and/or wireless facilities regulated pursuant to this subchapter that are not operated for a continuous period of 12 months shall be considered abandoned. This presumption may be rebutted by showing the same serves as auxiliary, backup, or emergency equipment or is otherwise not abandoned. For any tower, base station, transmission equipment, and/or wireless facilities deemed abandoned, all related equipment shall be removed within 90 days following receipt of notice from the city to remove the same. Irrespective of any agreement between them to the contrary, the owner or operator of the abandoned facilities and the owner of the land or building to which they are affixed, shall be jointly and severally responsible for their removal. If the abandoned tower, base station, transmission equipment, and/or wireless facilities are not removed within 90 days of written notice from the city, the city may remove the same and recover from the owner or operator of the same, or the owner of the land or building, all costs incurred by the city as a result, including reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs. If there are two or more users of a tower, base station, transmission equipment, and/or wireless facility, the same shall not be considered abandoned until all users cease using the same.
(Ord. 2598, passed 12-11-2018) Penalty, see § 159.999