(A) Ownership. The applicant for a building permit to construct a telecommunications tower or antenna must be the owner of the property or his or her legal agent or possess a signed and legally notarized statement from the property owner indicating his or her consent. Any leased area must be large enough to accommodate the tower or antenna and support facilities and include access to a public street or accessible parking area. Purchase or ownership of a separate parcel may require platting and improvements before construction permits can be issued.
(B) Site plan. Prior to the issuance of a building permit a site plan shall be submitted by the applicant to the Building Official in such a manner as will satisfy all of the following requirements:
(1) No antenna support structure or antenna, microwave reflector/antenna or associated foundations, anchors, or support wires may be located within any required front, side or rear yard or closer than five feet to any property line;
(2) Access to an antenna support structure and related facilities or buildings must be through a locked gate with the antenna support structure equipped with an appropriate anti-climbing device;
(3) Any antenna support structure and related facilities or buildings must be similar in color and character to the main or adjoining building or structure or blend with the landscaping and other surroundings in the immediate vicinity to the extent practical. The antenna support structure and the related facilities or buildings shall be enclosed by a screen eight feet in height, using a chain link or wrought iron fence with an evergreen hedge or a totally opaque screening fence or a masonry wall. This enclosure shall be paved or graveled and kept weed-free. Equipment or vehicles not necessary for direct support of the use shall not be stored or parked on the site unless repairs to the facility are being made or unless the zoning district permits such a storage use;
(4) The antenna support structure shall be erected and operated in compliance with current Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration rules and regulations and other applicable federal and state standards;
(5) A commercially used antenna support structure must be:
(a) Used by two or more broadcast/ reception services; or
(b) Designed and built so as to be capable of use by two or more broadcast/reception services while allowing no more than three degrees of twist and sway at the top elevation. The owner of the antenna support structure must certify to the city that the antenna is available for use by another broadcast/ reception service on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis at a cost not exceeding the market value for the use of the facilities, provided space is available at the time of the request.
(6) No lettering, symbols, images, or trademarks large enough to be legible from any public street shall be placed on or affixed to any part of an antenna support structure, antenna array, or antenna other than as required by FCC regulations regarding tower registration or other applicable law. No commercial advertising, signage, or flag shall be allowed on any antenna support structure. This shall not prevent the joint use of a legal existing sign structure in an appropriate zoning district as a support mechanism for an antenna;
(7) The need for the antenna support structure at the proposed site shall be documented as a part of the site plan, including an assessment of the existing antenna support structures in the vicinity of the city, noting why existing structures are unsuitable or unavailable;
(8) Antenna support structures should be constructed to minimize potential safety hazards. Antenna support structures and antennas shall be constructed so as to meet or exceed the most recent EIA-222 standards. Prior to issuance of a building permit, the Building Official shall be provided with an engineer’s certification that the tower’s design meets or exceeds those standards. All antenna support structures shall be located in such a manner that if the structure should fall along its longest dimension, it will remain within property boundaries and avoid residential structures, public streets, utility lines and any other antenna support structure;
(9) Antenna support structures, antennas, and related facilities and buildings shall be located to minimize their number, height, and obtrusiveness in order to minimize visual impacts on the surrounding area and in accordance with the following policies:
(a) Ensure that the height of antenna support structures and antennas has the least visual impact and is no greater than required to achieve service area requirements and potential collocation;
(b) Demonstrate that the selected site for a new antenna support structure provides the least visual impact on residential areas and the public rights-of-way. Analyze the potential impacts from other vantage points in the area to illustrate that the selected site provides the best opportunity to minimize the visual impact of the proposed facility. The antenna support structure and antenna should be obscured by vegetation, tree cover, topographic features, and buildings or other structures to the maximum extent feasible. All landscaping requirements of the particular zoning district shall be complied with fully. If security lighting is installed, such light shall be directed into the site and only triggered by motion detectors. Any related unmanned equipment building shall not contain more than 750 square feet of gross floor area and shall not be more than 12 feet in height;
(c) Historically significant landscapes shall be protected. The view of and vistas from architecturally and/or historically significant structures should not be impaired or diminished by the placement of antenna support structures or antennas; and
(d) The Planning Commission may recommend a variance and the City Council may grant a variance to a requirement for an antenna support structure when it is determined that such a variance better accomplishes the policies set out in this chapter than would a strict application of the requirement. Such variance, however, shall be no greater than necessary to accomplish the policies established herein.
(10) No signals or lights or illumination shall be permitted on an antenna support structure unless required by the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, or the city;
(11) If any additions, changes, or modifications are to be made to the antenna support structure, the Building Official shall have the authority to require proof, through the submission of engineering and structural data, that the addition, change, or modification conforms to structural wind load and all other requirements of the current building code adopted by the city;
(12) To enable the Building Official, Planning Commission, and/or City Council to access the visual impact of the proposed antenna support structure and antenna, the applicant shall submit color photo simulations showing the proposed site with a photo-realistic representation of the proposed structure as it would appear viewed from the closest residential property or from one-fourth mile in the direction of the nearest residentially zoned property, whichever distance is less. The applicant shall also submit photographs of the same views showing the current appearance of the site, without the proposed antenna support structure and antenna;
(13) The antenna support structure complies with all ordinances of the city not in conflict with this chapter;
(14) Any antenna support structure legally erected prior to January 11, 2000 can be extended upward to accommodate additional antennas so long as the total height limitation of this chapter is not exceeded and permitting requirements of this chapter are met;
(15) In addition to the usual application fee for a request for a change in zoning, the applicant shall reimburse the city for the reasonable, actual cost to the city for the services of an engineer should one be required to review the application and provide engineering expertise;
(16) In order to minimize visual impacts that can result from the presence of antenna support structures, such structures and associated facilities may not exceed 200 feet in height. Monopole construction, free of guy-wire support systems, is encouraged whenever feasible. Compliance with all requirements of the Building Code, including an engineer’s structural certification of the antenna support structure, must be demonstrated before a construction permit can be issued;
(17) No commercial antenna support structure shall be located closer than 200 feet to the boundary line of any property zoned or used for any residential purpose. All antenna support structures shall observe a minimum setback from any abutting street right-of-way equal to the combined height of the support structure and attached antennas. An exception may be granted by the Building Official or the City Council where engineering documents indicate that the tower design will assure that a collapsing tower will fall within a smaller area. Under no circumstances, however, may a freestanding antenna support structure be located closer than 50 feet from the abutting street right-of-way. Setbacks from residentially zoned property do not apply to antennas attached to public utility structures exceeding 75 feet in height or to antennas placed wholly within a building;
(18) To minimize their proliferation, all reasonable efforts should be made to co-locate facilities on existing or new antenna support structures;
(19) An antenna may be placed wholly within any building legally permitted in a commercial, industrial, or health facilities district or in any publicly-owned building;
(20) An antenna may be mounted flush to the exterior of buildings in a commercial, industrial, or health facilities zoned district if painted and integrated into the overall architectural design. An antenna may be attached to any utility structures (such as a water tower or electrical transmission tower) or public building not located in a street right-of-way, if the property is owned by a government or public agency;
(21) In the Main Street District, no antenna may extend above the building on which it is mounted unless it is made to appear as a part of the building and integrated into the overall architectural design;
(22) Except in the Main Street District, a roof-mounted non-whip antenna may extend ten feet above the building, provided that the antenna and supporting equipment is fully screened from view at street level;
(23) Except in the Main Street District, a whip antenna may be mounted on the roof of a nonresidential building or structure, provided it does not exceed the height of the building by more than ten feet and it is located no closer to the perimeter of the building than its height above the roof;
(24) Antenna support structures and antennas of more than ten feet in height are prohibited within residentially zoned districts. The structures are allowed by right within the I-1 and I-2 Zoning Districts;
(25) Satellite and microwave dishes attached to antenna support structures shall not exceed four feet in diameter or six feet in diameter if attached to a lattice tower; or
(26) All transmitting antennas, microwave dishes, and related equipment shall transmit with low wattage transmitters not to exceed 500 watts per channel.
(Prior Code, § 154.08) (Ord. 1298, passed 1-11-2000) Penalty, see § 10.99