(A) Administrative review. The city shall perform an administrative review of permit applications including the location or installation of new, modified, or replacement utility poles and/or wireless support structures and the attachment of wireless facilities and equipment on utility poles or wireless support structures. Review factors, in addition to location, shall include the size, shape, color, texture, and materials of the structures and attachments.
(1) The city may require a proposed wireless facility be designed to not be significantly more readily apparent or plainly visible (to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities) from covered areas than existing utility structures, poles and equipment located within 500 linear feet on the same covered area as the subject utility pole or wireless support structure.
(2) Where small wireless facilities are determined to be appropriate, the use of reasonable stealth and concealment treatments, low profile equipment and control boxes, and screening may be required to avoid significant negative impacts on the character and visual aesthetics of the area. However, such requirements may be waived by the city upon a showing that the particular location of a small wireless facility does not warrant stealth or concealment treatments or imposes an excessive expense. The waiver shall be granted or denied within 45 days after the date of the request.
(3) Supplemental review districts identified in § 156.05(C) and listed in Appendix A may be subject to a higher level of review.
(B) Maximum size of permitted use.
(1) The height of an antenna of a collocated small wireless facility shall be limited to the greater of ten feet above:
(a) The height of an existing or modified utility pole or wireless support structure; or
(b) The height of a new utility pole or wireless support structure as provided in division (2) below.
(2) The height of a new or modified utility pole or wireless support structure is limited to the greater of:
(a) The tallest utility pole, excluding transmission poles, or wireless support structure located in the same covered area, measured from grade, in place within 500 linear feet on the same covered area as the subject utility pole or wireless support structure as of the effective date of this chapter; or
(b) In the absence of any such utility pole or wireless support structure, either:
1. Forty feet in any area zoned exclusively for single family residential use, unless a waiver is granted for good cause shown; or
2. Fifty feet in any other area.
(3) Collocation is not allowed on a decorative pole less than 20 feet in height.
(C) Supplemental review districts. Collocated small wireless facilities and new or modified utility poles or wireless support structures located in supplemental review districts shall be a conditional use and subject to the design and aesthetic requirements and review processes for structures specified in this chapter establishing the supplemental review district(s) in addition to the requirement of this chapter, provided that the city will work in good faith with the applicant to accommodate the installation of collocated small wireless facilities and new or modified utility poles or wireless support structures in supplemental review districts to the fullest extent practicable. The city reserves its right to maintain and implement the following types of supplemental review districts.
(1) Underground districts. A wireless services provider or a wireless infrastructure provider shall comply with nondiscriminatory requirements that prohibit electric utilities, telecommunications or cable providers from installing above-ground structures in the covered area in these districts. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use or replacement of existing utility poles or wireless support structures in underground districts for the collocation of small wireless facilities subject to administrative review by the zoning administrator, appropriate design and concealment and a finding that such use does not increase the height by more than three feet.
(2) Historic and design districts. As a condition for approval of new small wireless facilities or new wireless support structure, in a historic district or a design district, the city may require that a wireless services provider or a wireless infrastructure provider comply with the design and aesthetic standards of the historic district or design district to minimize the impact to the aesthetics in a historic district or on a design district's decorative poles. If design and concealment treatments are determined on review by the city to be insufficient to mitigate harm to the historic district or design district, the application may be denied.
(D) This section may not be construed to limit a municipality's authority to enforce historic preservation zoning regulations consistent with the preservation of local zoning authority under 47 U.S.C. § 332(C)(7), the requirements for facility modifications under 47 U.S.C. § 1455(a), or the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (54 U.S.C. § 300101 et seq.), and the regulations adopted to implement those laws.
(E) Appeals, special exceptions and variance requirements. Appeals of administrative decisions and requests for special exceptions and variances from the provisions of this chapter, when strict application would result in an unnecessary hardship or in the inability to deploy needed small wireless facilities, shall be heard and decided by the Board of Zoning Appeals or equivalent board for architectural, design or historical district reviews. An applicant seeking a special exception to construct a new decorative pole, utility pole or other wireless support structure to collocate a small wireless facility in an underground district shall demonstrate, including certification through an engineer, that it has diligently attempted to locate the proposed decorative pole, utility pole, wireless support structure, or small wireless facility outside of the underground district and that placement of the decorative pole, utility pole, wireless support structure, or small wireless facility within the underground district is necessary to provide the needed wireless coverage or capacity, and one or more of the following conditions exist supporting a special exception:
(1) No existing utility pole or wireless support structure is located within the location search radius or to the extent a utility pole or wireless support structure is located within the search radius, such utility pole or wireless support structure:
(a) Is not available for collocation under commercially reasonable rates, terms, and conditions;
(b) Cannot accommodate the collocation of the small wireless facility and meet the technical requirements necessary to deliver adequate wireless service coverage or capacity; or
(c) Would require modifications exceeding the three feet height limitation imposed in § 156.05(C)(1).
(2) The only available option to deliver adequate wireless service coverage or capacity in the search radius requires modifications to an existing utility pole or wireless support structure exceeding the three feet height limitation imposed in § 156.05(C)(1) or the installation of a new utility pole or wireless support structure for collocation of a small wireless facility; or
(3) The applicant has demonstrated other circumstances that, in the reasonable discretion of the [board, etc.], warrant a special exception or variance. The applicant shall abide by the design, stealth and concealment treatments imposed as conditions of the special exception.
(F) Existing supplemental review districts. Supplemental review districts approved by the city as of the effective date of this chapter are listed in Appendix A. The code provisions authorizing the district, applicable design guidelines or manual, review authority and appeal jurisdiction are specified in Appendix A. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit or otherwise limit the city from establishing additional supplemental review districts, provided however, that facilities and structures for which a permit was approved or deemed approved pursuant to this chapter prior to the establishment of the additional supplemental review district remain subject to the provisions of this chapter, including routine maintenance and replacement of those facilities and structures as set out in §§ 156.03(E)(1) and 156.03(E)(2) of this chapter, and not to any provisions otherwise applicable to the additional supplemental review district. If a wireless services provider or a wireless infrastructure provider voluntarily replaces such facilities in a manner that does not comply with § 156.03(E)(2) of this chapter, or if a wireless services provider or a wireless infrastructure provider voluntarily relocates such facilities, such replacement or relocation is subject to the then-existing provisions and requirements of the additional supplemental review district.
(G) Repair of damage. A wireless services provider or a wireless infrastructure provider shall repair all damage to a city right-of-way directly caused by the activities of the wireless services provider or the wireless infrastructure provider, while occupying, installing, repairing, or maintaining wireless facilities, wireless support structures, city utility poles, or utility poles and to return the right-of-way to its functional equivalence before the damage. If the wireless services provider or the wireless infrastructure provider fails to make the repairs required by the city within 45 days after written notice, unless the city and the wireless services provider or the wireless infrastructure provider agree in writing to a longer time period, the city may undertake those repairs and charge the applicable party the reasonable and documented cost of the repairs. The city may maintain an action to recover the costs of the repairs.
(Ord. 2019-06, passed 4-8-19)