A conditional use permit will be required in all districts to erect a new wireless telecommunication tower provided the following development criteria are met.
(A) Co-location. No new wireless telecommunication tower will be permitted unless and until the applicant provides the Town of Fairmont Board of Commissioners evidence that reasonable efforts have been made to co-locate on an existing wireless telecommunications facility will technically satisfy the applicant’s needs.
(B) Setbacks of other towers. Wireless telecommunication towers shall be located a minimum of 200 feet from any abutting property line and highway, and shall be located such that all supporting cables and anchors are contained within the property.
(C) Orientation. Access to the wireless telecommunication tower and the wireless telecommunications equipment facility shall be from the interior of the site and not from a separate driveway connection to a public or private street. The gated drive to the proposed wireless telecommunications facility shall be located in such a way as to minimize the effect on the adjoining residential property. The actual access gate shall not face any residentially zoned lot property.
(D) Aesthetics. Wireless antenna arrays and wireless telecommunication towers shall be camouflaged to the maximum extent possible in an effort to conceal them from public view. Examples include but are not limited to painting the wireless antenna array(s) and the wireless telecommunication tower a color that will blend into the environment in which it is proposed; concealing the wireless antenna array(s) in flagpoles, lighting fixtures, church steeples, clocks, bell towers; and disguising the wireless telecommunication towers to look like a tree, public art or other camouflaged structures available to the industry. All proposed wireless telecommunication towers must bear a reasonable relationship to the proportions and scale of existing buildings, structures and natural vegetation.
(E) Fencing. All compounds shall be screened with opaque fencing. Fencing around compounds within or adjacent to residentially zoned or residentially occupied property shall match the facade of the principle building. If there is no principle building, shadowbox fencing shall be used. The height of the fence shall match the height of the equipment building or be a minimum of 6 feet in height, which ever is greater.
(F) Landscaping. A row of evergreen shrubs and trees shall be provided around the perimeter of the compound, excluding the grated drive area. The plant material shall be place 5 feet on center. The landscaping shall be planted 5 feet from the fence.
(G) Application information. The applicant shall complete plans including site plans, survey and photographs of a similar facility and use photo imagery to superimpose the facility onto the existing site for review by the Town of Fairmont Board of Commissioners. Once the site plan and photograph(s) or photo renderings of the facility are approved by the Town of Fairmont Board of Commissioners, the facility must be constructed in compliance with this approval. If not so constructed, the conditional use permit may be revoked and the tower removed. If the applicant fails to achieve compliance within 60 days, the Zoning Administrator shall issue a notice of violation directing that the facility be removed within 60 days of the date of the notice. If the notice of violation is not complied with within the indicated time frame the Town of Fairmont shall have the right to remove the tower and charge the tower owner for all costs associated with the removal of the tower. If the tower owner is unreachable or bankrupt, the removal of the tower shall be the responsibility of the landowner.
(H) Marketing. All conditional use permits issued under this section shall require that collocation sites or new towers be reasonably marketed to the extent space is available and at a price that is of fair market value.
(I) Review and revocation of permit. If the Zoning Administrator or other interested party determines that a violation of a conditional use permit (including but not limited to unreasonable denial of co-location sites) may have occurred, the Town of Fairmont Board of Commissioners may conduct a public hearing to determine whether or not the terms of the permit have been or are being violated. Upon the finding the Town of Fairmont of Commissioners may revoke or modify the permit.
(J) Abandonment and obsolescence. The service provider shall report any wireless antenna array that is not utilized for at least 12 months to the Zoning Administrator. Upon request by the Zoning Administrator, the wireless antenna array shall be completely removed within 90 days and the site restored to its pre-existing condition. If the tower owner is unreachable or bankrupt, the removal of the tower shall be the responsibility of the landowner.
(Ord. passed 9-11-2001)