A. Review of Eligible Facilities Request Applications.
1. The City shall review the application for an Eligible Facilities Request permit in light of its conformity with applicable requirements of Federal law and this Chapter, and other applicable City ordinances, and shall issue a permit on nondiscriminatory terms and conditions.
2. The City shall make its decision to approve or deny the application within sixty (60) days of receipt of the initial application, subject the tolling provisions herein. The City shall notify the applicant in writing of its final decision.
3. Tolling of the Time Frame for Review. The sixty (60) day review period may be tolled only by mutual agreement between the City and the applicant, or when the City determines that the application is incomplete.
a. To toll the time frame for incompleteness, the City must provide written notice to the applicant within thirty (30) days of receipt of the application, clearly and specifically delineating all missing documents or information required in the application. The applicant may cure the deficiencies identified by the City and resubmit the application within thirty (30) days of the denial without paying an additional application fee.
b. The time frame for review begins running again when the applicant makes a supplemental submission in response to the City’s notice of incompleteness.
c. Following a supplemental submission, the City will have ten (10) days to notify the applicant if the supplemental submission did not provide the information identified in the original notice delineating missing information. The time frame is tolled in the case of second or subsequent notices pursuant to the procedures identified in this section. Second or subsequent notices of incompleteness may not specify missing documents or information that was not delineated in the original notice of incompleteness.
4. An application for an Eligible Facilities Request permit shall be deemed approved if the City fails to act on the application within sixty (60) days, subject to the tolling provisions contained herein.
B. Review of Small Wireless Facility Applications.
1. The City shall review the application for a small wireless facility permit in light of its conformity with applicable requirements of this Chapter, and other applicable City ordinances, and shall issue a permit on nondiscriminatory terms and conditions.
2. Within ten (10) days of receiving an application, the City will determine and notify the applicant whether the application is complete. If the City fails to notify the applicant, the application will be deemed complete. The ten (10) day shot clock may be tolled by mutual agreement between the City and the applicant. If an application is incomplete, the City will specifically identify the missing information in writing. Upon resubmission by the applicant, the shot clock resets to zero (0) and the City has ten (10) days from the date the application is resubmitted to again notify the applicant of an incomplete application. If the City notifies an applicant that a resubmitted application is incomplete, the shot clock period shall not run until the applicant resubmits the requested information.
3. Time frame for review of complete application to collocate a small wireless facility on an existing utility pole or on an existing tower or other wireless support structure:
a. The City shall make its decision to approve or deny the application to collocate a small wireless facility on an existing structure, including a modified utility pole, within sixty (60) days of receipt of the initial application, subject the tolling provisions herein. The City shall advise the applicant in writing of its decision and in the case of a denial, the basis for the denial including specific code provisions on which the denial was based. If the City determines that applicable codes or laws require that a utility pole or wireless support structure be replaced before an application for collocation is approved, the City may condition approval of the application on that replacement. The applicant may cure the deficiencies identified by the City and resubmit the application within thirty (30) days of the denial without paying an additional application fee. The City shall approve or deny the revised application within thirty (30) days of receipt of the amended application. The subsequent review by the City shall be limited to the deficiencies cited in the original denial.
b. If the City fails to act on a complete application within ninety (90) days, subject to the tolling provisions contained herein, the application is deemed approved. The City may also request an extension of the ninety (90) day period, and the City and the applicant may agree to extend that period. The applicant shall not unreasonably deny a City’s request to extend the period.
4. Time frame for review of complete application to install a small wireless facility on a new or replacement pole or to install a small wireless facility on a building or structure other than an existing utility pole or tower:
a. The City shall make its decision to approve or deny the application to install a small wireless facility on a new or replacement pole or to install a small wireless facility on a building or structure other than an existing utility pole, tower, or wireless support structure within ninety (90) days of receipt of the initial application, subject to the tolling provisions contained herein. The City shall advise the applicant, in writing, of its decision and in the case of a denial, the basis for the denial including specific code provisions on which the denial was based. The applicant may cure the deficiencies identified by the City and resubmit the application within thirty (30) days of the denial without paying an additional application fee. The City shall approve or deny the revised application within thirty (30) days of receipt of the amended application. The subsequent review by the City shall be limited to the deficiencies cited in the original denial.
b. If the City fails to act on the application within one hundred and fifty (150) days, subject to resetting the shot clock once for a pole in the right-of-way and tolling, the application is deemed approved. The City may request an extension of the one hundred and fifty (150) period, and the City and the applicant may agree to extend that period. The applicant shall not unreasonably deny a City’s request to extend the period.
5. The City may only deny a completed application to collocate small wireless facilities if the application does not conform to applicable Federal or state law or Gallup city ordinances laws concerning:
a. Public safety, including but not limited to interference with the safe operation of traffic control equipment, sight lines or clear zones;
b. Standards for pedestrian access or movement including the Americans with Disabilities Act;
c. The City’s design standards for stealth and concealment but only to the extent that the restrictions are reasonable and objective;
d. The adequate spacing of ground-mounted equipment in a right-of-way; or
e. The City’s design standards imposed within a design district or historic district.
6. Additional Application Required for New or Replacement Utility Pole. An additional application is required for the installation of a new or replacement utility pole for the collocation of a small wireless facility in the right-of-way. This application shall be considered concurrently with the application to install the small wireless facility and is subject to the same shot clock provisions as the application to install the small wireless facility. The application shall be approved unless the installation does not conform to applicable Federal or state law or Gallup city ordinances laws concerning:
a. Public safety, including but not limited to interference with the safe operation of traffic control equipment, sight lines or clear zones;
b. Standards for pedestrian access or movement including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the City’s Land Development Standards;
c. The City’s design standards for utility poles that are reasonable and objective;
d. The adequate spacing for new utility poles in a right-of-way;
e. The City’s undergrounding requirements subject to the limitations describe in Section 8-7-8 of this Chapter; or
f. Requirements imposed by contract between the City and a private property owner concerning the design of utility poles in the right-of-way.
7. Small wireless facilities to be located on a building or structure other than an existing utility pole or tower are subject to all the zoning and design standards imposed by the City of Gallup Land Development Standards.
C. Multiple Sites.
1. An applicant seeking to collocate small wireless facilities may, at the applicant’s discretion, file a consolidated application and receive a single permit for multiple small wireless facilities, provided that the City’s denial of one or more small wireless facilities in a consolidated application shall not delay the processing of any other small wireless facilities submitted in the same application.
2. An applicant seeking to collocate within the City up to twenty-five (25) small wireless facilities, all of which are substantially the same type, and are on substantially the same types of structures, may file a consolidated application for the collocation of the facilities. An applicant shall not file with the City more than one (1) consolidated application in any five (5) business day period. The applicant shall include in a consolidated application, an attestation that, unless a delay in collocation is caused by the lack of commercial power or fiber at the site, the collocation will begin within one hundred eighty (180) days after the permit issuance date. The City and provider may subsequently agree to extend that period.
D. Application Fees.
1. The applicant for an Eligible Facilities Request application shall pay an application fee of one hundred dollars ($100) for each Eligible Facilities Request.
2. The applicant shall pay an application fee in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100) for each of up to five (5) small wireless facilities and fifty dollars ($50) for each additional small wireless facility whose collocation is requested in a single application.
3. The application fee for a new or replacement utility pole located in a right-of-way is five hundred dollars ($500). (Ord. C2021-5, 8-24-2021)