(A) It is the general purpose and intent of the city to carry out the will of the United States Congress by authorizing communication facilities needed to operate wireless telecommunication systems. However, it is the further purpose and intent of the city to provide for that authorization in a manner which retains the character, property values, public view, and aesthetic quality of neighborhoods and the community at large. In fashioning and administering the provisions in this subchapter, it is the intent to balance these potentially competing interests.
(B) In adopting these amendments to the Zoning Ordinance, and in recognition of the number of providers who have been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide wireless telecommunication services and coverage, it is the intent of the city to fully exercise the authority granted by law relative to the placement, construction and modification of wireless telecommunication facilities.
(C) It is further the purpose and intent of this subchapter to do the following.
(1) Require the City Council and the Planning Commission to regulate the location and efficient provision of sites for wireless communication facilities and services.
(2) Require the City Council and the Planning Commission to establish the zoning districts in which the number, shape, and area considered for the location of wireless telecommunication facilities and services be permitted by special land use, subject to conformance with applicable standards and conditions.
(3) Provide for regulations within those established districts which shall be imposed designating the uses for which wireless telecommunication facilities and services shall or shall not be erected or altered, permitted or excluded, or subjected to special regulations.
(4) Ensure that wireless telecommunication facilities and services are situated in appropriate locations and have appropriate relationships to other land uses, structures, and buildings.
(5) Limit inappropriate physical and aesthetic overcrowding of land activities and avoid adverse impacts upon the existing population, transportation systems, and other public service and facility needs.
(6) Facilitate adequate and efficient provision of sites for wireless telecommunication facilities and services.
(7) Promote the public health, safety, and welfare.
(8) Require adequate information about plans for wireless telecommunication facilities and services to allow the city to efficiently plan and zone their location.
(9) Minimize the overall number of new wireless telecommunication facilities in the city in the future by encouraging the use of existing structures for attached wireless telecommunication facilities where technically feasible through the use of colocation. The city recognizes that each licensed provider of a wireless communication facility must, by law, be permitted to locate sufficient facilities in order to achieve the objectives promulgated by the United States Congress. However, in light of the anticipated dramatic increase in the number of wireless communication facilities to occur as a result of the recent change of federal law and policy relating to the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, it is the intent of the city that all users should colocate on attached wireless telecommunication facilities and wireless telecommunication support structures in the interest of achieving the purposes and intent of this subchapter.
(10) Minimize the adverse impacts of technological obsolescence of wireless telecommunication facilities and services to include timely removal and/or conversion.
(11) Minimize the adverse impacts from the presence of relatively tall towers that have a low architectural and aesthetic appeal to most persons, recognizing that the absence of regulation would result in a material impediment to the maintenance and promotion of property values, and further recognizing that this economic component is an important part of the public health, safety and welfare. The city finds that the presence of numerous tower structures, particularly if located within residential areas, would decrease the attractiveness and destroy the character and integrity of the community, which would in turn have a negative impact upon property values.
(12) Minimize the negative visual impacts of wireless telecommunication facilities and services on the public view of the neighborhoods, community landmarks, historic sites and buildings, natural beauty areas, and public rights-of-way by establishing and using as few structures as reasonably feasible, and using structures which are designed for compatibility, including the avoidance of lattice structures that are unnecessary, taking into consideration the purposes and intent of this subchapter.
(13) Recognize that the public view and the view from sites and buildings is a major economic component of a property's value.
(14) Recognize that operation of a wireless communication system may require the establishment of facilities in locations not within the predetermined zoning districts. In such cases, it is likely that there will be greater adverse impact upon neighborhoods and areas within the city. Consequently, more stringent standards and conditions shall apply to the review, approval and use of such facilities.
(15) Provide for the submission of as-built drawings and photographs of at least three similar existing structures to the city with clearly identified and certified capacity for colocation and addition of equipment to facilitate the planning and administration of wireless telecommunication facilities and services.
(16) Provide for the submission of adequate cost, price and market information to permit administration of colocation.
(17) Permit the city to develop community-wide plans for wireless telecommunication facilities and services.
(Ord. 97-002, passed 6-16-97)