(A) Permitted use and consent. A wireless provider shall have the right, as a permitted use subject to review and conditions as set forth herein, to collocate small wireless facilities and install, maintain, modify, operate, and replace poles in the ROW. These structures and facilities must be installed and maintained so as not to create a safety hazard; obstruct or hinder the usual travel in or the public's safe use of the ROW; or obstruct the legal use of the ROW by utilities. In accordance with Article VIII, Section 15 of the State Constitution and related municipal code and ordinance provisions, the municipality consents to the use of the ROW by permit holders acting in compliance with this chapter.
(B) Permit required.
(1) No person shall collocate a small wireless facility or install a new, modified, or replacement pole or support structure associated with a small wireless facility without first filing a small wireless facility application and obtaining a permit as set forth herein. The municipality may require an applicant to obtain additional permits for such activity, provided that such additional permits are of general applicability and do not apply exclusively to small wireless facilities. An applicant shall not be required to obtain or pay any fees for a building permit, as the permit issued pursuant to this chapter serves as a building permit for the applicable poles and small wireless facilities. Any applications for any such additional permits, once submitted, must be acted upon within the same number of days as an application for a permit under this chapter. The municipality shall publish and keep current a list of each additional permit that is required for the collocation of a small wireless facility or the installation of a new, modified, or replacement pole. Any failure to comply with this division by a wireless provider shall allow the municipality, in its sole discretion, to restore the ROW to its condition prior to the unpermitted collocation or installation and to charge the responsible wireless provider its reasonable, documented cost of restoration, plus a penalty not to exceed $1,000. The municipality may suspend the ability of the wireless provider to receive any new permits from the municipality until the wireless provider has paid the amount assessed for such restoration costs; provided, however, that the municipality shall not suspend such ability of any applicant that has deposited the amount in controversy in escrow pending an adjudication of the merits.
(2) For deployments in ROWs under the ownership or control of the South Carolina Department of Transportation ("SCDOT"), a wireless provider may, in lieu of filing a formal application hereunder, request that the municipality evidence its approval of the proposed deployment by consenting in writing to the wireless provider's application for a SCDOT encroachment permit. If the municipality consents in writing to the issuance of an SCDOT encroachment permit, it shall concurrently therewith issue a permit consistent with such consent. In all cases, the municipality's consent may be conditioned on compliance with the municipality's lawful and applicable design, aesthetic, stealth, and concealment standards, and subject to the foregoing, the municipality will not unreasonably withhold or delay its written consent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the wireless provider shall retain the right to file a formal application for a permit hereunder, in which case the terms, conditions, and requirements of this chapter shall apply in full to such application.
(C) Permit applications. All applications filed pursuant to this chapter shall be on a form, paper or electronic, as required by the municipality. The applicant may designate portions of its application materials that it reasonably believes contain proprietary or confidential information as "proprietary" or "confidential" by clearly marking each page of such materials accordingly, and the municipality shall endeavor to protect materials so designated from public disclosure to the fullest extent permitted by state law.
(D) Application requirements. The application shall be made by the applicant, or its duly authorized representative as noted in a notarized statement from the applicant, and shall contain the following:
(1) The applicant's name, address, telephone number, and email address, including emergency contact information for the applicant;
(2) The names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of all consultants, if any, acting on behalf of the applicant with respect to the filing of the application;
(3) A general description of the proposed work and the purposes and intent of the proposed facility. The scope and detail of such description shall be appropriate to the nature and character of the physical work to be performed, with special emphasis on those matters likely to be affected or impacted by the physical work proposed;
(4) Detailed construction drawings regarding the proposed use of the ROW;
(5) To the extent the proposed facility involves collocation on a pole, decorative pole, or support structure, a structural report performed by a duly licensed engineer in South Carolina evidencing that the pole, decorative pole, or support structure will structurally support the collocation, or that the pole, decorative pole, or support structure may and will be modified to meet structural requirements, in accordance with applicable codes;
(6) For any new aboveground facilities, visual depictions, or representations if such are not included in the construction drawings;
(7) Information indicating the approximate horizontal and vertical locations, relative to the boundaries of the ROW, of the small wireless facility for which the application is being submitted;
(8) If the application is for the installation of a new pole or replacement of a decorative pole, a certification that the wireless provider has determined after diligent investigation that it cannot meet the service objectives of the application by collocating on an existing pole or support structure on which:
(a) The wireless provider has the right to collocate subject to reasonable terms and conditions; and
(b) Such collocation would be technically feasible and would not impose significant additional costs. The wireless provider shall certify that it has made such a determination in good faith, based on the assessment of an engineer licensed in South Carolina, and shall provide a written summary of the basis for such determination.
(9) If the small wireless facility will be collocated on a pole or support structure owned by a third party, other than a municipality pole, a certification that the wireless provider has permission from the owner to collocate on the pole or support structure;
(10) An affirmation that the applicant is, on the same date, submitting applications for the permits identified in the list the municipality maintains pursuant to division (B) of this section;
(11) Any additional information reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with the criteria set forth in § 152.04(F); and
(12) For any applicant that is not a wireless services provider, an attestation that a wireless services provider has requested in writing that the applicant collocate the small wireless facilities or install, modify, or replace the pole at the requested location.
(E) Routine maintenance and replacement. An application shall not be required for: (1) routine maintenance; (2) the replacement of small wireless facilities with small wireless facilities that are substantially similar or the same size or smaller; or (3) the installation, placement, maintenance, operation, or replacement of micro wireless facilities that are suspended on cables that are suspended between poles or support structures in compliance with applicable codes by a wireless provider that is authorized to occupy the ROW and that is remitting a consent, franchise, or administrative fee pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 58-9-2230. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the municipality may require that prior to performing any activity described above, an applicant must apply for and receive a permit for work that requires excavation or closure of sidewalks or vehicular lanes within the ROW for such activity. Such a permit must be issued to the applicant on a nondiscriminatory basis upon terms and conditions that are consistent with applicable codes and that apply to the activities of any other person in the ROW that require excavation or the closing of sidewalks or vehicular lanes.
(F) Information updates. Any amendment to information contained in an application shall be submitted in writing to the municipality within ten business days after the change necessitating the amendment.
(G) Consolidated application. An applicant seeking to collocate small wireless facilities may submit a single consolidated application, provided that such a consolidated application shall be for a geographic area no more than two miles in diameter and for no more than 30 small wireless facilities. In such case, the applicant may receive a single permit for the collocation of multiple small wireless facilities. The denial of one or more small wireless facilities in a consolidated application must not delay processing of any other small wireless facilities in the same consolidated application. Solely for purposes of calculating the number of small wireless facilities in a consolidated application, a small wireless facility includes any pole on which such small wireless facility will be collocated.
(H) Application fees.
(1) The municipality hereby determines that the following fees for applications are reasonable and nondiscriminatory and do not recover more than the municipality's direct costs for processing an application. For each application, the municipality hereby imposes fees as follows:
(a) For applications to collocate small wireless facilities on existing poles or support structures, $100 each for the first five small wireless facilities in the same application and $50 for each additional small wireless facility in the same application;
(b) For applications to collocate small wireless facilities on new poles, $1,000 for each pole, which fee covers both the installation of the new pole and the collocation on the new pole of associated small wireless facilities; and
(c) For applications to collocate small wireless facilities on modified or replacement poles, $250 for each pole, which fee covers both the modification or replacement of the pole and the collocation on the pole of associated small wireless facilities.
(2) The application fee shall apply to a wireless provider regardless of whether the wireless provider is subject to a business license tax that is or may be imposed upon it pursuant to S.C. Code § 58-9-2220 or a franchise, consent, or administrative fee that is or may be imposed upon it pursuant to S.C. Code § 58-9-2230. The application fee shall apply to a communications service provider regardless of whether the communications service provider is subject to a franchise fee that is or may be imposed upon it pursuant to S.C. Code § 58-12-330.
(I) Consultant fees. To the extent that the municipality engages one or more consultants to assist in review of applications, the municipality shall impose a fee for such applications to the extent permitted by, and calculated in accordance with, S.C. Code § 58-11-850(D)(4).
(Ord. 2021-018, passed 7-13-2021)