(A) Notice of incompleteness. Within ten days of receiving an application, the municipality must determine and notify the applicant in writing whether the application is complete. If an application is incomplete, the municipality shall specifically identify the missing information in writing. The processing deadline set forth in division (B) below is tolled from the time the municipality sends the notice of incompleteness to the time the applicant provides the missing information. The processing deadline also may be tolled by agreement of the applicant and the municipality, confirmed in writing.
(B) Time requirements for review of applications. An application must be processed on a nondiscriminatory basis. The following shall apply to all applications except those for eligible facilities requests, which are addressed below in division (C). The municipality shall make its final decision to approve or deny the application within 60 days of receipt of a complete application for collocation of small wireless facilities and within 90 days of receipt of a complete application for the installation, modification, or replacement of a pole and the collocation of associated small wireless facilities on the installed, modified, or replaced pole. If the municipality fails to act on an application within the applicable time period, the applicant may provide the municipality written notice that the time period for acting has lapsed. The municipality shall then have 20 days after receipt of such notice to render its written decision. The application shall be deemed to have been approved by passage of time and operation of law if the municipality does not render its written decision within the noticed 20 days. If applicable federal or state law establishes a shorter period or different requirements for action, the municipality shall comply with such applicable law, but the remedy for non-compliance shall be limited to the remedy established by that applicable law.
(C) Eligible facilities requests. If the application is an eligible facilities request, the municipality shall approve the application within 60 days of receipt of the application, subject to tolling after notification of an incomplete application until the date when the applicant submits all the documents and information identified in the notice of incompleteness. Any approval shall be operative, and any permit issued pursuant to this division shall remain in effect, only for so long as federal law (47 U.S.C. § 1455) and implementing Federal Communications Commission regulations (47 C.F.R. §1.40001) provide for special approval of an eligible facilities request. In approving an eligible facilities request hereunder, the municipality intends only to comply with the requirements of federal law and not to grant any property rights, interests, or consents except as compelled by federal law.
(D) Notice in writing required. The municipality shall notify the applicant in writing of its final decision. If the application is denied, the municipality shall specify the basis for a denial, including citations to federal, state, or local code provisions and/or statutes on which the denial was based.
(E) Right to cure. The applicant may cure the deficiencies identified by the municipality and resubmit the application within 30 days of the denial without paying an additional application fee. The municipality shall approve or deny the revised application within 30 days of resubmission and limit its review to the deficiencies cited in the denial. If the municipality fails to act on a revised application within this 30-day period, the applicant may provide the municipality written notice that the time period for acting has lapsed, and the municipality shall then have five days after receipt of such notice to render its written decision approving or denying the revised application. The revised application shall be deemed to have been approved by passage of time and operation of law if the municipality does not render its written decision within the noticed five days.
(F) Permissible bases for denial. The municipality may deny an applicant's proposed collocation of a small wireless facility or a proposed installation, modification, or replacement of a pole, decorative pole, or support structure only if the proposed collocation, installation, modification, or replacement:
(1) Interferes with the safe operation of traffic control or public safety equipment;
(2) Interferes with sight lines or clear zones for transportation or pedestrians;
(3) Interferes with compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar federal or state standards regarding pedestrian access or movement;
(4) Requests that ground-mounted small wireless facility equipment be located more than seven and one-half feet in radial circumference from the base of the pole, decorative pole, or support structure to which the antenna is to be attached, provided that the municipality shall not deny the application if a greater distance from the base of the pole, decorative pole, or support structure is necessary to avoid interfering with sight lines or clear zones for transportation or pedestrians or to otherwise protect public safety;
(5) Fails to comply with the height limitations permitted by this chapter or (if applicable) in the design manual, or with reasonable and nondiscriminatory horizontal spacing requirements of general application adopted by an enactment that concern the location of ground-mounted equipment and new poles;
(6) Designates the location of a new pole, decorative pole, or support structure for the purpose of collocating a small wireless facility within seven feet in any direction of an electrical conductor, unless the wireless provider obtains the written consent of the power supplier that owns or manages the electrical conductor;
(7) Fails to comply with applicable codes;
(8) Fails to comply with the requirements applicable to the aesthetic, stealth, and concealment requirements contained in this chapter, with the requirements applicable to supplemental review districts, or (if applicable) with the design manual;
(9) Fails to comply with laws of general applicability that address pedestrian and vehicular traffic and safety requirements; or
(10) Fails to comply with laws of general applicability that address the occupancy or management of the ROW and that are not otherwise inconsistent with this chapter.
(G) Requirement to replace or upgrade. The municipality may not require a wireless provider to replace or upgrade an existing pole except for reasons of structural necessity, compliance with applicable codes, or compliance with this chapter (including, if applicable, the design manual). A wireless provider may, with the permission of the pole owner, replace or modify existing poles, but any such replacement or modification must be consistent with the design aesthetics of the poles being modified or replaced.
(H) Compensation. Subject to the limitations set forth herein, every permit shall include as a condition the applicant's agreement to pay such lawful franchise fees, business license taxes, administrative fees, and consent fees as are permitted under applicable South Carolina and federal law. The applicant shall also pay all applicable ad valorem taxes, service fees, sales taxes, or other taxes and fees as may now or hereafter be lawfully imposed on other businesses within the municipality.
(Ord. 2021-018, passed 7-13-2021)