(A) Intent. The purpose of these telecommunication facility standards is to provide for adequate, reliable public and private telecommunications service while maximizing the use of transmission towers and tower sites. These requirements also seek to minimize the adverse, undesirable visual impact of towers through minimizing needed towers and tower sites, careful design and siting, and screening.
(B) General telecommunication facility standards applicable to all zoning districts.
(1) Required approvals. The placement of telecommunications facilities shall meet the following approval requirements:
(a) Installation of new antenna. The installation of new antenna(s) on existing towers, including legal non-conforming towers, and existing alternative structures (such as water towers, buildings, or church steeples) may be approved by the Planning Director subject to conformance with all applicable requirements of this chapter. New antenna that will add any height to an existing tower, or extend over ten feet above the highest point of any alternative structure shall be subject to the provisions of this section for the installation of new towers as described.
(b) Installation of new accessory structures. The installation of new accessory structure(s), such as equipment buildings, to support the installation of antenna on existing towers or alternative structures may be approved by the Planning Director subject to conformance with the applicable requirements of this chapter.
(c) Installation of new tower. The installation of any new tower(s) shall be reviewed either by the Planning Director in the case of a permitted use or by the Board of Zoning Appeals as a special exception use consistent with the provisions of this section and §§ 156.020 et seq.
(2) Abandonment. Abandoned or unused towers or portions of towers shall be removed as follows: The owner of a wireless facility shall file annually a declaration with the Plan Director or his or her duly authorized designee as to the continuing operation of every facility installed subject to these regulations, and purchase a occupancy permit under the guidelines of § 156.100. In addition, the owner shall file annually a certificate of insurance from the owner's insurance carrier annually a certificate of insurance from the owner's insurance carrier listing Hancock County and the Hancock County Commissioners as additional insureds for the purposes of general liability with regard to bodily injury, personal injury and property damage from all possible risks in an aggregate amount of not less than $5,000,000 per incident with a further provision that said insurance carrier shall notify the Hancock County Commissioners 30 days in advance of either cancellation and/or non-renewal of said policy of insurance. Failure to do any of the above requirements shall be determined to mean that the facility is no longer in use and considered abandoned, thus subject to the following:
(a) Removal. All abandoned or unused towers and associated facilities shall be removed within 180 days of the cessation of operations at the site unless a time extension is approved by the Plan Director or his or her duly authorized designee. A copy of the relevant portions of a signed lease which requires the applicant to remove the tower and associated facilities upon cessation of operations at a site shall be submitted at the time of application. In the event that a tower is not removed within 180 days of the cessation of operations at a site, the tower and associated facilities may be removed by the county and the costs of removal, enforcement including attorney's fees shall be assessed against the property; and/or the property owners.
(b) Time constraint. Unused portions of towers above a manufactured connection shall be removed within 180 days of the time of antenna relocation. The replacement of portions of a tower previously removed requires the issuance of a new wireless facility permit.
(3) Required documentation. In addition to the requirements provided elsewhere in this chapter for the receipt of a special exception approval and an improvement location permit, applications for new towers shall include the following:
(a) Engineer's report. A report from a professional engineer licensed in the State of Indiana that:
1. Describes the tower height and design including a cross-section, latitude, longitude, and elevation;
2. Documents the height above grade for all potential mounting positions for co-located antenna and the minimum separation distance between antenna;
3. Describes the tower's capacity, including the type and number of antenna it can accommodate;
4. Documents what steps the tower owner will take to avoid interference with established public safety telecommunication facilities; and
5. Includes an engineer's stamp and registration number.
(b) Letter of intent. A letter of intent committing the tower owner, property owner, and their successors to allow the shared use of the tower if an additional user agrees in writing to meet reasonable terms and conditions for shared use.
(c) Proof of compliance. Proof of compliance with all applicable Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) regulations, provided by those agencies.
(d) Removal affidavit. A letter committing the property owner and their successors to remove the tower and all related accessory structures, fences, landscaping, and equipment if the tower is abandoned (unused for a period of one year).
(e) Additional insured. The tower owner shall name Hancock County as an additional insured.
(f) Determination of new tower need. Any proposal for a new telecommunications tower shall only be approved if the applicant submits verification from a professional engineer licensed in the State of Indiana that the antennas planned for the proposed tower cannot be accommodated on any existing or approved towers or other structures within a two mile radius of the proposed tower location due to one or more of the following reasons:
1. Inadequate structural capacity. The antennas would exceed the structural capacity of the existing or approved tower or other structure, and the existing or approved tower, building or other structure cannot be reinforced, modified, or replaced to accommodate the antennas at a reasonable cost.
2. Interference. The antennas would cause interference impacting the usability of other existing or planned equipment at the tower site and the interference cannot be prevented at a reasonable cost.
3. Inadequate height. The existing or approved towers or structures within the search radius cannot accommodate the planned equipment at a height necessary to function reasonably.
4. Unforeseen circumstances. Other unforeseen reasons that make it unfeasible or impossible to locate the planned telecommunications equipment upon an existing or approved tower or structure.
5. Commonly reasonable lease agreement. The proposed tower owner is unable to enter a commonly reasonable lease term with the existing tower owner or land owner.
6. Land availability. Additional land area is not available (when necessary).
(4) Design requirements. All telecommunications facilities shall meet the following design requirements:
(a) Contextual design. Towers and antennas should generally be designed to blend into the surrounding environment through the use of color, camouflaging and architectural treatment, except in an instance where the color is dictated by federal or state authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration.
1. Wireless telecommunication towers should generally be of a monopole design and, when located within or adjacent to an environmentally or aesthetically sensitive area, or a residential district, be designed to architecturally camouflage the wireless telecommunication tower as much as reasonably practical to blend into the surroundings.
2. The use of residentially compatible materials such as wood, brick, or stone is required for associated accessory structures, which shall be designed to architecturally match the exterior of any adjacent residential or commercial structures within the neighborhood or area.
(b) Lighting. Only when lighting is for safety or security reasons or required by the FAA or other federal or state authority will it be permitted. All ground level security lighting shall be oriented inward so as not to project onto surrounding properties, and shall have 90 degree cut-off luminaries (shielded downlighting).
(c) Co-location. All telecommunication towers shall be designed, and engineered structurally, electrically and in all other respects to accommodate both the applicant's equipment and at least one additional user for every 50 feet in total tower height in excess of 75 feet.
1. Each additional user shall be assumed to have an antenna loading equal to that of the initial user.
2. Towers must be designed to allow for rearrangement of antennas and to accept antennas mounted at varying heights.
(d) Tower height. All towers and antenna shall conform with all FAA tall structure requirements. Tower height shall be expressed as, and measured from, ground level in all instances.
1. In the Commercial (C) zoning districts and Institutional zoning districts the maximum height of the tower shall be 150 feet. The maximum height of any accessory structure shall be 15 feet.
2. In the Industrial (I) and Agriculture zoning districts the maximum height of the tower shall be 200 feet. The maximum height of any accessory structure shall be 15 feet.
(e) Interference with public safety facilities. No new telecommunications facility shall result in any interference with public safety telecommunications.
(f) Signs. Signs for all telecommunications facilities shall be on site and limited to two square feet per user.
(5) Site requirements. All telecommunications facilities shall meet the following site requirements:
(a) Residential areas. No tower shall be placed closer than 500 feet to any property included in a residential zoning district.
(b) On-site staff. All telecommunications facilities shall be fully automated and unattended on a daily basis, and shall be visited only for periodic maintenance and emergencies.
(c) Vehicular access. Vehicular access to the tower and equipment building shall, whenever feasible, be provided along existing driveways. Vehicle access drives shall be gravel in the Residential, Rural (RR) and Agriculture (A) zoning districts, and paved in all other zoning districts. Any portion of the entrance located in a public right-of-way shall meet the applicable public street design, construction, and pavement requirements.
(d) Site area. The lot where the tower is located (or lease area) shall be large enough to accommodate all future anticipated accessory structures needed by future antenna users. The size of the site shall also be of sufficient area to allow the location of one additional tower and associated support facilities. At a minimum, the width and depth of the tower site shall be a distance equal to one-half the tower height.
(e) Setback. The minimum front, side, and rear yard setback for all towers shall be 50 feet from all property lines. No part of a wireless telecommunications facility, including the security fence, any required guide wires or bracing, and required landscape screening shall be permitted in any required front yard setback. Landscape screening in addition to the requirements of this section may be provided in the setback area.
(f) Encroachment. No part of any wireless telecommunications facility nor associated lines, cables, equipment, wires or braces shall at any time extend across or over any part of a public right-of-way, street, highway, sidewalk, or property line.
(g) Fencing. An eight-foot high security fence shall completely surround the tower and accessory equipment building site.
1. An area ten feet in width shall remain outside of the fence for the purpose of providing the landscape screening described in division (B)(5)(h) below.
2. In all zoning districts, the required security fence enclosing the facility shall be 100% opaque and of wood, brick, or stone construction. Opaque eight-foot tall wooden gates shall be provided to access the facility.
(h) Landscape screening. Evergreen buffer plantings shall be located around the outermost perimeter of the security fence of all wireless telecommunications facilities, including any wires and anchors.
1. If evergreen hedges are used they shall be a minimum of two feet tall at the time of planting (measured from ground level) and shall be planted a maximum of three feet on center.
2. If evergreen trees are used they shall be a minimum of five feet tall at the time of planting (measured from the top of the rootball), and shall be planted a maximum of ten feet on center.
3. Existing vegetation (trees and shrubs) shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible.
(i) NOTE: All telecommunications facilities shall be considered accessory uses for the purposes of this chapter.
Sight Design Requirements
(6) Construction requirements. All antennas, towers and accessory structures shall comply with the following construction requirements:
(a) General state/federal requirements. All facilities shall meet the applicable provisions of the Building Code of the State of Indiana and the Federal Communications Commission.
(b) Wind loading/building code requirements. All facilities shall meet the structural standards and wind loading requirements of the applicable building code.
(c) Electrical requirements. All facilities shall meet the accepted electrical engineering methods and practices and comply with the provisions of the National Electrical Code.
(d) OSHA requirements. All facilities shall meet the requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(e) Engineer's certification. An engineer's certification shall be submitted to document and verify the design specifications including but not limited to, the foundation for the tower, anchors for the guy wires if used, co-location, and strength requirements for natural forces; ice, wind, earth movements, etc.
(f) FAA requirements. All facilities shall conform with all lighting and marking requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(7) Existing facilities. The following shall apply to existing antennas and towers:
(a) Replacement of existing towers. Existing legal nonconforming towers may continue in use for their current purpose but may not be replaced unless either the replacement tower is an exact match to the height, setback, and other features of the removed tower, or the replacement tower complies in all respects to the requirements in this chapter. If such towers are hereafter damaged or destroyed due to any reason or cause whatsoever, the tower may be repaired and restored to its former location and physical dimensions upon obtaining an improvement location permit.
(b) Expansion of existing facilities. Any expansion resulting from a specific co-location shall be exempt from the provisions of § 156.090(C) that requires conformance with this chapter in the case of substantial expansions.
(c) Installation of additional antennas. Any request submitted to the Board of Zoning Appeals to install an antenna to be located on an existing approved or "grandfathered" tower shall require an improvement location permit, a copy of the contract between the applicant company and the owner of the tower, and all required documentation. If the antenna will add height to an existing tower or exceed the height of any alternative structure by more than ten feet it shall be considered a new tower for the purposes of this section.
(Ord. 2007-1B, passed 2-5-07)