(A) General provisions. The following provisions shall govern the issuance of special use permits for personal wireless service facilities by the village.
(B) If the personal wireless service facility is not a permitted use under § 154.174, then a special use permit shall be required for the construction of a tower or the placement of an antenna on a base station.
(C) Applications for special use permits under this subchapter shall be subject to the procedures and requirements of the zoning regulations in this chapter; in particular, any specific regulations of the zoning district in which the property on which the special use is to be located, except as modified in this subchapter. In the event of a conflict, the more restrictive regulation shall control.
(D) In granting a special use permit, the Zoning Board may recommend, and/or the Board of Trustees may impose, conditions for approval to the extent the village concludes such conditions are necessary to minimize any unique adverse effect of the proposed tower, any equipment building or cabinet, and other facilities related to the tower, but such conditions may not have the effect of prohibiting erection of a tower otherwise shown to be necessary at the proposed location.
(E) Any information of an engineering nature that the applicant submits, whether civil, mechanical, or electrical, shall be certified by a licensed professional engineer.
(F) Each applicant for special use shall file an application with the Village Clerk, including the information set forth in § 154.173(B), together with the application fee and a deposit from which the village shall from time to time pay the costs incurred by the village for reviewing the application, including fees incurred for any consultant to review and report on the application. Any balance remaining on said deposit after final decision of the application shall be refunded to the applicant. The Village Board shall from time to time set a fee and required deposit amount for such application.
(G) Towers.
(1) Information required. In addition to any information required for applications for special use permits under the the zoning regulations in this chapter, applicants for a special use permit for a tower shall submit the following information.
(2) A scaled site plan clearly indicating the location, type and height of the proposed tower, on-site land uses and zoning, adjacent land uses and zoning (including properties outside the village's boundaries), Comprehensive Plan classification of the site and all properties within the applicable separation distances set forth in this subchapter, adjacent roadways, proposed means of access, setbacks from property lines and structures, elevation drawings of the proposed facilities, topography, parking, and other information deemed by the village to be reasonably necessary to assess compliance with this subchapter.
(3) The setback distance between the proposed tower and each of the following: the nearest residential unit; any residentially zoned property (including any unplatted residentially zoned property); and any other property planned for residential uses.
(4) A landscape plan showing specific landscape materials to be incorporated into the screening required, if any.
(5) A description of the finished color and, if applicable, the method of camouflage and illumination, including any fencing.
(6) A description of applicant's compliance with § 154.173(C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I) and (K) and divisions (E) and (F) of this section.
(7) A statement by the applicant as to whether construction of the tower will accommodate collocation of additional antennas for future users.
(8) A statement by the applicant describing how/why any existing towers or base stations cannot be used to provide the service proposed by the new tower.
(9) If the location is leased or to be leased to applicant, agreement by the owner to terms relating to removal of the personal wireless service facility and related facilities, as described in this section.
(H) Factors considered in granting special use permits for towers. In addition to any standards for consideration of a special use permit application pursuant to § 154.208 of this chapter, the Zoning Board and the Board of Trustees shall consider the following factors in determining whether to recommend issuance of a special use permit:
(1) Height of the proposed tower by comparison to the permitted height in the relevant zoning district, and whether the application qualifies for a height variance, if required;
(2) Whether uses on adjacent and nearby properties are particularly and uniquely sensitive to the impacts from towers, and the facts which distinguish the adjacent and nearby properties from other properties in the village;
(3) Whether topography of the land surrounding the proposed site of the tower affects the perceived height of the tower and the utility of the tower;
(4) Whether tree coverage and foliage surrounding the proposed site of the tower affects the applicant's ability to camouflage the tower;
(5) Design of the tower, with particular reference to design characteristics that have the effect of reducing or eliminating visual obtrusiveness;
(6) How the proposed ingress and egress to the proposed site of the tower affects nearby traffic patterns and whether the surrounding highway network is capable of supporting the vehicles used to install and service the tower; and
(7) Availability of suitable existing towers, other structures, or distributed antenna systems, as discussed in division (I) of this section.
(I) Availability of suitable existing towers, other structures, or alternative technology. No new tower shall be permitted unless the applicant demonstrates to the reasonable satisfaction of the village that no existing tower, base station or a distributed antenna system can accommodate the applicant's proposed coverage requirements. An applicant shall submit information requested by the village related to the availability of suitable existing towers, other structures or distributed antenna systems. Evidence submitted to demonstrate that no existing tower, base station or distributed antenna systems can accommodate the applicant's proposed antenna may consist of any of the following:
(1) There are no existing towers or base stations are located within the geographic area which meet applicant's engineering requirements.
(2) Existing towers or base stations are not of sufficient height to meet applicant's engineering requirements.
(3) Existing towers or base stations do not have sufficient structural strength to support applicant's proposed antenna and related equipment.
(4) The applicant's proposed antenna would cause electromagnetic interference with the antenna on existing towers or base stations, or the antenna on the existing towers or base stations would cause such interference with the applicant's proposed antenna.
(5) The fees, costs, or other contractual provisions for payment or expense required by the owner in order to share an existing tower or base station or to adapt an existing tower or base station for sharing are unreasonable. Total fees, costs or other contractual provisions for payment or expense which exceed the cost of developing and constructing a new tower are presumed to be unreasonable.
(6) The applicant demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that there are other limiting factors that render existing towers and base stations unsuitable.
(7) The applicant demonstrates that an alternative technology that does not require the use of towers or structures, such as a distributed antenna system, is unsuitable. It shall not be presumed that merely because costs of alternative technology exceed the cost of developing a new personal wireless service facility that the alternative technology is unsuitable.
(J) Setbacks. The following setback requirements shall apply:
(1) Towers must be set back a distance equal to at least 100% of the height of the tower from any adjoining lot line.
(2) Guys and equipment buildings or cabinets must satisfy the minimum zoning district setback requirements, including the provision of transitional yards, if required.
(K) Separation. The following separation requirements shall apply to all towers and antennas for which a special use permit is required:
(1) Separation from off-site uses/designated areas. Tower separation shall be measured from the base of the tower to the lot line of the off-site uses and/or designated areas as specified in Table 1, including the exceptions noted therein.
(2) Separation requirements for towers shall comply with the minimum standards established in Table 1.
(3) Separation distances between towers shall be applicable for new towers, and shall be measured as the distance between the proposed tower and any preexisting towers. The separation distances shall be measured by drawing or following a straight line between the base of the existing tower and the proposed base, pursuant to a site plan, of the proposed tower. The separation distances (listed in linear feet) shall be as shown in Table 2.
Table 1. | |
Off Site Use/Designated Area | Separation Distance |
Residential properties Whether single-family, duplex or multi-family Whether vacant or with a principal structure Whether platted or has a preliminary subdivision plan approved that is not expired | 400 feet |
Non-residentially zoned lands or non-residential used land | 100% of the tower height |
The Kishwaukee River, Bull Run or any watercourse | 300 feet, as measured from the shore |
Highways | 500 feet, from the right-of-way |
Table 2. Existing Towers - Type, Minimum Separation Distance | ||||
Lattice | Guyed | Monopole >75 Feet High | Monopole <75 Feet High | |
Lattice | 1,000 | 1,500 | 500 | 250 |
Guyed | 1,500 | 1,750 | 1,500 | 1,250 |
Monopole >75 feet high | 500 | 1,500 | 250 | 250 |
Monopole <75 feet high | 250 | 1,250 | 250 | 250 |
(L) Security fencing/anti-climbing. Notwithstanding anything else to the contrary contained in the zoning regulations in this chapter, a tower, and any equipment building or cabinet related thereto, shall be enclosed by fencing for security purposes. Said fencing shall be not less than six feet in height. The tower shall also be equipped with an appropriate anti-climbing device; or shall be designed to discourage climbing; provided however, that the Zoning Board may recommend and the Board of Trustees may approve a waiver of such requirement as it deems appropriate.
(M) Landscaping. In the event that landscaping is proposed by the applicant or is otherwise required as a condition for approval of the special use application, the following requirements shall govern:
(1) The standard landscape screen or buffer shall consist of a landscaped buffer of evergreen trees at least six feet high outside the perimeter of the facilities and/or any fence.
(2) In a location where the visual impact of the tower would be minimal, the landscaping standards may be reduced in the discretion of the village.
(3) Existing mature tree growth and natural land forms on the site shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible.
(N) Recommendation; approval. The Zoning Board may recommend, and/or the Board of Trustees may approve, a waiver or reduction of the burden of any one or more of the criteria set forth in this subchapter, if either respectively concludes that the purposes and goals of this subchapter would be better served thereby; and specifically as to the setback requirement of this subchapter, may reduce the standard if enforcement of the requirement would effectively prohibit the proposed facilities.
(Ord. 16-02, passed 2-22-2016)