A. The planning manager is authorized to, in his or her discretion, select and retain an independent consultant with expertise in telecommunications satisfactory to the planning manager in connection with any permit application.
B. The planning manager may request independent consultant review on any issue that involves specialized or expert knowledge in connection with the permit application. Such issues may include, but are not limited to:
1. Permit application completeness or accuracy;
2. Planned compliance with applicable RF exposure standards;
3. Whether technically feasible and potentially available alternative locations and designs exist;
4. The applicability, reliability and/or sufficiency of analyses or methodologies used by the applicant to reach conclusions about any issue within this scope; and
5. Any other issue that requires expert or specialized knowledge identified by the planning manager.
C. The applicant must pay for the cost of independent consultant review and for the consultant’s testimony in any hearing as requested by the planning manager, and must provide a reasonable advance deposit of the estimated cost of such review with the town prior to the commencement of any work by the consultant. The applicant must provide an additional advance deposit to cover the consultant’s testimony and expenses at any meeting where that testimony is requested by the planning manager. Where the advance deposit is insufficient to pay for the cost of such review and/or testimony, the planning manager shall invoice the applicant and the applicant shall pay the invoice in full within ten calendar days after receipt of the invoice. No permit shall issue to an applicant where that applicant has not timely paid a required fee, provided any required deposit, or paid any invoice as required in the code.
Ordinance 2021.004 replaced “planning director” with “planning manager” in paragraphs A, B, B.5, and C