Except as provided by Section 1169.02, a wireless telecommunications tower and appurtenant facilities may be located, erected, constructed, reconstructed, changed, altered, removed or enlarged in only the I-Industrial, and I-PUD Zoning districts and only as a conditional use subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the approval of the Planning Commission, pursuant to the procedures for site plan review set forth in Section 1140.06 and the following additional conditions:
(a) No wireless telecommunications tower, equipment building, or appurtenant facility shall be located within a designated 100 year flood plain as depicted on the maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Geauga County.
(b) No wireless telecommunications tower, equipment building or appurtenant facility shall be located within a jurisdictional wetland as depicted on the maps published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, for Geauga County.
(c) A security fence not less than eight (8) feet in height shall fully enclose the base of the wireless telecommunications tower, the equipment building, and appurtenant facilities. Gates shall be locked at all times.
(d) Evergreen trees or shrubbery not less than eight (8) feet in height shall be planted along the exterior perimeter of the security fence so as to screen it from view. Existing vegetation on the site shall be preserved to the maximum possible extent. Landscaping on the site shall be continuously maintained and promptly restored as necessary.
(e) A report shall be prepared and submitted by a professional engineer licensed by the State of Ohio, and shall provide proof of compliance with all applicable federal, state, and county regulations. The report shall include:
(2) A detailed description of the wireless telecommunications tower, equipment shelter, and appurtenances as well as the tower's load capacity including the number and types of antennas it can accommodate;
(3) Documentation of compliance with the ANSI/EIA 222-F manual verifying the design and construction specifications for the tower;
(4) Documentation demonstrating that the tower is the minimum height necessary for its operation; and verifying that radio frequency (electromagnetic) emissions will be within compliance with the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.
(5) A copy of the FCC license issued to the wireless telecommunications providers.
(f) A wireless telecommunications tower shall be painted a neutral color to minimize its visibility unless otherwise required by the Federal Communications Commission or the Federal Aviation Administration.
(g) No advertising sign(s) shall be permitted anywhere on a telecommunications tower, equipment shelter, and appurtenances or on the site.
(h) At least one (1) and no more than four (4) warning signs, the maximum size of which shall be four (4) square feet, shall be posted on the site and shall include an emergency telephone number. No other signs shall be posted on the site.
(i) The applicant shall provide the Middlefield Volunteer Fire Department, the Middlefield Police Department, and the Geauga County Emergency Management Agency with information on who to contact, an address, and a telephone number in the event of an emergency.
(j) A wireless telecommunications tower, equipment shelter, and appurtenances shall not be artificially lighted except to assure safety as may be required by the Federal Aviation Administration. If lighting is required, white strobe lights shall not be permitted during night hours unless no other alternative is allowed by the FAA. Proof of compliance with all FAA criteria shall be required and a copy of the review by the FAA shall be submitted.
(k) The applicant shall submit a plan documenting how the wireless telecommunications tower, equipment shelter, and appurtenances will be maintained on the site.
(l) The driveway to the site shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet in width and shall be set back a minimum of ten (10) feet from the nearest side or rear lot line. There shall be a minimum of two (2) off-street parking spaces on the site.
(m) The owner/operator of a free-standing monopole wireless telecommunications tower shall be required to allow collocation for a minimum of two (2) additional antenna platforms of equal loading capacity for two (2) additional unrelated owners/operators. The owner/operator of a free-standing lattice wireless telecommunications tower shall be required to allow collocation for a minimum of five (5) additional antenna platforms of equal loading capacity for five (5) additional unrelated owners/operators. Agreement to this provision must be included in the applicant's lease with the landowner, if different from the owner/operator of the tower. Written documentation must be presented to the Zoning Inspector evidencing that the landowner of the property on which the tower is to be located has agreed to the terms of this regulation as well as all other applicable requirements, regulations and standards set forth herein.
(n) The owner of any wireless telecommunications tower erected under this Chapter shall be required to accept collocation of any other antenna(s), at prevailing market rates, except upon a showing of mechanical or technological nonfeasibility as set forth herein.
(o) A wireless telecommunications tower shall be designed, structurally, electrically, and in all respects, to accommodate both the applicant's antennas and comparable antennas for additional users as set forth herein. Towers shall be designed to allow for future rearrangement of antennas upon the tower and to accept antennas mounted at varying heights.
(p) There shall be no storage outside of the security fence of equipment or other items on the site except during the construction period, for ordinary maintenance, or in times of a power outage.
(q) The minimum distance between wireless telecommunications towers and facilities shall be one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) feet.
(r) If at any time the use of a wireless telecommunications tower, equipment shelter, and appurtenances is discontinued for sixty (60) consecutive days, said facilities shall be deemed abandoned. The Zoning Inspector shall notify the applicant in writing and advise that the facility must be reactivated within thirty (30) days or it must be dismantled and removed from the site at the cost of the owner or lessee. If reactivation or dismantling does not occur, the zoning permit for the site shall be revoked following a hearing thereon by the Planning Commission. During any period of discontinuance of said telecommunications facility, the owner/operator shall be responsible for the exterior maintenance of all equipment, appurtenances and landscaping. The subject lot shall at all times be kept in good repair.
(s) A wireless telecommunications tower shall not be located between the principal building or structure on a lot and a public road right-of-way.
(t) Free-standing wireless telecommunications towers, antennas, and appurtenances shall meet the following requirements:
(1) The maximum height of a freestanding monopole wireless telecommunications tower, including antenna(s), and appurtenances shall not exceed one hundred fifty (150) feet.
(2) The maximum height of a freestanding lattice wireless telecommunications tower, including antenna(s) and appurtenances shall not exceed two hundred (200) feet.
(3) The minimum setback from the nearest lot line to the base of a wireless telecommunications tower, antenna, and appurtenances shall be fifty percent (50%) of the height of the tower.
(4) The maximum size of an equipment shelter accessory to a freestanding monopole wireless telecommunications tower shall be four hundred (400) square feet and for a freestanding lattice wireless telecommunications tower the maximum size of the equipment shelter shall be nine hundred (900) square feet. The maximum height of an equipment shelter shall be twelve (12) feet. An equipment shelter shall be constructed in accordance with all OBBC, BOCA, and Geauga County building codes. The equipment shelter shall be subdivided so as to allow the installation of equipment for other providers who have collected on the same wireless tower.
(5) A free-standing monopole wireless telecommunications sower shell be designed to support the collocation of at least two (2) antenna platforms of equal loading capacity. A free-standing lattice wireless telecommunications tower shall be designed to support the collocation of at least five (5) antenna platforms of equal loading capacity.
(6) A wireless telecommunications tower, antenna, equipment building, and appurtenances shall comply with all of the regulations for the zoning district in which it is located, except as may otherwise be specified in this Section.
(u) Wireless telecommunications towers' antennas, and appurtenances mounted to a building or structure shall meet the following requirements:
(1) A wireless telecommunications tower, antenna, and appurtenances may be mounted to a lawfully existing building or structure (other than a dwelling) or to a proposed building or structure (other than a dwelling) provided the maximum height of the tower, antenna, or appurtenances shall not exceed thirty (30) feet above the highest point of the roof line.
(2) There shall be no more than four (4) wireless telecommunications tower(s) or antenna(s) mounted on an existing building or structure.
(3) A wireless telecommunications tower, antenna, and appurtenances shall comply with all of the dimension and area regulations for the zoning district in which it is located as specified by Chapter 1155.
(4) A written report prepared by a structural engineer licensed by the State of Ohio shall be submitted with the zoning application demonstrating that the building or structure for which a wireless telecommunications tower, antenna, and appurtenance is proposed will support same.
(Ord. 01-127. Passed 9-20-01.)