(A)
The Town Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Department shall, after public notice, promulgate detailed design guidelines with objective, technically feasible criteria applied in a nondiscriminatory manner that reasonably match the aesthetics and character of the immediate area regarding all of the following, which the town shall consider in reviewing an application:
(1) The location of any ground-mounted SWF;
(2) The location of a SWF on a wireless support structure;
(3) The appearance and concealment of SWF, including those relating to materials used for arranging, screening, and landscaping; and
(4) The design and appearance of a wireless support structure.
(B) The design guidelines will provide examples of SWF preferences including visual depictions.
(C) The provisions in this subchapter shall not limit or prohibit the Town Planning Department’s discretion to promulgate and make publicly available other information, materials or requirements in addition to, and separate from, design guidelines so long as the information, materials, or requirements do not conflict with state or federal law.
(D) The Town Planning Department shall have authority to update or supplement the design guidelines to address relevant changes in law, technology, or administrative processes. In the event of any conflict between the design guidelines and the standards articulated in this Code of Ordinances, the ordinance shall take precedence over the language of the design guidelines.
(E) Wireless support structure design standards.
(1)
Aesthetic approaches can vary depending on type of facility (i.e., freestanding, town-owned, transmission, utility, etc.). However, general design guidance and examples are provided below. In recognition of the different features and locations where SWF are placed, these guidelines must be met to the maximum extent practicable as determined by the Director of Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods.
(2) General guidance.
(a) SWF equipment must be indistinguishable from the support pole or structure to the greatest degree possible using matching colors, textures, and materials. The antennas and related equipment shall be in a color that will provide the most camouflage.
(b) Enclosing all wires, antennas, and other small wireless facility equipment.
(c) Screening and equipment enclosures shall blend with or enhance the surrounding context in terms of scale, form, texture, materials, and color. Equipment shall be concealed as much as possible by blending into the natural and/or physical environment. All screening shall be at the discretion of the town.
1. Ground based wireless facilities, shall be painted forest green, unless determined otherwise by the Building Official. Alternatively, ground-based facilities may be made more decorative using artwork which is coordinated and approved by the Director of the Parks and Recreation Department under the town’s public art program. When on a black pole, wireless facilities shall be painted black.
2. When trees, bushes, rocks, and other forms of landscaping are used for screening, such landscaping must match the predominant landscaping form and species within one block of the facilities.
(d) Casing to enclose all wires, antennas, and other small wireless facility equipment may be mounted on top of existing and new poles in a cylinder shape to look like an extension of the pole.
(e) Brand logos and other signage are prohibited on all SWF except signage required to warn of RF emissions, instructions for disabling the SWF, contact information to be used by workers on or near the SWF and as otherwise required by federal or state law. Signage will be no larger than required to be legible from street level.
(3) Types. The town’s order of preference for poles or support structures is as follows:
(a) Monopole/town-owned pole.
(b) Decorative pole or structure.
(c) Existing or proposed structures designed to support or capable of supporting small wireless facilities.
(d) Existing wooden poles or their replacement.
(4) Examples.
(Ord. 19001, passed 2-12-19; Am. Ord. 21042, passed 5-11-21)