All wireless telecommunication facilities shall comply with the following minimum standards:
(a) No wireless telecommunication facility shall be permitted in a residential zoning district or on property owned or controlled by the Orange Board of Education.
(b) All wireless telecommunication towers shall be set back from property lines a distance of at least 110 percent of the height of the tower or the required setback in the zoning district in which it is located, whichever is greater. In no event shall a wireless telecommunication tower or facility be located in front of the principal building on the lot, if any.
(c) All wireless telecommunication towers shall be of a monopole design, as opposed to a lattice design.
(d) Only one wireless telecommunication tower shall be located on a lot of record duly recorded with the County Recorder's Office.
(e) The maximum height of a free-standing wireless telecommunication tower with its antenna and all appurtenances shall be less than 200 feet.
(f) All applicants for the construction or erection of wireless telecommunication towers shall be required to construct on a base tower structure and structure foundation that is designed to be buildable up to, but not including, 200 feet above the finished grade. Such structure shall be designed to have sufficient structural loading capacity to accommodate at least three antenna platforms or antenna arrays of equal loading capacity for three separate providers of service to be located on the structure when constructed to the maximum allowable height. The wireless telecommunication facility shall also be designed to show that the applicant has enough space on its site plan for an equipment shelter large enough to accommodate at least three separate users of the facility. If an equipment shelter is initially constructed to accommodate only one user, space shall be reserved on site for equipment shelter expansions to accommodate up to at least three separate users. Agreement to the provisions of this subsection must be included in the applicant's lease with the landowner, if different from the owner/user of the tower. Written documentation must be presented to the Inspector of Buildings evidencing that the landowner of the property on which the tower is to be located has agreed to the terms of this subsection. As an additional condition of issuing a building permit, the owner/user/applicant shall respond in writing to any inquiries regarding collocation of another user of the facility within thirty days after receipt of a written inquiry. Copies of all written requests to collocate and all written responses shall be sent to the Inspector of Buildings.
(g) The applicant requesting permission to install a new tower shall provide evidence there is no technically suitable space for the applicant's antenna or antennas and related facilities reasonably available on an existing tower, building or structure within the geographic area to be served. With the building permit application, the applicant shall list the location of every tower, building or structure that could support the proposed antenna or antennas or the area where it would be technically suitable to locate so as to allow it to serve its intended function. As part of its application, the applicant shall provide a scaled map of all of its existing, proposed or planned antenna locations within a five mile radius of the site which is the subject of the application.
The applicant must demonstrate that a technically suitable location is not reasonably available on an existing tower, building or structure. If an existing tower, building or structure is technically suitable, the applicant must demonstrate that it has made written request to collocate on the existing tower, building or structure and the request was rejected by the owner of the tower, building or structure. In all circumstances, owners of existing towers shall promptly respond in writing to requests for collocation, but in no event shall they respond more than thirty days from the date of receipt of a written request for collocation. If another telecommunication tower is technically suitable, the applicant must further show that it has offered to allow the owner of that other tower to collocate an antenna or antennas on another tower within the City which is owned or controlled by the applicant, if available, on commercially reasonable terms and that the offer was not accepted.
(h) A report shall be prepared and submitted by a qualified and licensed professional engineer and shall provide proof of compliance with all applicable Federal, State, County and City regulations. The report shall include a detailed site plan, a detailed description of the telecommunication tower, the antenna or antennas, equipment shelter and appurtenances, and shall verify that radio frequency (electromagnetic) emissions are in compliance with the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
(i) The applicant shall submit a plan documenting how the wireless telecommunication facility will be maintained on the site in an ongoing manner that meets industry standards.
(j) On each biennial anniversary of the issuance of the building permit for a wireless telecommunication facility, or not more than ninety days prior thereto, the owner/operator shall submit to the City a report prepared by a licensed professional engineer or engineers which shall verify continued compliance of the facility with all governmental requirements, including, but not limited to, the structural integrity and stability of any towers or antennas, electrical safety standards and auxiliary power source safety standards.
(k) Except as required by law, no antenna or tower shall be illuminated and no lighting fixtures or signs shall be attached to the antenna or tower. If lighting is required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, the most visually nonobtrusive state-of-the-art lighting available shall be used, unless otherwise required by the FAA.
(l) A security fence not less than eight feet in height shall fully enclose those portions of the wireless telecommunication facility which come in contact with the ground. Gates shall be locked at all times.
(m) A landscaped buffer area of not less than fifteen feet in depth shall be placed between the wireless telecommunication facilities and the public rights-of-way and any adjacent properties from which a direct view can be had of the facilities, other than the tower itself. The fifteen-foot landscaped buffer shall have a tight screen fence of hardy evergreen shrubbery not less than six feet in height. The landscaping shall be continuously maintained and promptly restored, if necessary.
(n) No advertising sign or signs or devices shall be permitted anywhere on a wireless telecommunication tower or on the site.
(o) A permanent warning sign with a minimum size of two square feet and a maximum size of six square feet shall be posted on the site as well as an emergency telephone number of the owner/operator of each set of antennas on the site. The owner/operator shall also provide the Inspector of Buildings, the City Fire Department and the City Police Department with information on whom to contact, an address and a telephone number in the event of an emergency.
(p) There shall be no outdoor storage of equipment or other items on the site except during the facility construction period and to supply emergency power to the facility only during a power outage.
(q) The access driveway to the wireless telecommunication facility shall, whenever feasible, be provided along with circulation driveways of the existing use on the lot, if any. Where use of an existing driveway is not feasible, the driveway to the facility shall be a minimum of eighteen feet in width with a minimum overhead clearance of eleven feet and shall be set back a minimum of twenty feet from the nearest side or rear lot line. This driveway shall meet the load limitations for fire equipment. If the access road to the facility is more than 1,500 feet from the public right-of-way, a turnaround shall be provided for emergency vehicles at the site and a by-pass, adequate for emergency vehicles, with an approachable access shall be provided for each additional 1,500 feet of the driveway. There shall be a maximum of one off-street parking space on the site.
(r) The wireless telecommunication antennas shall be of a panel design and mounted flush to the tower, building or structure which elevates the antennas, unless the applicant can demonstrate that it is not feasible from an engineering standpoint to use such antennas or to mount them in such a fashion.
(s) All wireless telecommunication facilities shall be subject to review by the Architectural Board of Review and subject to its requirements. The color of a wireless telecommunication tower and/or antennas shall be as determined by the Architectural Board of Review in order to minimize its visibility unless otherwise required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
(t) After issuance of a building permit to construct a wireless telecommunication facility, the applicant shall commence construction within 180 days and shall complete construction within one year or the building permit shall expire.
(u) The maximum cumulative total size of all equipment shelters accessory to a telecommunication tower or antenna on a lot shall be 600 square feet and their maximum height shall not exceed fifteen feet from building grade. Only one equipment shelter, or the configuration of more than one shelter to appear that there is one shelter, shall be permitted on a lot. Where it is technically feasible and reasonably practical, an existing building or structure on a lot shall be used to shelter the equipment associated with a wireless telecommunication facility.
(v) All utility lines from the utility source to the wireless telecommunication facility shall be underground.
(w) If at any time the use of the wireless telecommunication facility is discontinued for 180 consecutive days, said facility shall be deemed abandoned. The Inspector of Buildings shall notify the applicant in writing and advise such applicant that the facility must be reactivated within ninety days or it must be dismantled and removed from the site within that same ninety-day period at the cost of the owner/operator. The owner/operator of the telecommunication facility shall, on no less than an annual basis from the date of issuance of the building permit, file a declaration with the Inspector of Buildings as to the continuing operation of every facility which is subject to this chapter.
(x) The owner/operator of the wireless telecommunication facility shall be required as a condition of issuance of a building permit to post a cash or surety bond acceptable to the Director of Law of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per vertical foot from natural grade of the wireless telecommunication facility, which bond shall insure that an abandoned, obsolete or destroyed wireless telecommunication antenna or tower shall be removed within 180 days of cessation of use and abandonment. Any successor-in-interest or assignee of the owner/operator shall be required to additionally execute such bond, as principal, to insure that the bond will be in place during the period of time that the successor-in-interest or assignee occupies the facility.
(Ord. 1997-18. Passed 7-16-97.)