(a) Permit Application Review Timeframes.
(1) Collocation of small cell facilities on existing wireless support structures. The Municipality shall grant or deny its consent for requests to collocate, or to replace or modify a small cell facility on, or associated with, an existing wireless support structure not later than ninety days after the date of filing by an entity of a completed application.
(2) New wireless support structures and associated small cell facilities. The Municipality shall grant or deny its consent for requests to construct, modify, or replace a wireless support structure associated with a small cell facility within the right-of-way not later than one hundred twenty days after the date of filing by an entity of a completed application.
(3) Wireless support structure and/or small cell facilities removal. The Municipality shall grant or deny its consent for requests to remove wireless support structures associated with small cell facilities from the right-of-way typical to the review timeframes for the general right-of-way permit required for this activity.
(4) Eligible facilities request. The Municipality shall approve eligible facilities requests in accordance with Ohio R.C. 4939, 47 C.F.R. §1.40001, and not later than sixty days after the date of filing by an entity of a submitted application.
(b) Failure to Grant or Deny Within Prescribed Timeframes. If the Municipality fails to approve or deny a request for consent under this section or a request for a relevant work permit within the timeframes required, provided the time period is not tolled or extended with the written consent of the applicant and the Mayor, the request shall be deemed granted upon the requesting entity providing notice to the Municipality that the time period for acting on the request has lapsed.
(c) Application Denials.
(1) The Municipality shall not unreasonably withhold or deny consent for small cell facilities and wireless support structures within the right-of-way.
(2) If a request for consent is denied, the Municipality shall provide in writing its reasons for denying the request, supported by substantial, competent evidence, and such information as the applicant may reasonably request to obtain consent. The denial of consent shall not unreasonably discriminate against the entity requesting the consent.
(3) Except in the case of a public utility subject to the jurisdiction and recognized on the rolls of the public utilities commission or of a cable operator possessing a valid franchise awarded pursuant to the “Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984,” 98 Stat. 2779, 47 U.S.C.A. 541, the Municipality, for good cause shown, may withhold, deny, or delay its consent to any person based upon the person's failure to possess the financial, technical, and managerial resources necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
(d) Tolling of Required Timeframes.
(1) The time periods required in this section may be tolled only:
A. By mutual agreement between the entity requesting consent and the Municipality;
B. In cases where the Municipality determines that the application is incomplete; or
C. If the number of requests for consent for small cell facilities or wireless support structures received is likely to result in difficulty processing applications within the time limits set forth this section due to the lack of resources of the Municipality, then the Municipality may toll the time limits as follows:
1. The time period may be tolled for up to twenty-one days for each group of fifteen small cell facility or wireless support structure requests received by the Municipality based on date of receipt by the Municipality.
2. In no instance shall the Municipality toll the time period for any small cell facility or wireless support structure request by more than ninety consecutive days. Upon request, the Municipality shall provide an operator written notice of the time limit for a small cell facility or wireless support structure request.
(2) To toll the time period for incompleteness, the Municipality shall provide written notice to the person requesting consent not later than thirty days after receiving the request, clearly and specifically delineating all missing documents or information. The missing documents or information shall be reasonably related to determining whether the request meets the requirements of applicable federal and state law. Any notice of incompleteness requiring other information or documentation, including information of the type described in Ohio R.C. 4939.0313 or documentation intended to illustrate the need for the request or to justify the business decision for the request, in accordance with state and federal law, does not toll the time period for incompleteness.
(3) The time period for granting or denying consent resumes when the entity makes a supplemental submission in response to the Municipality's notice of incompleteness.
(4) If a supplemental submission is inadequate, the Municipality shall notify the entity not later than ten days after receiving the supplemental submission that the supplemental submission did not provide the information identified in the original notice that delineated missing documents or information. The time period may be tolled in the case of second or subsequent notices under the procedures identified in divisions (1) to (3) of this section. Second or subsequent notices of incompleteness may not specify missing documents or information that was not delineated in the original notice of incompleteness.
(e) Consolidated Application for Multiple Small Cell Facilities And/or Wireless Support Structures.
(1) Applicants seeking to construct, modify, collocate, or replace more than one small cell facility or more than one wireless support structure may file, at the applicant's discretion, a consolidated application for up to 30 small cell facility requests or up to 30 wireless support structure requests in a single application and receive a single permit for the construction, modification, collocation, or replacement of the small cell facilities or wireless support structures subject to the following:
A. This single application may be filed for multiple small cell facilities or multiple wireless support structures only if they are of substantially the same type.
B. The Municipality may separately address small cell facility collocations or wireless support structures for which incomplete information has been received or which are denied.
(2) In the case of a consolidated application, the fees provided for in Ohio R.C. 4939.0316 and in separate fee ordinances may be cumulative. However, the Municipality, at its discretion may opt to reduce such fees in order to encourage consolidated application submittals.
(3) In the case of a consolidated application, each small cell facility or wireless support structure proposed to be constructed, modified, collocated on, or replaced shall constitute a separate request for consent for purposes of tolling the response deadline as authorized under Ohio R.C. 4939.036 and this chapter. A request by a single operator for a new or replacement wireless support structure and associated small cell facility constitutes one request.
(f) Timeframe for Completion of Permit.
(1) Collocations of small cell facilities on existing wireless support structures and the construction of new wireless support structures and/or associated small cell facilities for which permits have been granted shall be completed by the operator or its agent within one hundred eighty days after issuance of the permit, unless:
A. The Municipality and the operator agree to extend this period; or
B. A delay is caused by make-ready work for a Municipality-owned wireless support structure or decorative pole or by the lack of commercial power or backhaul availability at the site, provided that:
1. The operator has made a timely request within sixty days after the issuance of the permit for commercial power or backhaul services; and
2. The additional time to complete installation does not exceed three hundred sixty days after issuance of the permit.
(2) If divisions (1)A. and (1)B. of this section cannot be met, the permit shall be void unless the Municipality grants an extension in writing to the operator.
(g) Small Cell Facility and Wireless Support Structure Activities Not Requiring Consent.
(1) Municipality consent shall not be required for either of the following activities conducted in the right-of- way:
A. Routine maintenance of wireless facilities;
B. The replacement of wireless facilities with wireless facilities that are consistent with the Municipality's current design requirements and guidelines and that are either:
1. Substantially similar to the existing wireless facilities; or
2. The same size or smaller than the existing wireless facilities.
(2) The Municipality may require a right-of-way construction permit for any activity described in division (1) of this section and for any activity for which consent is authorized herein and in accordance with state and federal law if such work involves blocking any access to the right of way or roadways, including the use of traffic control measures required by the Municipality or other relevant laws.
(Ord. 2019-06. Passed 6-13-19.)