The following definitions shall be defined as written here unless context indicates or requires a different meaning:
AGENT. A person authorized to act on behalf of a permittee or other person or entity in matters pertaining to the processing of a wireless telecommunications facility as outlined in this chapter.
AMATEUR RADIO ANTENNA. An antenna constructed and operated for transmitting and receiving radio signals for noncommercial purposes, usually in relation to a person's hobby.
ANTENNA. That part of a wireless telecommunications facility designed to radiate or receive radio frequency signals.
APPLICANT. Any person that submits an application to the city to site, install, construct, modify, and/or operate a Wireless Telecommunications Facility.
BASE STATION.
(1) The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(1), as may be amended, which defines that term as follows:
(2) A structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables FCC-licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network. The term does not encompass a tower as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(9) or any equipment associated with a tower.
(a) The term includes, but is not limited to, equipment associated with wireless communications services such as private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul.
(b) The term includes, but is not limited to, radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration (including distributed antenna systems and small-cell networks).
(c) The term includes any structure other than a tower that, at the time the relevant application is filed with the city under this section, supports or houses equipment described in division 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(1)(i) through (ii) that has been reviewed and approved under the applicable zoning or siting process, or under another state or local regulatory review process, even if the structure was not built for the sole or primary purpose of providing such support.
(d) The term does not include any structure that, at the time the relevant application is filed with the city under this section, does not support or house equipment described in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(1)(i) through (ii) of this section.
CABLE. Any wire typically consisting of copper, coax or fiber used for utility service purposes.
CAMOUFLAGED or CAMOUFLAGING. Concealment techniques that integrate the transmission equipment into the surrounding natural and/or built environment such that the average, untrained observer cannot directly view the equipment but would likely recognize the existence of the wireless facility or concealment technique. Camouflaging concealment techniques include, but are not limited to:
(1) Facade or rooftop mounted pop-out screen boxes;
(2) Antennas mounted within a radome above a streetlight;
(3) Equipment cabinets in the public rights-of-way painted or wrapped to match the background; and
(4) An isolated or standalone faux-tree.
CODE. The City of Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code.
COLLOCATION. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(2), as may be amended, which defines that term as the mounting or installation of transmission equipment on an eligible support structure for the purpose of transmitting and/or receiving radio frequency signals for communications purposes.
COLLOCATION FACILITY. A wireless telecommunications facility that has been collocated consistent with the meaning of “collocation” as defined above. It does not include the initial installation of a new wireless telecommunications facility where previously there was none, nor the construction of an additional tower on a site with an existing tower.
CPCN. A “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity” granted by the CPUC.
CPUC. The California Public Utilities Commission.
DIRECTOR. The Director of Planning, or his or her designee.
ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(3), as may be amended, which defines that term as a request for modification of an existing tower or base station that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of such tower or base station, involving:
(1) Collocation of new transmission equipment;
(2) Removal of transmission equipment; or
(3) Replacement of transmission equipment.
ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(4), as may be amended, which defines that term as any tower or base station as defined in this section, provided that it is existing at the time the relevant application is filed with the city.
EXISTING. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(5), as may be amended, states a constructed tower or base station is existing for purposes of this section if it has been reviewed and approved under the applicable zoning or siting process, or under another state or local regulatory review process, provided that a tower that has not been reviewed and approved because it was not in a zoned area when it was built, but was lawfully constructed, is existing for purposes of this definition.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC). The independent U.S. governmental agency charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.
HEIGHT. The vertical distance from any point at the top of an antenna and/or ancillary wireless telecommunications structure to the finished or natural surface, whichever is more restrictive or lower, measured directly adjacent to the existing building or new structure.
MODIFICATION. A change to an existing wireless telecommunications facility that involves any of the following: collocation, expansion, alteration, enlargement, intensification, reduction, or augmentation, including, but not limited to, changes in size, shape, color, visual design, exterior material, or equipment model.
OTARD. Any over-the-air reception device subject to 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.4000 et seq., as may be amended, and which includes satellite television dishes not greater than one meter in diameter.
POLE. A single shaft of wood, steel, concrete or other material capable of supporting the equipment mounted thereon in a safe and adequate manner and as required by the provisions of this Code.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. Any public highway, street, alley, sidewalk, parkway which is either owned, operated or controlled by the city, or is subject to an easement or dedication to the city, or is a privately owned area with the city's jurisdiction which is not yet, but is designated as a proposed public right-of-way on a tentative subdivision map approved by the city.
RF. Radio frequency or electromagnetic waves generally between 30 kHz and 300 GHz.
SITE. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(6), as may be amended, which defines that term as for towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, the current boundaries of the leased or owned property surrounding the tower and any access or utility easements currently related to the site, and, for other eligible support structures, further restricted to that area in proximity to the structure and to other transmission equipment already deployed on the ground.
SMALL CELL.
(1) The same as defined by Cal. Gov’t Code § 65964.2, as may be amended, which defines that term as a wireless telecommunications facility or a wireless facility that uses licensed or unlicensed spectrum and that meets the following qualifications:
(a) The small cell antennas on the structure, excluding the associated equipment, total no more than six cubic feet in volume, whether an array or separate.
(b) Any individual piece of associated equipment on pole structures does not exceed nine cubic feet.
(c) The cumulative total of associated equipment on pole structures does not exceed 21 cubic feet.
(d) The cumulative total of any ground-mounted equipment along with the associated equipment on any pole or nonpole structure does not exceed 35 cubic feet.
(e) The following types of associated ancillary equipment are not included in the calculation of equipment volume:
1. Electric meters and any required pedestal;
2. Concealment elements;
3. Any telecommunications demarcation box;
4. Grounding equipment;
5. Power transfer switch;
6. Cutoff switch;
7. Vertical cable runs for the connection of power and other services; and
8. Equipment concealed within an existing building or structure.
(2) SMALL CELL includes a micro wireless facility.
(3) SMALL CELL does not include the following:
(a) Wireline backhaul facility, which is defined to mean a facility used for the transport of communications data by wire from wireless facilities to a network.
(b) Coaxial or fiber optic cables that are not immediately adjacent to or directly associated with a particular antenna or collocation.
(c) Wireless facilities placed in any historic district listed in the National Park Service Certified State or Local Historic Districts or in any historical district listed on the California Register of Historical Resources or placed in coastal zones subject to the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission.
(d) The underlying vertical infrastructure.
STEALTH. Concealment techniques that completely screen all transmission equipment from public view and integrate the transmission equipment with the surrounding natural and/or built environment such that, given the particular context, the average, untrained observer does not recognize the existence of the wireless telecommunications facility or concealment technique. These facilities are so integrated and well-hidden that the average, untrained observer would need special knowledge to recognize their existence. Stealth concealment techniques include, but are not limited to:
(1) Transmission equipment placed completely within existing architectural features such that the installation causes no visible change to the underlying structure; and
(2) New architectural features that mimic the underlying building in architectural style, physical proportion and quality of construction materials. Architectural features commonly used as stealth concealment include, but are not limited to, church steeples, cupolas, bell towers, clock towers, pitched faux-roofs, water tanks and flagpoles. Further, whether a wireless facility qualifies as a stealth facility depends on the context that exists at a given location and is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(7), as may be amended, which states a modification substantially changes the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure if it meets any of the following criteria:
(1) For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it increases the height of the tower by more than 10% or by the height of one additional antenna array with separation from the nearest existing antenna not to exceed 20 feet, whichever is greater; for other eligible support structures, it increases the height of the structure by more than 10% or more than ten feet, whichever is greater;
(a) Changes in height should be measured from the original support structure in cases where deployments are or will be separated horizontally, such as on buildings' rooftops; in other circumstances, changes in height should be measured from the dimensions of the tower or base station, inclusive of originally approved appurtenances and any modifications that were approved prior to February 22, 2012, the date that Congress passed Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (aka the Spectrum Act).
(b) For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it involves adding an appurtenance to the body of the tower that would protrude from the edge of the tower more than 20 feet, or more than the width of the tower structure at the level of the appurtenance, whichever is greater; for other eligible support structures, it involves adding an appurtenance to the body of the structure that would protrude from the edge of the structure by more than six feet;
(c) For any eligible support structure, it involves installation of more than the standard number of new equipment cabinets for the technology involved, but not to exceed four cabinets; or, for towers in the public rights-of-way and base stations, it involves installation of any new equipment cabinets on the ground if there are no pre-existing ground cabinets associated with the structure, or else involves installation of ground cabinets that are more than 10% larger in height or overall volume than any other ground cabinets associated with the structure;
(d) It entails any excavation or deployment outside the current site;
(e) It would defeat the concealment elements of the eligible support structure as determined by the city; or
(f) It does not comply with conditions associated with the siting approval of the construction or modification of the eligible support structure or base station equipment, provided however that this limitation does not apply to any modification that is non-compliant only in a manner that would not exceed the thresholds identified in divisions (a) through (d) in this definition.
TOWER. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(9), as may be amended, which defines that term as any structure built for the sole or primary purpose of supporting any FCC-licensed or authorized antennas and their associated facilities, including structures that are constructed for wireless communications services including, but not limited to, private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul, and the associated site. Examples include, but are not limited to, freestanding mast, pole, monopole, guyed tower, lattice tower, freestanding tower, or other structure designed and primarily used to support wireless telecommunications facility antennas.
TRANSMISSION EQUIPMENT. The same as defined by the FCC in 47 C.F.R. § 1.40001(b)(8), as may be amended, which defines that term as equipment that facilitates transmission for any FCC-licensed or authorized wireless communication service, including, but not limited to, radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, and regular and backup power supply. The term includes equipment associated with wireless communications services including, but not limited to, private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul.
UTILITY POLE. Any pole or tower owned by any utility company that is primarily used to support wires or cables necessary to the provision of electrical or other utility services regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.
VERTICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. All poles or similar facilities in the public rights-of way meant for, or used in whole or in part for, communications services, electrical service, lighting, traffic control or similar functions.
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITY. Equipment installed for the purpose of providing wireless transmission of voice, data, images, or other information including, but not limited to, cellular telephone service, personal communications services, and paging services, consisting of equipment and network components such as towers, utility poles, transmitters, base stations, and emergency power systems. It includes, but is not limited to, antennas and/or other types of equipment for the transmission or receipt of such signals, telecommunications towers or similar structures supporting such equipment, equipment cabinets, pedestals, meters, tunnels, vaults, splice boxes, surface location markers, related transmission equipment, equipment buildings, parking areas, and other accessory development.
(Ord. 1090, passed 9-28-17)