(A) After an applicant’s submission of an application to construct a cellular antenna tower, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall:
(1) Review the application in light of its agreement with the Comprehensive Plan and locally adopted zoning regulations;
(2) Make its final decision to approve or disapprove the application; and
(3) Advise the applicant in writing of its final decision within 60 days commencing from the date that the application is submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission or within a date certain specified in a written agreement between the Planning and Zoning Commission and the applicant. If the Planning and Zoning Commission fails to issue a final decision within 60 days, and if there is no written agreement between the Planning and Zoning Commission and the applicant to a specific date for the Planning and Zoning Commission to issue a decision, the application shall be deemed approved.
(B) If the Planning and Zoning Commission disapproves of the proposed construction, it shall state the reasons for disapproval in its written decision and may make suggestions which, in its opinion, better accomplish the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan and the locally adopted zoning regulations. No permit for construction of a cellular or personal communications services antenna tower shall be issued until the Planning and Zoning Commission approves the application or the 60-day time period has expired, whichever occurs first.
(C) (1) The Planning and Zoning Commission may require the applicant to make a reasonable attempt to co-locate additional transmitting or related equipment. It is the intent of these regulations to encourage the collocation and clustering of multiple transmission towers and their antennas and accessory facilities and to discourage the use of individual transmission towers and accessory facility sites. Therefore, more than one transmission tower will be permitted under these regulations on a single tract of land notwithstanding any other provision of § 153.01, provided, they meet all of the required location standards.
(2) The Planning and Zoning Commission may provide the location of existing cellular antenna towers on which the Planning and Zoning Commission deems the applicant can successfully co-locate its transmitting and related equipment.
(3) If the Planning and Zoning Commission requires the applicant to attempt co-location, the applicant shall provide the Planning and Zoning Commission with a statement indicating that the applicant has:
(a) Successfully attempted to co-locate on towers designed to host multiple wireless service providers facilities or existing structures such as a telecommunications tower or another suitable structure capable of supporting the applicant’s facilities, and that identifies the location of the tower or suitable structure on which the applicant will co-locate its transmission and related facilities; or
(b) Unsuccessfully attempted to co-locate on towers designed to host multiple wireless service provider’s facilities or existing structures such as a telecommunications tower or another suitable structure capable of supporting the applicant’s facilities and that:
1. Identifies the location of the towers or other structures on which the applicant attempted to co-locate; and
2. Lists the reasons why the co-location was unsuccessful in each instance.
(4) The Planning and Zoning Commission may deny an application to construct a cellular antenna tower based on an applicant’s unwillingness to attempt to co-locate additional transmitting or related equipment on any new or existing towers or other structures.
(5) In the event of co-location, a utility shall be considered the primary user of the tower if the utility is the owner of the antenna tower and if no other agreement exists that prescribes an alternate arrangement between the parties for use of the tower. Any other entity that co-locates transmission or related facilities on a cellular antenna tower shall do so in a manner that does not impose additional costs or operating restrictions on the primary user.
(6) Upon the approval of an application for the construction of a cellular antenna tower by the Planning and Zoning Commission, the applicant shall notify the Public Service Commission within ten working days of the approval. The notice to the Public Service Commission shall include a map showing the location of the construction site. If an applicant fails to file notice of an approved uniform application with the Public Service Commission, the applicant shall be prohibited from beginning construction on the cellular antenna tower until such notice has been made.
(7) If the Planning and Zoning Commission disapproves of the proposed construction, it shall state the reasons for disapproval in its written decision and may make suggestions which, in its opinion, better accomplish the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan and the locally adopted zoning regulations. No permit for construction of a cellular or personal communications services antenna tower shall be issued until the Planning and Zoning Commission approves the application or the 60-day time period has expired whichever occurs first.
(8) A party aggrieved by a final action of the Planning and Zoning Commission under the provisions of KRS 100.985 to 100.987 may bring an action for review in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(Ord. 697-02, passed 8-12-2002)