(A) Purpose. To accommodate the communication needs of residents and businesses while protecting the public health, safety, and general welfare of the community, the city finds that these regulations are necessary in order to:
(1) Facilitate the provision of wireless telecommunication services to the residents, and businesses, of the city;
(2) Minimize adverse visual effects of towers through careful design and siting standards;
(3) Avoid potential damage to adjacent properties from tower failure through structural standards and setback requirements; and
(4) Maximize the use of existing, and approved, towers and buildings to accommodate new wireless telecommunication antennas in order to reduce the number of towers needed to serve the community.
(B) Required permits. Prior to any construction activities, the following permits must be secured from the city:
(1) A building permit; and
(2) A special use permit, as required by § 156.054, and as required by the special use permit application.
(C) Zoning district use. Telecommunication towers and antennae will be allowed in any zoning district in the city upon the approval of the two permits required in division (B) above. The special use permit is required regardless of the underlying zoning district.
(D) Area, setback, and height restrictions.
(1) The minimum lot area requirements are determined by the zoning district in which the tower development site is located, and as determined by any additional area needed to meet all setback requirements of this chapter.
(2) The minimum setback from all property lines and public rights-of-way for telecommunications towers shall be equal to its height, except for towers that are designed to collapse in upon themselves. For these latter type of towers, the minimum setbacks are one-half the tower height for all yard setbacks.
(3) The maximum height for telecommunications towers, including antennae, is 200 feet.
(E) Co-location requirements.
(1) A proposal for a new commercial wireless telecommunication service tower shall not be approved unless it can be documented by the applicant, by a qualified, and licensed, engineer, that the telecommunication equipment planned for the proposed tower cannot be accommodated on an existing, or approved, tower, commercial building, or public structure within a one-mile radius of the proposed tower site due to one, or more, of the following reasons:
(a) The planned equipment would exceed the structural capacity of the existing, or approved, tower or commercial building, and the existing, or approved, tower cannot be reinforced, modified, or replaced to accommodate planned, or equivalent, equipment at a reasonable cost;
(b) The planned equipment would cause interference materially impacting the usability of other existing, or planned, equipment at the tower, or building, and interference cannot be prevented at a reasonable cost;
(c) Existing, or approved, towers and buildings within the search radius (one mile) cannot accommodate the planned equipment at a height necessary to reasonably function; and/or
(d) The applicant must demonstrate that a good faith effort to co-locate equipment on existing towers, or structures, within the one-mile radius, but an agreement could not be reached.
(2) Predominantly economic reasons for not pursuing co-location sites shall not be accepted, and would generally be grounds for rejection of the application, and/or denial of the special use permit.
(3) Any proposed commercial wireless telecommunication service tower shall be designed to accommodate both the applicant’s antennae and comparable antennae for at least two additional users. Towers must be designed to allow for future rearrangement of antennae upon the tower, and to accept antennae mounted at varying heights.
(F) Tower design requirements. Proposed, or modified, towers and antennae shall meet the following design requirements:
(1) Towers and antennae shall be designed to blend into the surrounding environment through the use of color and camouflaging architectural treatment, except in instances where the color is dictated by federal, or state, authorities; and
(2) Commercial wireless telecommunication service towers shall be of a monopole design, unless the Council determines that an alternative design would better blend in to the surrounding environment. Towers must be self-supporting without the use of wires, cables, beams, or other means.
(G) Construction requirements.
(1) All antennae, towers, and accessory structures shall comply with all applicable provisions of this chapter.
(2) Towers shall be certified by a qualified, and licensed, professional engineer to conform to the latest structural standards, and wind loading requirements, of the Uniform Building Code and the Electronics Industry Association.
(3) No part of any antenna, or tower, nor any lines, cable, equipment, wires, or braces in connection with either shall, at any time, extend across, or over, any part of the right-of-way, public street, highway, sidewalk, or property line.
(4) Towers and associated antennae shall be designed to conform with accepted electrical engineering methods and practices, and to comply with the provisions of the National Electrical Code.
(5) All signal and remote control conductors of low energy extending substantially horizontally above the ground between a tower, or antenna, and a structure, or between towers, shall be at least eight feet above the ground at all points, unless buried underground.
(6) Every tower affixed to the ground shall be protected by a security fence to discourage climbing of the tower, unless waived by the city.
(7) Tower locations should provide the maximum amount of screening possible for off-site views of the facility. Existing on-site vegetation shall be preserved to the maximum extent practicable. The area around the base of the tower, and any accessory structures, shall be landscaped, and/or screened.
(H) Lights and other attachments.
(1) No antenna, or tower, shall have affixed, or attached, to it in any way, except during time of repair or installation, any lights, reflectors, flashers, or other illuminating device, except as required by the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), nor shall any tower have constructed on, or attached to, in any way, any platform, catwalk, crow’s nest, or like structure, except during periods of construction or repair.
(2) The use of any portion of a tower for signs, other than warning or equipment information signs, is prohibited.
(I) Accessory utility building. All utility buildings and structures accessory to a tower shall be architecturally designed to blend in with the surrounding environment, and shall meet the minimum setback requirements of the zoning district in which the tower site is located. Ground mounted equipment shall be screened from view by suitable vegetation, except where a design of non-vegetative screening better reflects, and complements, the architectural character of the surrounding neighborhood.
(J) Screening standards.
(1) When used, walls, or fences, must provide for full visual screening of accessory buildings or storage areas, as viewed from residential areas and state, and county, roads.
(2) The materials used for constructing the wall, or fence, shall be specified in the site plan, and shall be subject to approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council.
(3) Berms, if used, shall be constructed with a slope not to exceed 3:1, and shall be covered with sod, or other landscape material, sufficient to prevent erosion of the berm.
(4) Trees, hedges, or other vegetative materials, when used, must provide at least 75% capacity throughout the year. The screening must also conform to all vegetative setback requirements of this chapter.
(K) Maintenance requirements.
(1) The yard area in front of fences, and walls, shall be trimmed, and maintained, in a neat and attractive manner.
(2) Repairs to damaged areas of walls, or fences, shall be made within 30 days of sustaining the damage.
(3) Areas left in a natural state, and vegetative screening area, shall be properly maintained in a sightly, and well-kept, condition.
(4) Diseased, dying, or dead vegetative screening elements shall be removed and then replaced, at a minimum, with healthy plants of the same size required when first planted.
(L) Abandoned, or unused towers, or portions of towers.
(1) All abandoned, or unused, towers, and associated facilities, shall be removed within six months of the cessation of operations at the site, unless a time extension is approved by the Council. A copy of the relevant portions of a signed lease, which requires the applicant to remove the tower, and any associated facilities, upon the cessation of their operations, shall be submitted at the time of application. In the event that a tower is not removed within six months of cessation of operations at a site, the tower, and associated facilities, may be removed by the city, and the cost of removal assessed against the property.
(2) Unused portions of towers above manufactured connection shall be removed within six months of the time of antenna relocations. The replacement of portions of a tower previously removed requires the issuance of a new building/special use permit.
(M) Antennae mounted on roofs, walls, and existing towers. The placement of wireless telecommunication antennae on roofs, walls, and existing towers may be approved by the Council; provided, the antennae meets the requirements of this chapter, after submittal of:
(1) A site and building plan; and
(2) A report prepared by a qualified, and licensed, professional engineer indicating the existing structure’s, or tower’s, suitability to accept the antenna, and the proposed method of affixing the antenna to the structure. A complete detailing of all fixtures and couplings needed, and the precise point of attachment, shall be indicated.
(N) Additional submittal requirements. In addition to the information required elsewhere in this chapter, applications for towers shall include the following supplemental information:
(1) Documentation of the area to be served by the tower, including a narrative describing why the site chosen is the most appropriate site for the tower location, the results of any environmental review conducted on the chosen site, and a discussion of why existing structures within the search area would not be suitable as locations, or co-locations, for the purpose of the antennae;
(2) A copy of an agreement between the applicant and property owner that the site, and tower, will be designed for not less than three users. The agreement shall also include a statement that any unused, or obsolete, tower shall be removed by the property owner, or applicant. This agreement shall be signed by the applicant and property owner, and shall be attached to, and become part of, the permit;
(3) A report from a qualified, and licensed, professional engineer which:
(a) Describes the tower height and design, including a cross section and elevation;
(b) Documents the height above grade for all potential mounting positions for co-locating antennae, and the minimum separation distances between antennae;
(c) Describes the tower capacity, including the number, and type, of antennae it can accommodate;
(d) Documents what steps the applicant will take to avoid interference with established public safety telecommunications;
(e) Includes an engineer’s stamp and registration number; and
(f) Includes other information necessary to evaluate the request.
(4) Before the issuance of a building permit, the following supplemental information shall be submitted:
(a) Proof that the proposed tower complies with regulations administered by the FAA; and
(b) A report from a qualified, and licensed, professional engineer which demonstrates the tower’s compliance with the aforementioned structural, and electrical, standards.
(5) Additional liability insurance equivalent to the minimum city requirements, and proof of insurance shall be provided with all other information contained with the submittal materials.
(Prior Code, § 11.70)