1273.01 PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this chapter is to establish regulations for wireless telecommunications facilities. The goals of this chapter are:

   (a)   To protect residential areas and lands by minimizing adverse impacts of towers;

   (b)   To encourage the location of towers in non-residential zoning districts;

   (c)   To minimize the total number of towers in the community;

   (d)   To encourage the joint use of new and existing tower locations;

   (e)   To ensure that towers are located in areas that minimize adverse impacts;

   (f)   To ensure towers and antennas are configured in a way that minimizes adverse visual impacts by careful design, appropriate siting, landscape screening, and innovative camouflaging techniques;

   (g)   To enhance the ability to provide telecommunications services to the community quickly, effectively and efficiently;

   (h)   To consider public health and safety of telecommunications facilities;

   (i)   To avoid damage to adjacent properties from tower failure through careful engineering and locating of tower structures;

   (j)   To encourage the attachment of antennas to existing structures;

   (k)   To facilitate the provision of telecommunications services throughout the City; and

   (l)   To allow the location of antennas near certain interstate highways in residential districts. (Ord. 2002-29. Passed 1-6-03.)

1273.02 DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings set forth below.

   (a)   “Antenna” means a system of electrical conductors that transmit or receive electromagnetic waves or radio frequency signals. Such waves shall include, but not be limited to, radio, television, cellular, paging, personal telecommunications service, internet, and microwave telecommunications.

   (b)   “Collocation” means the use of a wireless telecommunications facility by more than one wireless telecommunications provider.

   (c)   “Lattice tower” means a support structure constructed of vertical metal struts and cross braces forming a triangular or square structure which often tapers from the foundation to the top.

   (d)   “Monopole” means a support structure constructed of a single, self supporting hollow metal tube securely anchored to a foundation.

   (e)   “Open space” means land devoted to conservation or recreational purposes and/or land designed by a municipality to remain undeveloped.

   (f)   “Telecommunication” means the technology which enables information to be exchanged through the transmission of voice, video, or data signals by means of electrical or electromagnetic systems.

   (g)   “Wireless telecommunications antenna” means the physical device through which electromagnetic, wireless telecommunications signals authorized by the Federal Communications Commission are transmitted or received. Antennas used by amateur radio operators are excluded from this definition.

   (h)   “Wireless telecommunications equipment shelter” means the structure in which the electronic receiving and relay equipment for a wireless telecommunications facility is housed.

   (i)   “Wireless telecommunications facility” means a facility consisting of the equipment and structures involved in receiving telecommunications or radio signals from a mobile radio communications source and transmitting those signals to a central switching computer which connects the mobile unit with the land- based telephone lines.

   (j)   “Wireless telecommunications tower” means a structure intended to support equipment used to transmit and/or receive telecommunications signals including monopoles, guyed and lattice construction steel structures.

      (Ord. 2002-29. Passed 1-6-03.)

1273.03 CONDITIONAL USE.

   A wireless telecommunications facility which includes a tower or antenna may be permitted as a conditional use in the zoning districts specified in this Chapter, if the applicant satisfies the requirements of this Chapter and Section 1242.07 of the Codified Ordinances.

(Ord. 2002-29. Passed 1-6-03.)

1273.04 PROOF OF UNAVAILABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LOCATIONS.

   (a)   Availability of Collocation. In order to be considered for review in any zoning district, the applicant must prove by substantial evidence that a newly-constructed tower or antenna is necessary for the reason that opportunities for collocation on an existing tower are not feasible, as set forth in Section 1273.05 below.

   (b)   Availability of General Industrial Zoned Sites. When applying for a wireless telecommunications facility on any property where permitted in this Chapter, other than a General Industrial District, the applicant must prove by substantial evidence that it is not feasible to locate on a site in a General Industrial District. The applicant must demonstrate it has exhausted all reasonable efforts to locate on a site in a General Industrial District prior to being approved in any other District permitted in this Chapter.

(Ord. 2002-29. Passed 1-6-03.)

1273.05 APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS.

   The following requirements apply to all wireless telecommunications facilities regardless of the zoning district, in which they are to be located:

   (a)    When the proposed wireless telecommunications facility is to include a new tower or antenna, a site plan at a scale not less than one inch is equal to 100 feet shall be submitted. The site plan shall indicate all building uses within 300 feet of the proposed facility. Aerial photos and/or renderings may augment the site plan.

   (b)   Any applicant requesting permission to install a new tower or antenna shall provide evidence of written contact with all wireless service providers who supply service within a quarter mile of the proposed facility. The applicant shall inquire about potential collocation opportunities at all technically feasible locations. The contacted provider shall be requested to respond in writing to the inquiry within thirty days. The applicant's letter(s) as well as response(s) shall be presented to the Planning Commission as a means of demonstrating the need for a new tower or antenna.
(Ord. 2002-29. Passed 1-6-03.)

   (c)   An application to locate an antenna on a building or structure that is listed on a historical register, or is in the Town Center District shall be subject to review by the Architectural Review Board, in addition to the Planning Commission.
(Ord. 2014-035. Passed 5-5-14.)

   (d)   Applicant shall provide evidence of legal access to the tower or antenna site thereby maintaining this access regardless of other developments that may take place on the site.

   (e)   Where the telecommunications facility is located on property with another principal use, the applicant shall present documentation that the owner of the property has granted an easement or entered into a long-term lease for the proposed facility and that vehicular access is provided to the facility.

   (f)   The applicant shall present a landscaping plan that indicates how the wireless telecommunications facility will be screened from adjoining uses.

   (g)   The applicant shall demonstrate that the telecommunications tower or antenna must be located where it is proposed in order to service the applicant's service area. The applicant shall submit an explanation and supporting engineering data proving that a tower or antenna at the proposed site is technically necessary.

   (h)   As a condition of approval for a new wireless telecommunications tower, the Planning Commission shall establish the amount of a bond, with a surety company approved by the City's Law Director, or cash deposit, in an amount to be determined by the Planning Commission which shall be intended to guarantee the cost of the removal of the wireless telecommunications tower and related wireless telecommunications facility in the event the facility is declared abandoned by the Building Commissioner pursuant to Section 1273.08.

   (i)   Any decision to deny a request to place, construct or modify a wireless telecommunications antenna and/or tower shall be in writing setting out the reasons for the denial in a written document from the appropriate City agency or individual.

   (j)   A filing and review fee shall be paid in the amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for a new wireless telecommunications antenna or equipment on or at an existing structure, and in the amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) for a new wireless telecommunications tower.

   These Procedures and Requirements apply to a new wireless telecommunications facility, a request to modify an existing wireless telecommunications facility, or to an addition to an existing wireless telecommunications facility.

   Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter to the contrary, the Building Commissioner shall first review any request by an applicant for a modification of an existing wireless tower or base station. If, in the Building Commissioner's judgment, the modification does not "substantially change the physical dimensions" of the tower or base station, the Building Commissioner may issue a permit for the modification, if it meets all other legal requirements, without the necessity of referring the application to the Planning Commission for its review. The term "substantially changes the physical dimensions" of a tower or base station shall have the same meaning as set out in 30 Federal Communication Commission Record 31 (FCC 14-153).
(Ord. 2017-168. Passed 11-20-17.)