(a) In the event the use of a wireless telecommunications tower ceases for a period of six months, whether the tower has had no antenna mounted upon it or the antenna(s) mounted thereon is not operated, the facility shall be considered abandoned. The owner/operator shall agree to remove the nonfunctioning facility within one hundred eighty (180) days after receipt of a notice from the Zoning Administrator to do so. If reactivation or dismantling does not occur within 180 days, the municipality will remove or will contract to have the facility removed, and assess he owner/operator the costs associated with such removal. Prior to receiving a zoning certificate, the owner/operator shall:
(1) Sign a written consent to annual inspection of the wireless telecommunication facility by the City Engineering Department or other representatives as appointed by the municipality; and,
(2) Be required as a condition to the issuance of a zoning certificate to post a performance guarantee of not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) per vertical foot. Said bond shall insure that any abandoned obsolete or destroyed wireless telecommunication antenna or tower shall be removed within the mandatory 180 days. Any co-locator shall also execute such a bond to insure that the bond will be in place during the period of time that the co-locator occupies the tower. Any successor-in-interest or assignee of the applicant shall be required to additionally execute such bond.
(b) In the event that more than one wireless telecommunication service provider is using a wireless telecommunications tower, the tower shall not be considered abandoned until all such users cease using the tower, as provided in this Section.
(c) The site shall be restored to its original state within six (6) months following the date that the wireless telecommunications tower or facility is no longer operational.
(Ord. 2006-35. Passed 5-25-06.)