A. Approval:
1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the Town shall approve any eligible telecommunications facility request that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of a tower or base station.
2. The Town may condition the approval of any eligible telecommunications facilities request on compliance with generally applicable building, structural, electrical, and safety codes or with other laws codifying objective standards reasonably related to health and safety.
3. The Town may approve an eligible telecommunication facilities request for a modification of an existing tower or base station which substantially changes the physical dimensions of such tower or base station if it complies with this Section.
B. A substantial change in the height of an existing tower or base station occurs where any of the following criteria are found:
1. For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it increases the height of the tower by more than ten percent (10%) or by the height of one (1) additional antenna array with separation from the nearest existing antenna not to exceed twenty feet (20'), whichever is greater; for other eligible support structures, it increases the height of the structure by more than ten percent (10%) or more than ten feet (10'), 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 the passage of the Spectrum Act.
2. 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 twenty feet (20'), 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 (6');
3. 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 (4) 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 ten percent (10%) larger in height or overall volume than any other ground cabinets associated with the structure;
4. It entails any excavation or deployment outside the current site;
5. It would defeat the concealment elements of the eligible support structure; or
6. 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 subsection (1) through (4) of this definition.
C. Expedited Review:
1. The Town shall act upon an eligible telecommunications facility request within sixty (60) days of the date of the Town's receipt of the completed application. This time period may be tolled only by mutual agreement or where an application is incomplete.
2. If the Town fails to act upon an eligible telecommunications facility request within the time frame for review (accounting for any tolling), the request shall be deemed granted; provided that this automatic approval shall become effective only upon the Town's receipt of written notification from the applicant after the review period has expired (accounting for any tolling) indicating that the application has been deemed granted. (Ord. 558, Series of 2021; amd. Ord. 575, Series of 2022)