Cranston City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 17
76 TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES
§ 17.76.010 Telecommunications facilities.
A.
Applicability. No wireless communications equipment shall be erected or installed except in compliance with the provisions of this subsection. The provisions of this subsection apply to all wireless communications equipment, whether such equipment is used as a main use or as an accessory use. Where conflicts exist between this subsection and the remainder of this code, the provisions of this subsection shall govern.
B.
Application Conference. There shall be a biannual application conference at which cellular communication providers will meet with the planning director or his or her designee to discuss future potential tower site locations. These application conferences will also serve as an opportunity for the city to minimize the proliferation of cellular communication towers throughout the city by allowing telecommunication providers to set up co-location agreements between themselves and other telecommunication service providers. Unless otherwise noted and properly advertised, this biannual application conference shall take place in the months of January and July.
C.
Development Standards to Telecommunications Towers.
1.
Telecommunications towers shall be prohibited in any historic district except by a use variance from the zoning board of review as well as a certificate of appropriateness from the historic district commission.
2.
In addition to the standard requirements for submittal to the zoning board of review, applications for a use variance or a special use permit for telecommunications facilities shall be accompanied by the following information:
a.
Site plans; and
b.
Photographs of the site and surrounding area.
3.
The following standards shall apply to all applications:
a.
A reasonable effort shall be made to utilize existing structures for telecommunications antennae. Should an existing structure not be utilized, evidence as to why not shall be submitted.
b.
City owned sites which are located in the prospective area and which could potentially accommodate the proposed antennae and communication towers shall be identified.
c.
Communication towers shall be set back from all property lines a minimum of one foot for each one foot of tower height. When the property abuts a residential district or an historic district, the setback distance shall be one and one-half feet for each one foot of tower height. All guy wires and guyed towers shall be clearly marked so as to be visible at all times and all guy wires shall be set back from all property boundaries the minimum of the zoning district in which they are located.
d.
All communication tower supports and peripheral anchors shall be located entirely within the boundaries of the development site and shall be set back from all property boundaries the minimum of the zoning district in which the communication tower is located, but no less than twenty-five (25) feet. When located in or abutting a residential district or historic overlay district, the minimum distance shall be thirty-five (35) feet. Supports and/or peripheral anchors shall not encroach upon the minimum landscaped screening requirement. All supports and anchors shall have at a minimum a ten (10) foot horizontal setback from any overhead utility line.
e.
Communication equipment buildings and structures shall be considered accessory uses and comply with the following setbacks:
i.
One hundred (100) square feet or less shall be set back from all property boundaries a minimum of fifteen (15) feet, unless located in or abutting a residential district or historic overlay district which shall require a minimum of twenty-five (25) feet.
ii.
Greater than one hundred (100) square feet shall be set back from all property boundaries a minimum of twenty-five (25) feet unless located within or abutting a residential district or historic overlay district which shall require a minimum of thirty-five (35) feet.
f.
Communication towers shall be constructed and situated in such a manner as to fit in with the topography and features of the surrounding environment. Tower bases shall be completely screened from the adjacent properties and streets by plantings and appropriately camouflaged if required. Plantings shall be of such a height and density as to ensure complete screening. Screening shall consist of plant and/or tree material accepted by the city's subdivision and land development regulations or as accepted by the director of planning. Screening shall not be less than five feet in width unless located in or abutting a residential district or historic overlay district which will require that it not be less than ten (10) feet in width. Screening may be waived by the zoning board on those sides or sections which are adjacent to undevelopable lands or lands not in public view. Existing vegetation may be used as a substitute for or supplement towards meeting the landscaped screening requirement. The owner of the property shall be responsible for all maintenance and shall replace any dead plantings within thirty (30) days.
g.
Communication towers shall be enclosed by a fence no less than eight feet in height or more than ten (10) feet in height from the finished grade. Access shall be through a locked gate. Communication towers in or abutting a residential district or historic overlay district shall have fencing comprised of wood or stone.
h.
Finished Color. Communication towers not requiring FAA painting/marking shall have either a galvanized finish or painted a non-contrasting blue or gray finish or other color matching the natural surroundings.
i.
Communication towers shall not be artificially lighted except as required for public safety purposes, by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or by the city.
j.
No signs shall be allowed on any communication tower except as required for public safety purposes by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or by the city.
k.
Abandonment. In the event the use of any communication tower has been discontinued for a period of one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days, the tower shall be deemed to be abandoned. Determination of the date of abandonment shall be made by the zoning official who shall have the right to request documentation and/or affidavits from the communication tower owner/operator regarding the issue of tower usage. Upon such abandonment, the owner/operator of the tower shall have an additional one hundred eighty (180) days within which to:
i.
Reactivate the use of the tower or transfer the tower to another owner/operator who makes actual use of the tower; or
ii.
Dismantle and remove the tower.
At the earlier of one hundred eighty-one (181) days from the date of abandonment without reactivation or upon completion of dismantling and removal, any special exception and/or variance approval for the tower shall automatically expire.
l.
Communication antennas not attached to a communication tower shall be permitted as an accessory use to any commercial, industrial, office, institutional or public utility structure, provided that:
i.
The antennas are not higher than twenty-five (25) feet above the highest point of the structure;
ii.
The antennas comply with applicable FCC and FAA regulations; and
iii.
The antennas comply with all applicable zoning requirements and building codes, with the exception of the restriction pertaining to height limitations.
m.
Co-Location of Communication Antennas. To minimize adverse visual impacts associated with the proliferation and clustering of communication towers, co-location of communication antennas by more than one carrier on existing or new communication towers shall take precedent over the construction of new single-use communication towers as follows:
i.
Proposed communication antennas may and are encouraged to, co-locate onto existing communication towers. Provided such co-location is accomplished in a manner consistent with this subsection, then such colocations are permitted by right and new additional special exception approval shall not be required.
ii.
Type of Construction. A communication tower which is modified or reconstructed to accommodate the co-location of an additional communication antenna shall be of the same tower type as the existing communication tower.
iii.
Height.
(A)
An existing communication tower may be modified or rebuilt to a taller height, not to exceed twenty-five (25) feet over the towers existing height, to accommodate the co-location of additional communication antennas.
(B)
The height change referred to in subsection (iii)(A) above may only occur one time per communication tower.
(C)
The additional height referred to subsection (iii)(A) shall not require an additional distance separation as set forth in subsection (C)(3)(n). The communication tower's premodification height shall be used to calculate such distance separation.
iv.
On-Site Location.
(A)
A communication tower which is being rebuilt to accommodate the co-location of an additional communication antenna may be moved on-site within fifty (50) feet of its existing location.
(B)
After the communication tower is rebuilt to accommodate co-location, only one tower may remain on the site.
(C)
A relocated on-site communication tower shall continue to be measured from the original tower location for the purposes of calculating separation distances between communication towers pursuant to subsection (C)(3)(n). The relocation of a tower hereunder shall in no way be deemed to cause a violation of subsection (C)(3)(n).
(D)
The on-site relocation of a communication tower which comes within the separation distances to residential units or residentially zoned lands as established in subsection (C)(3)(n) shall only be permitted when notarized written consent is obtained from those affected residential property owners.
n.
Communication towers shall comply with the following standards for the minimum separation distance from existing communication towers and/or communication towers that have received a valid special use permit, use permit or building permit.
Minimum Separation Between Towers (By Tower Type) | ||
|---|---|---|
Proposed Tower Types | Self-Supporting or Guyed Less than 75' in Height | Self-Supporting or Guyed 75' in Height or Greater |
Self-Supporting | 1 Mile | 2.5 Miles |
Guyed | 1 Mile | 2.5 Miles |
i.
Separation distances shall be calculated and applied irrespective of jurisdictional boundaries.
ii.
Separation distances shall be measured from the Global Positioning System location of the existing, approved or proposed communication tower. A certified survey showing the GPS location of the proposed communication tower shall be submitted with any application for a special use permit, use permit or building permit to demonstrate conformance with separation requirements.
iii.
Towers which exist prior to the passage of this chapter are exempt from the separation distances aforementioned.
o.
Allowed telecommunications towers shall specifically exclude monopole towers and shall specifically include lattice type and guyed wire towers.
p.
Telecommunications facilities are allowed by right on municipally owned sites greater than ten (10) acres in size and which abut an interstate highway. Said allowance is subject to city planning commission review and approval.
(Prior code § 30-18(s))
