The intent of this article is to establish minimum standards for wireless telecommunications facilities. The underlying principles of these standards are to:

• Achieve a balance among the number, height, and density of wireless telecommunications facilities that are appropriate for our communities; and,

• Encourage and maximize the use of existing and approved towers, buildings, and other structures to accommodate new wireless telecommunications facilities; and,

• Ensure the compatibility of towers with, and avoid adverse impacts to, nearby properties; and,

• Discourage the proliferation of obsolete towers throughout the city.

• Accessory structure compound: A fenced, secured enclosure in which a wireless telecommunications facility and its equipment, buildings, access roads, parking area and other accessory devices/auxiliary structures are located.

• Alternative support structure: Any structure other than a wireless telecommunications tower, which may include, but is not limited to, buildings, water towers, light poles, power poles, telephone poles, and other essential public utility structures.

• Antenna: An electromagnetic device which conducts radio signals, through an attached cable or waveguide, to or from a radio transmitter or receiver. Typically this includes "whips," "cornucopia horns," "panels," and parabolic "dishes."

• Antenna support structure: Any structure on which telecommunications antennas and cabling can be attached. Typically this includes steel towers with guy-wires (guyed towers); wooden, steel or concrete single poles (monopoles); self-supporting steel towers with three (3) or four (4) "legs" (self-supporting/lattice towers); rooftops of existing buildings or structures (such as elevated water storage tanks). (See also Tower).

• Co-location: The placement of more than one (1) wireless communications antenna by one (1) or more telecommunications service providers on a single existing or new antenna support structure.

• Concealment techniques: Design techniques used to blend a wireless telecommunications facility, including any antennas thereon, unobtrusively into the existing surroundings so as to not have the appearance of a wireless telecommunications facility. Such structures shall be considered wireless telecommunications facilities and not spires, belfries, cupolas, or other appurtenances usually required to be placed above the roof level for purposes of applying height such as building bulk, massing, and architectural treatment of both the wireless telecommunications facility and surrounding development. Concealed towers on developed property must be disguised to appear as either a part of the structure housing, a principal use, or an accessory structure which is normally associated with the principal use occupying the property. Concealed towers developed on unimproved property must be disguised to blend in with the existing vegetation. Example: a tower of such design and treated with architectural material so camouflaged to resemble a woody tree with a single trunk and branches on its upper part, also known as a "monopine".

• FAA: Federal Aviation Administration.

• FCC: Federal Communications Commission.

• Height: When referring to a tower or other structure, the distance measured from the ground level at the base of the tower to the highest point on the tower or structure, including if said highest point is an antenna placed on a structure or tower.

• Tower: Any structure that is designed and constructed primarily for the purpose of supporting one (1) or more antenna, including self-supporting lattice towers, guyed towers, or monopole towers. The term includes radio and television transmission towers, microwave towers, common carrier towers, cellular telephone towers, and the like (See Also Antenna Support Structure).

(a)

Permitted zones: Wireless telecommunications facilities shall be permitted by special exception in a B-2, General Business, district and by right in a C/I, Commercial/Industrial, district. Antennas located on existing towers (co-location antennas) and antennas located on alternative support structures shall be permitted by right.

(b)

Height: Tower height shall be limited to one hundred and eighty (180) feet, not including the antenna.

Antennas located on alternative support structures shall not exceed fifteen (15) feet in height above the existing structure on which they are placed.

(c)

Setbacks: Where a tower is permitted in a zoning district adjacent to any residential district, the required setback from all residentially zoned property lines shall be a distance equal to the height of the tower.

(d)

Co-location: To minimize adverse visual impact associated with the proliferation and clustering of telecommunication towers, co-location of facilities on existing or new towers shall be encouraged by:

(1)

Only issuing permits to qualified shared facilities at locations where it appears there may be more demand for towers than the property can reasonably accommodate; or,

(2)

Giving preference to qualified shared facilities over other facilities and authorizing use at particular locations;

(3)

For a facility to become a qualified shared facility, the facility owner shall show the following:

(a)

The facility is appropriately designed for sharing; and,

(b)

The facility owner is prepared to offer adequate space on the facility so others share fair and reasonable nondiscriminatory terms.

(c)

Co-location of communications antennas by more than one (1) provider on existing or new telecommunications towers shall take precedence over the construction of a new single-use telecommunications tower.

(d)

For any telecommunications tower approved for shared use, the owner of the tower shall provide notice of the location of the telecommunication tower.

(e)

No new antenna support structure shall be permitted unless the applicant demonstrates that no existing antenna support structure can accommodate the applicant's needs.

(f)

No signage, symbols, or advertisements may be attached to the pole, tower or antenna.

(g)

Monopole structures shall have the ability to accommodate at least one (1) additional set of antennas.

(h)

Guyed structures and self-supporting towers shall have the ability to accommodate at least two (2) additional sets of antennas.

(i)

Any request for modification of an existing wireless tower and/or base station shall be approved unless the same shall increase the physical dimensions of the tower or base station by thirty (30) percent or more.

(e)

Aesthetics: The aesthetic properties of each individual wireless telecommunications facility shall be approved as part of the site plan review process.

(f)

Appearance: The design of the tower shall be of a type that has the least visual impact on the surrounding area.

(1)

Towers and antennas shall be painted a neutral or blending color so as to reduce visual obtrusiveness, unless subject to any applicable FAA standards. If an antenna is installed on a structure other than a tower, the antenna and supporting telecommunications facilities must be of a neutral color that is identical to, or closely compatible with, the color of the supporting structure.

(2)

No signage, symbols, or advertisements may be attached to the pole, tower, or antenna.

(3)

Towers camouflaged to resemble trees or indigenous vegetation in order to blend in with the native landscape shall be subject to administrative review as are types of concealment techniques. (See Concealment techniques).

(g)

Accessory structures:

(1)

The design of the compound and its accessory structures shall, to the extent possible, maximize use of building materials, colors, textures, screening, and landscaping that effectively blend the tower facilities within the surrounding natural setting and built environment.

(2)

In or adjacent to developed properties, accessory structures must be aesthetically and architecturally compatible with the surrounding environment. Materials such as wood, brick, and stucco should be appropriate. The use of metal or metallic looking materials shall be prohibited.

(h)

Non-vegetative screening:

(1)

Non-vegetative screening shall be required unless it is necessary to reduce the visual impact of a wireless telecommunication compound on adjacent public ways, properties, or the neighborhood in which it is located.

In or adjacent to developed properties, non vegetative screening shall be provided in a manner compatible with the surrounding character of development, buildings, natural vegetation, and landscaping.

Such screening, as required and subject to site plan review, shall have a minimum height of eight (8) feet, and may consist of one of the following: brick masonry walls, a fence of a solid appearance, berms, or opaque barriers. All non-vegetative screening shall be properly maintained by the property owner or lessor.

(2)

In certain locations where the visual impact of the tower would be minimal, such as remote, agricultural, or rural or heavily developed industrial areas, the non-vegetative screening requirement may be reduced.

(3)

Wireless telecommunications facilities utilizing underground vaults rather than above ground equipment buildings may be exempted from screening requirements.

(i)

Landscaping:

(1)

Landscaping will be required to reduce the visual impact of the compound and its accessory structures on adjacent public ways, properties, or the neighborhood in which it is located. In or adjacent to developed properties, landscaping shall be provided in a manner that is compatible with the surrounding character of development, buildings, and natural vegetation.

(2)

The perimeter of the compound shall be landscaped with a buffer of plant materials which effectively screen the view of the compound from adjacent property and public ways. The standard buffer shall consist of a landscape strip of at least five (5) feet in width outside the perimeter of the compound. In locations where the visual impact of the tower would be minimal, the landscaping requirement may be reduced.

(3)

A row of trees a minimum of eight (8) feet in height and a maximum of ten (10) feet apart shall be planted around the perimeter of the compound fence. A continuous hedge at least thirty (30) inches in height at planting capable of growing to at least thirty-six (36) inches in height within eighteen (18) months shall be planted in front of the tree line.

(4)

All landscaping shall be of the evergreen variety. All landscaping shall be xerophilous (heat tolerant) or irrigated and properly maintained by the property owner or lessor to ensure good health and variety.

(j)

Lighting:

(1)

Towers shall not be artificially lighted unless required by the FAA or other authority for safety purposes. If lighting is required, "dual lighting," red at night/strobe during day, shall be preferred unless restricted by the FAA.

Lighting must be shielded or directed upward to the greatest extent possible so as to minimize the amount of light that falls onto nearby properties or residential districts.

(2)

Basic security lighting for the compound may be permitted, but shall be focused only on the compound itself, and shall be directed away from any adjacent residential districts.

(k)

Environmental impact: All wireless telecommunications facilities shall comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. If an environmental assessment is required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a copy of the assessment, as well as documentation of the FCC's subsequent approval thereof, must be submitted at the time of application.

(l)

Safety:

(1)

Radio frequency: The applicant shall be required to submit documentation that the proposed wireless telecommunications facility complies with the FCC standards for radio frequency emissions, as adopted by the FCC on August 1, 1996.

(2)

Structural: A professional engineer shall certify that all antenna support structures and wireless telecommunications equipment are erected and/or installed so as to comply with the co-locations requirements of this Ordinance, wind loading and other structural standards contained in the Building Code as adopted by the City of Daphne and the applicable technical codes established by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA/TIA 22-E "Structural Standards for Steel Antenna Towers and Antenna Supporting Structures) or the Telecommunications Industry Association. This shall apply to new and modified structures and facilities.

(3)

Security of the site: Fencing shall be required to ensure that antenna support structures and their accessory buildings are fully secured. Sufficient anti-climbing measures must be incorporated into each facility, as needed, to reduce potential for trespass and injury.

(4)

Obsolete towers: In the event the use of any wireless telecommunications facility has been discontinued for the period of one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days, the wireless telecommunications facility shall be deemed to be abandoned.

The determination of the date of the abandonment shall be made by the building official.

Upon such abandonment, the owner/operator of the wireless telecommunications facility shall have an additional one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days within which to reactivate the use of the wireless telecommunications facility to another owner/operator who makes actual use of the wireless telecommunications facility, dismantle, or remove the wireless telecommunications facility.

(Ord. No. 2012-42, § II, 6-18-12)