The purpose of this section is to establish special conditions and performance standards for the use of communications antennae, antenna arrays, and communications towers, as defined below, that are consistent with the rural and residential character of the town, and consistent with the land uses in the town. The goals of this section include encouraging, where appropriate, the location of antennae on existing structures, and the joint use (co-location) of new and existing towers in order to minimize or mitigate any adverse impact on the town that may result from the location or configuration of communications antenna arrays and communications towers. Every effort shall be made by the applicant to use an alternative tower structure, as defined below. The town shall give due consideration to the municipality's comprehensive plan, zoning map, existing land uses and environmentally sensitive areas in approving sites for the locations of towers and antennas.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))

A.

Cellular communications antenna array shall mean the antenna or antennae from which wireless radio signals are sent and received by a personal wireless service facility as defined by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It may, at the discretion of the the planning board, include no more than 12 antennae in one array and one microwave antenna for the exclusive use of the carrier in transmitting its own signals. It may also include an equipment shelter as an accessory use. A cellular or other communications antenna array may be public or private.

(1)

Public cellular communications antenna array shall mean any antenna used exclusively for governmental functions and owned by the United States of America, the state, or the town, or any political subdivision duly authorized to own and operate a cellular communications array.

(2)

Private communications antenna array shall mean any antenna used for a private purpose and owned by a private person, partnership, corporation, organization, association or any entity subject to taxation.

B.

Cellular communications tower shall mean a free-standing structure used for the location of one or more cellular communications antenna arrays. It may, where necessary, include an equipment shelter of no more than 120 square feet in floor area as an accessory use. A cellular communications tower may be public or private.

(1)

Public cellular communications tower shall mean any tower structure used exclusively for a governmental function and owned by the United States of America, the state, or the town, or any political subdivision duly authorized to own and operate a cellular communications tower.

(2)

Private communications tower shall mean any tower used for a private purpose and owned by a private person, partnership, corporation, organization, association or any entity subject to taxation.

C.

Co-location shall mean use of a common cellular or other tower or common site by two or more license holders or by one license holder for more than one type of communications technology.

D.

Equipment shelter shall mean an enclosed structure, cabinet, shed or box used as an accessory to a cellular communications antenna array to house electrical equipment, batteries and emergency electrical generators, directly related to such antenna array. No other uses, including storage, shall be permitted in any equipment shelter.

E.

Height shall mean the distance measured from ground level to the highest point on a cellular communications tower including the cellular communications antenna array.

F.

Other communications tower shall include broadcast television or radio and other non-cellular telecommunications towers. This use includes above grade towers, including self-supporting lattice towers, guy towers or monopole towers or similar structures more than 35 feet in height for communications equipment and principally intended for the transmittal or reception of commercial, governmental, and related radio, television, and similar telecommunication signal of a non-cellular nature.

G.

Alternative tower structure means man-made trees, clock towers, bell steeples, light poles and similar alternative-design mounting structures that camouflage or conceal the presence of antennas or towers.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))

No cellular or other communications antenna array or cellular or other communications tower shall be erected, constructed, altered or maintained on any lot with the town after the date of enactment of this amendment on August 7, 2000, without complying with the terms of this section. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit any previously existing public antenna or cellular communications tower used solely in the exercise of a governmental function. This ordinance does not apply to towers or antennas under 70 feet in height that are owned and operated by a federally licensed amateur radio station operator or used exclusively for receive only antennas.

A.

A cellular or other communications antenna array may be allowed by special use permit on an existing nonresidential structure within the zones specified article II, section 2.4 of this ordinance, the zoning use table, provided that the height of such cellular or other communications antenna array shall not exceed the height of such existing structure by more than 12 feet if omni-directional or whip type ^[5] antennae are used, and by not more than six feet if direction or panel type antennae are used.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))

Every cellular or other communications tower or equipment shelter that requires a special use permit for its construction, erection, installation, or mounting pursuant to article II, section 2.4 of this ordinance must be approved as major land development plan by the planning board.

All applications for permits to construct, install or erect cellular or other communications towers or equipment shelters, or to install, mount or erect cellular or other communications antenna arrays on existing buildings or on other alternate antenna support structures, are subject to the following requirements:

(1)

A building permit is required;

(2)

An electrical permit is required;

(3)

Payment of all permit and inspection fees;

(4)

Proof of ownership of the land upon which a cellular or other communications tower, antenna array or equipment shelter is proposed to be constructed, installed, erected, mounted or attached or a copy of an appropriate easement, lease, or rental agreement;

(5)

A scaled plan and a scaled elevation view and other supporting drawings and calculations, indicating color and other documentation; and showing the location and dimensions of the relevant cellular or other communications tower, cellular or other communications antenna array, equipment shelter and any and all other devices and attachment, including electrical wiring cable, wire or other connective materials to and from the antennae to the equipment shelter, and to and from the equipment shelter to any existing or proposed wires, cables, or other connective devices, including conduit and ducts, whether owned, operated or managed by the applicant, or by others, and a statement identifying the owner, operator or manager of any wires, cables, or connective devices that enter or exist on or along any public street or right of way.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))

A.

All antennae shall comply with applicable Federal Communication Commission and Federal Aviation Administration regulations unless there exists a proven, present emergency effecting the public health, safety, and welfare. The town shall not regulate the placement, construction, and modification of cellular communications antenna arrays on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions, provided that such facilities shall be subject to compliance with corresponding Federal Communication Commission regulations concerning such emissions.

B.

A cellular or other communications tower shall be set back from all property lines a minimum of one foot for each one foot of tower height. When the property abuts an overlay district, the setback distance from such district shall be one and one-half feet for each foot of tower height.

C.

All tower supports, accessory equipment, equipment shelters, and peripheral anchors, including guy wire anchors, shall be set back from all property boundaries the minimum distance required for a principal structure for the zoning district in which a cellular communications tower is to be located, and shall comply with all other applicable zoning requirements and building codes.

D.

Equipment shelters shall be obscured from view by trees, shrubs or fences and shall be locked at all times. Contact information for the person to be notified in the event of an emergency shall be posted on site.

E.

The provisions of article II, section 2.5.6 of this ordinance that prohibit more than one non-residential use on a lot shall not apply to antennas and towers.

F.

No cellular communications tower, if otherwise allowed or permitted, shall exceed 125 feet in height without a separate special use permit for excess height. No other communication tower, if otherwise allowed or permitted, shall exceed 500 feet in height without a separate special use permit for excess height.

G.

To ensure the structural integrity of towers, the owner of a tower shall ensure that it is constructed and maintained in compliance with standards contained in the State Building Code as amended form time to time. If upon inspection, the building official concludes that a tower fails to comply with such code and standards; and constitutes a danger to persons or property, then the building official shall proceed in accordance with G.L title 23, ch. 27.3, entitled "State Building Codes." Towers must be structurally inspected by a registered engineer every ten years and a certificate of such inspection shall be filed with the building official. All towers must meet or exceed current standards and regulations of the FAA, the FCC, and any other agency of the state or federal government with the authority to regulate towers and antennas. If such standards and regulations are changed, then the owners of the towers and antennas governed by this ordinance shall bring such towers and antennas into compliance with such revised standards and regulations within six months of the effective date of such standards and regulations, unless a different compliance schedule is mandated by the controlling state or federal agency. Failure to bring towers and antennas into compliance with such revised standards and regulations shall constitute grounds for the removal of the tower or antenna at the owner's expense.

H.

All telecommunication facilities and structures which have not been used for a period of one year shall be considered abandoned and shall be dismantled and removed at the owner's expense. The owner of such facility shall remove same within 90 days of receipt of notice from the building official. The applicant shall post a bond or cash security with the town treasurer sufficient to cover the cost of removal and restoration of the site prior to construction in any zone. The amount of said bond or security shall be estimated by the building official. If such antenna or tower is not removed within 90 days of receipt of notice, the town may take necessary action to remove the facility and restore the site to a condition consistent with the character of the surrounding area, at the owner's expense.

I.

Appropriate camouflaging, landscaping and screening shall be provided for all cellular communications or other antenna arrays except public cellular communications antenna arrays.

J.

Each applicant for an antenna and/or tower shall provide to the planning board an inventory of its existing towers, antennas, or sites approved for towers or antennas, that are either within the town or within one mile of the town border, including specific information about the location, height, and design of each tower. The planning board may share such information with other applicants for administrative approvals or special use permits under this ordinance or other organizations seeking to locate antennas within the town, provided, however that the planning board is not, by sharing such information, in any way representing or warranting that such sites are available or suitable.

K.

The town supports multiple antenna/tower plans in which the users of towers and antennas are encouraged to submit a single application for approval of multiple towers and/or antenna sites. Applications for approval of multiple sites shall be given priority in the review process.

L.

Owners and/or operators of towers or antennas shall certify that all franchises required by law for the construction and/or operation of a wireless communication system in the town have been obtained and shall file a copy of all required franchises with the zoning board of review.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))

In addition to all other requirements imposed by this ordinance, an application for a special use permit for a cellular or other communications antenna array or cellular or other communications tower shall include the following information:

A.

The applicant shall define the area of service and indicate the current coverage capacity.

B.

The applicant shall show that the proposed facility would provide the needed coverage and/or capacity.

C.

The applicant shall provide a map or maps, covering the entire town and showing all existing, proposed or planned sites of all carriers including alternative sites from which the needed coverage could also be provided, and indicating the zoning for all such sites.

(Ord. of 8-7-00)

In addition to all other applicable provisions of this ordinance, the planning board shall make affirmative findings of fact relative to each of the following factors in determining whether to issue a special use permit for the construction of cellular or other communications tower:

A.

Applicant has exhausted all reasonable efforts to utilize existing structures for a cellular or other communications antenna array and that no other structures are reasonably available within the area sought by the applicant to produce adequate communications coverage for the applicant.

B.

Applicant has exhausted all reasonable efforts to avoid the necessity of erecting a new tower, including but not limited to the construction of a permitted structure on which a cellular or other communications antenna array could be placed. Every effort shall be made by the applicant to use an alternative tower structure as previously defined.

C.

The applicant must demonstrate that an alternative technology that does not require the use of towers or structures, such as a cable microcell network using multiple low-powered transmitters/receivers attached to a wireline system, is unsuitable. Costs of alternative technology that exceed new tower or antenna development shall not be presumed to render the technology unsuitable.

D.

Applicant's proposed tower comports with the height restrictions and/or requirements provided for herein.

E.

Applicant's proposed tower comports with the use requirements and/or restrictions provided for herein, as well as the uses of the neighboring properties.

F.

Applicant's proposed tower comports with the surrounding topography, tree coverage and other natural elements of the landscape of the proposed site and applicant's property.

G.

Applicant's proposed tower comports with the design characteristics that reduce or eliminate adverse impacts on the community including type (guyed tower, lattice tower or monopole) of tower or antenna array, color of tower or antenna array, and overall visual obtrusiveness.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))

The following design standards shall apply to all cellular and other communications antennae arrays and cellular and other communications towers:

A.

For the erection of a cellular or other communications antenna array on an existing structure, the proposed facility shall preserve or enhance the pre-existing character of the building or structure on which it is located, as well as the surrounding buildings and land uses. All components of the proposed facility shall be integrated through location and design to be compatible with the existing characteristics of the site to the extent practical. Existing on-site vegetation shall be preserved or improved and the disturbance of the existing topography shall be minimized, unless such disturbance would result in less visual impact of the facility on the surrounding areas.

B.

For the erection of a cellular or other communication tower, the proposed facility shall preserve or enhance the pre-existing character of the surrounding buildings and land uses as much as possible. All components of the proposed facility shall be integrated through location and design to be compatible with the existing characteristics of the site to the extent practical. Existing on-site vegetation shall be preserved or improved and the disturbance of the existing topography shall be minimized, unless such disturbance would result in less visual impact of the facility on the surrounding areas.

C.

Appropriate screening shall be installed at all tower sites to screen views from adjacent properties and streets. Planting shall be of such a height and density to ensure screening. Screening shall consist of plant and/or tree material approved by the planning board. Screening shall not be less than five feet in width, nor less than eight feet in height. Screening may be waived on those sides or sections which are adjacent to undevelopable lands. The owner of the property shall be responsible for all maintenance and shall replace any dead plantings within thirty days.

D.

Towers shall either maintain a galvanized steel finish or, subject to any applicable Federal Aviation Administration standards, be painted a neutral color, so as to reduce visual obtrusiveness.

E.

At a tower site, the design of the buildings and related structures shall use materials, colors, textures, screening and landscaping that will blend the tower facilities to the natural setting and existing environment.

F.

If an antenna is installed on a structure other than a tower, the antenna and supporting electrical and mechanical equipment must be of a neutral color identical to or closely compatible with, the color of the supporting structure so as to make the antenna and related equipment as visually unobtrusive as possible.

G.

Towers shall not be artificially lighted, unless required by the Federal Aviation Administration or other applicable authority. If lighting is required, the reviewing authority may review the available lighting alternatives and approve the design that would cause the least disturbance to the surrounding views.

H.

There shall be no signs, symbols, flags, banners or other devices or things attached or painted or inscribed upon any tower.

(Ord. of 8-7-00; Ord. of 12-4-2023(1))