Kelso City Zoning Code

Satellite earth stations using antennas not more than two meters in diameter in commercial and industrial districts and direct-to-home satellite services using any size antenna in any district;

Send-and-receive citizen band radio antennas operated by federally licensed amateur (ham) radio operators;

Industrial, scientific and medical equipment as regulated by the FCC in 47 CFR Part 18; and

Military and government radar antennas and associated communication towers used for navigational purposes as regulated by the FCC by 47 CFR Parts 97 and 95, respectively.

The facilities shall be located on buildings or other structures.

The facilities may exceed the height restrictions of the underlying zone but shall be no more than ten feet taller than the existing structure on which the facility is located.

The shelter or cabinet used to house related electronics equipment must be concealed from view and/or camouflaged. This can be accomplished through landscaping or other screening, the use of compatible building materials, or painting or finishing in a manner that blends with the dominant color of the background except where otherwise required by the FAA or FCC.

A building permit shall be required to construct a Category 1 wireless communication facility.

Roof-mounted facilities must be set back a minimum of ten feet from the edge of the roof.

A building permit shall be required to construct or modify a Category 2 wireless communication facility.

Roof-mounted facilities must be set back a minimum of ten feet from the edge of the roof and may exceed the height restrictions of the underlying zone but shall be no more than ten feet taller than the existing structure on which the facility is located.

The maximum height of a monopole or lattice tower is sixty feet for one carrier or one hundred twenty feet if two or more carriers are located on the monopole or lattice tower.

Anti-Climbing Devices. All wireless towers and required fencing shall be equipped with appropriate anti-climbing devices.

Attachment to Trees Prohibited. It is prohibited to attach any wireless communications facility or portion thereof to any tree.

Signs. All wireless communications towers shall be identified with a nonilluminated sign not exceeding four square feet. The sign shall list the wireless service provider’s name and emergency telephone number and shall be posted in a place visible to the general public.

Lighting. Wireless communications facilities shall not be illuminated except where required by the FAA, or the Washington Department of Transportation, Aeronautics Division.

Painting. Wireless communications facilities shall be painted or finished in a manner that blends with the dominant background, except where otherwise required by the FAA or Washington Department of Transportation, Aviation Division. The applicant and the operator of the facility shall have a continuing duty to maintain such paint or finish.

Setbacks. The following setback standards shall apply to wireless communications facilities:

Landscaping Standards. Category 2 wireless communications facilities shall be subject to the following landscaping and screening standards:

Height Standards. The following standards shall apply to wireless communications facilities:

Screening. For new wireless towers and accessory equipment to be located in any district other than industrial districts, visual impacts must be mitigated to the greatest extent practicable by using stealth design, camouflage or screening, including but not limited to: fencing, landscaping, strategic placement adjacent to existing buildings or existing vegetation, placement of accessory equipment structures underground, and/or incorporation of wireless facilities into the architectural features of existing buildings or structures. Mitigation may also include design compatibility with key elements in the surrounding area, such as: use of brick or other material similar to that used in adjacent buildings or structures; visual blending of support structures with compatible architectural features such as flag poles, bell towers or cornices; or use of existing vegetation to camouflage support structures.

Co-location.

The co-location of new transmission equipment;

The removal of transmission equipment; and

The replacement of transmission equipment that meets the criteria for not being a significant change.

Sole and Exclusive Procedure. Except as may be otherwise provided in this section, and notwithstanding any other provisions in the Kelso Municipal Code, the provisions of this section shall be the sole and exclusive procedure for review and approval of a proposed facilities modification which the applicant asserts is subject to review under Section 6409 of the Spectrum Act. To the extent that other provisions of the Kelso Municipal Code establish a parallel process for review and approval of a project permit application for a proposed facilities modification, the provisions of this section shall control. In the event that any part of an application for project permit approval includes a proposed facilities modification, the proposed facilities modification portion of the application shall be reviewed under the provisions of this section. In the event that an application for project permit approval includes a proposal to modify a wireless eligible support structure, and the applicant does not assert in the application that the proposal is subject to review under Section 6409 of the Spectrum Act, such proposal shall not be subject to review under this section and shall be subject to review under other applicable provisions of this chapter.

Nonconforming Structures. This section shall not apply to a proposed facility modification to a wireless eligible support structure that is not a legal conforming, or legal nonconforming, structure at the time a completed wireless eligible facilities modification application is filed with the city. To the extent that the nonconforming structures and use provisions of the Kelso Municipal Code would operate to prohibit or condition approval of a proposed facilities modification application otherwise allowed under this section, such provisions are superseded by the provisions of this section and shall not apply.

Replacement of a Wireless Eligible Support Structure. This section shall not apply to a proposed facility modification to an eligible support structure that will involve replacement of the wireless tower or wireless base station.

First Deployment—Base Station. This section shall not apply to a proposed facility modification to a structure, other than a tower, that does not, at the time of submittal of the application, already house or support wireless transmission equipment lawfully installed within or upon, or attached to, the structure.

The time frame for review begins running again when the city is in receipt of applicant’s supplemental submission in response to the approval authority’s notice of incompleteness.

Following a supplemental submission, the city shall have ten days to notify the applicant that the supplemental submission did not provide the information identified in the original notice delineating missing information. The time frame is tolled in the case of second or subsequent notices pursuant to the procedures identified in this subsection. Except as may be otherwise agreed to by the applicant and the approval authority, second or subsequent notices of incompleteness may not specify missing documents or information that was not delineated in the original notice of incompleteness.

A notice of incompleteness from the city will be deemed received by the applicant upon the earlier of personal service upon the authorized person, delivery by electronic mail to the authorized person (if such delivery is authorized for receipt of notice by the authorized person), or three days from deposit of the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and in an envelope properly addressed to the authorized person using the address set forth in the application.

The city shall review a wireless eligible facilities modification application to determine if the proposed facilities modification is subject to this section, and if so, if the proposed facilities modification will result in a substantial change to the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure.

Within sixty days of the date on which the city receives a wireless eligible facilities modification application, less any time period that may be excluded under the tolling provisions of this section or a tolling agreement between the applicant and the approval authority, the city shall approve the application and contemporaneously issue an eligible facilities modification permit, unless the approval authority determines that the application is not subject to this section, or the proposed facilities modification will substantially change the physical dimension of an eligible support structure.

A wireless eligible facilities application shall be approved, and a wireless eligible facilities permit issued, upon determination by the approval authority that the proposed facilities modification is subject to this section and that it does not substantially change the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure. An eligible facilities application shall be denied upon determination by the approval authority that the proposed facilities modification is not subject to this section or will substantially change the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure. A proposed facilities modification will substantially change the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure if it meets any of the substantial change criteria.

An application that has been deemed approved shall be and constitute the equivalent of a wireless eligible facilities modification permit, except as may be otherwise determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, and shall be subject to generally applicable enforcement and compliance requirements in the same manner as an eligible facilities modification permit issued pursuant to this section.

A denial of a wireless eligible facilities modification application shall set forth in writing the reasons for the denial and shall be provided to the applicant.

Notwithstanding any other provisions in the Kelso Municipal Code, no administrative review is provided for review of a decision to condition, deny or approve an application. Applicant and the city retain any and all remedies that are available at law or in equity, including by way of example and not limitation those remedies set forth in the Wireless FCC Eligible Facilities Request Rules and remedies available under the Land Use Petition Act. In the event no other time period is provided at law for bringing an action for a remedy, any action challenging a denial of an application or notice of a deemed approved remedy shall be brought within thirty days following the date of denial or following the date of notification of the deemed approved remedy.

For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it increases the height of the tower by more than ten percent or by the height of one additional antenna array with separation from the nearest existing antenna not to exceed twenty feet, whichever is greater; for other eligible support structures, it increases the height of the structure by more than ten percent or more than ten feet, whichever is greater.

Final, Nonappealable Decision. An appellate court, in a final and nonappealable decision, determines that Section 6409(a)(1) of the Spectrum Act is unconstitutional or otherwise determined to be invalid or unenforceable; and

Notice of Nonconforming Structure Determination. The city provides written notice to the applicant that the city has determined that the facilities modification did not conform to zoning and/or development regulations, exclusive of this section, in effect at the time the completed wireless eligible facilities modification application was filed and that the facilities modification constitutes a nonconforming structure pursuant to the provisions hereof and must be made conforming or the facilities modification terminated.

Conformance—Termination. Upon receipt of notice of the city’s nonconforming structure determination, applicant shall abate the nonconformance by either conforming the wireless site to the zoning and development regulations in effect at the time the completed wireless eligible facilities modification application was filed, or removing the facilities modification and returning the wireless site to the condition that existed prior to the construction, installation, placement or erection of the facilities modification. The time period for conformance shall be one year from the date of the city’s notice of the nonconforming structure determination.

The provisions of Chapter 17.08, Permit Processing.