Lancaster Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Communications Towers
§ 400-42 Legislative intent.
The Town of Lancaster recognizes the increased demand for wireless communications transmitting facilities and the need for the services they provide. Often, these facilities require the construction of a communications tower. The intent of this article is to protect the Town's interest in properly siting towers in a manner consistent with sound land use planning, while also allowing wireless service providers to meet their technological and service objectives.
§ 400-43 Co-locating antennas on existing structures.
Communication antennas may be attached to existing communication towers, water tanks, buildings, or structures in any zoning district, upon application made to the Town Clerk and upon review and approval by the Town Board. Such application shall be subject to environmental review pursuant to SEQRA.
§ 400-44 Communications towers, site plan, and special use permit.
Communication towers and accessory structures in all zoning districts shall be issued a building permit only after an application for site plan review pursuant to § 400-75 of the Town Code has been submitted to the Town, duly reviewed by the Planning Board with a recommendation made to the Town Board and upon action by the Town Board granting a special use permit based upon the review of the site plan.
§ 400-45 Town-owned property; exemption by Town Board.
The Town Board reserves the right to waive the special use permit requirements for communication towers proposed to be located on Town property, but even in the event of such waiver an environmental review pursuant to SEQRA must be conducted prior to issuance of a building permit.
§ 400-46 Special use permit requirements.
Prior to the issuance of a special use permit for a communications tower by the Town Board, the following requirements shall be addressed by the Planning Board and the Planning Board shall make a recommendation to the Town Board:
A.
Application and site plan. All applicants for a tower special permit shall make written application to the Planning Board. The application shall include a site plan setting forth specific site data on a map, acceptable in form and content to the Planning Board, which shall be prepared to scale and in sufficient detail and accuracy and which shall show the following:
(1)
The location of property lines and permanent easements;
(2)
The location of the communications tower, together with guy wires and guy anchors, if applicable;
(3)
A side elevation or other sketch of the tower showing the proposed antennas and elevations of any accessory structures;
(4)
The location of all structures on the property and all structures on any adjacent property within 10 feet of the property lines, together with communications tower;
(5)
The names and addresses of adjacent landowners;
(6)
The location, nature and extent of any proposed fencing and landscaping or screening;
(7)
The location and nature of proposed utility easements and access road, if applicable;
(8)
The maximum height of the proposed tower;
(9)
A copy of the FCC license;
(10)
Affirmation of compliance with federal radio frequency emission standards;
(11)
An engineer's opinion as to structural capacity of the tower or other elevated structures; and
(12)
Proof of notification (certified mail return receipts) by the applicant to all property owners within 500 feet of the boundaries of the property that the communications tower is to be constructed on.
B.
Preference for higher-intensity use districts. The Town Board may express a preference that the proposed facility be located in a higher-intensity-use district or on higher-intensity-use property, provided that there is a technologically feasible and available location. A guideline for the Town Board's preference, from most favorable to least favorable districts/property, is as follows:
(1)
Property with an existing structure suitable for co-location;
(2)
Municipal or governmentally owned property; fire associations, fire departments and fire companies; Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps;
(3)
LI Light Industrial; GI General Industrial;
(4)
HC Heavy Commercial; LC Light Commercial; and
(5)
Residential districts.
C.
Aesthetics. In order to minimize any adverse aesthetic effect on neighboring residences to the extent possible, the Town Board may impose reasonable conditions on the applicant, including the following:
(1)
The Town Board may require a monopole or guyed tower (if sufficient land is available to applicant) instead of a freestanding communications tower.
(2)
The Town Board may require a camouflaged tower.
(3)
The Town Board may require reasonable landscaping consisting of trees or shrubs to screen the base of the communications tower and/or to screen the tower to the extent possible from adjacent residential property. Existing on-site trees and vegetation shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible.
(4)
The Town Board may require the applicant to show that it has made good faith efforts to collocate on existing towers or other available and appropriate structures and/or to construct new towers near existing towers in an effort to consolidate visual disturbances.
(5)
Towers should be designed and sited so as to avoid, whenever possible, application of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lighting and painting requirements. Towers shall not be artificially lighted except as required by the FAA. Towers shall be painted a galvanized finish or matte gray unless otherwise required by the FAA.
(6)
No tower shall contain any signs or advertising devices.
D.
Radio-frequency effects. The Town Board recognizes that federal law prohibits the regulation of cellular and PCS communications towers based on the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions where those emissions comply with FCC standards for those emissions. The Town Board may, however, impose a condition on the applicant that the communications antennas be operated only at Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated frequencies and power levels.
E.
Traffic, access and safety.
(1)
A road turnaround and one parking space shall be provided at the tower site to assure adequate emergency and service access. Maximum use of existing roads, public or private, shall be made.
(2)
All communications towers and guy anchors, if applicable, shall be enclosed by a fence not less than eight feet in height or otherwise sufficiently protected from trespassing or vandalism.
(3)
The applicant must comply with all applicable state and federal regulations, including but not limited to FAA and FCC regulations.
(4)
The tower must be set back a minimum of the height of the tower from all property lines and any existing building for a fall zone.
(5)
The applicant shall agree to remove the tower if the telecommunications facility becomes obsolete or ceases to be used for its intended purpose for 12 consecutive months.
The Town Board shall require the applicant to provide a demolition bond (in an amount determined by the Town Board based on the cost of removal) for the purpose of removing the telecommunications facility in case the applicant fails to do so as required above.
§ 400-47 Height.
Communications towers permitted under this chapter shall be exempt from the height limitations otherwise applicable in the district in which they are located.
§ 400-48 Procedure.
Upon receipt of a completed application, the Town Board shall hold a public hearing and shall comply with all of the requirements of § 400-78 of the Code of the Town of Lancaster for the approval of special use permits. The Town Board shall review the application for compliance with the provisions of this chapter and shall determine that the location of the proposed communications tower has been made known to residents within a 500-foot radius (pursuant to § 400-46), and that it is in accordance with the principals and requirements stated herein.
§ 400-49 Exemptions.
§ 400-50 Waivers.
The Town Board may waive or vary any requirements in this chapter for good cause shown.
§ 400-51 Fees.
See Chapter 258 of the Town Code.