1-101:

The purpose of this chapter is to provide specific regulations for the placement, construction and modification of personal wireless service facilities. This chapter does not apply to zoning regulations for small wireless facilities. In order to accommodate the communication needs of residents and businesses while protecting the public health, safety, and general welfare of the community, the village board finds that these regulations are necessary to:

A.

Facilitate the efficient provision of personal wireless services to the residents of the village, as well as to other persons, firms, and/or corporations in the vicinity of the village;

B.

Minimize adverse visual effects of personal wireless service facilities, through careful design, siting, screening, and landscape buffering standards;

C.

Minimize the impacts of personal wireless service facilities on, and reduce conflicts with, the architectural, historical, tourism and economic significance of historic structures and districts designated by the federal, state and local governments;

D.

Minimize the impacts of personal wireless service facilities on, and reduce conflicts with, the architectural, historical, tourism and economic significance of the village's principal commercial and tourist areas;

D.

Avoid potential damage to adjacent properties from falling ice and tower failure through structural standards and setback requirements;

E.

Promote, encourage and maximize the shared use of existing and approved towers and base stations to accommodate new personal wireless service facilities in order to reduce the number of towers needed to serve the community; and

F.

Promote, encourage and maximize the use of existing tall structures that have been established within the community for the collocation of new personal wireless service facilities.

(Ord. No. 2020-ORD-33, § 4, 9-8-2020)

1-201:

The provisions of this chapter are not intended to and shall not be interpreted or applied so as to prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services, nor shall the provisions of this chapter be applied in such a manner as to unreasonably discriminate between providers of functionally equivalent personal wireless services. To the extent that any provision or provisions of this chapter are inconsistent or in conflict with any provision of this title, the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to control.

1-202:

In the course of reviewing any request for any approval required under this chapter made by an applicant to provide personal wireless service or to install personal wireless service facilities, the village board shall act within a reasonable period of time after a complete request is duly filed with the village, taking into account the nature and scope of the request. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a reasonable period of time to take final action on applications for collocated facilities is 90 days and for new facilities 150 days; provided that such period shall be tolled during any time the applicant needs to respond to reasonable requests for additional information. Any decision to deny such a request shall be in writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record.

1-203:

No decision to deny an application for a special use permit or a zoning variation for the construction or installation of a personal wireless service facility may be based on the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facility complies with the FCC's regulations concerning such emissions.

1-204:

Nothing herein shall be construed to release any applicant from compliance with all applicable federal, state and local building, electrical and occupational safety laws, regulations, codes and rules.

1-301:

The following definitions apply throughout this chapter:

Base station means and includes other structures, excluding towers, that support or house a personal wireless service facility as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title or on which new personal wireless service facilities are granted permission to be erected.

Distributed antenna system means a network of spatially separated antenna nodes connected to a common source via a transport medium that provides wireless service within a geographic area or structure.

Established height means the elevation from the established grade on the subject property of the highest structural component of a tower, excluding transmission equipment and other appurtenances, at the time that tower is constructed or on the effective date of this code, whichever is later.

Personal wireless service and personal wireless service facilities, as used in this chapter, shall be defined in the same manner as in Title 47, United States Code, Section 332(c)(7)(C), as amended now or in the future. Generally, these terms refer to licensed commercial wireless telecommunication services including cellular, personal communication services (PCS), specialized mobile radio (SMR), enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR), paging, and similar services that are marketed to the general public. For the purpose of this chapter the term "personal wireless service facilities" includes each of its component parts, including ground-mounted support equipment, screening, landscaping, towers and/or or antennae, as deemed appropriate in the context, and any other appurtenant improvements required as a condition of authority to construct such facilities.

Tower means and includes any structure built for the sole or primary purpose of supporting a personal wireless service facility.

1-401:

Personal wireless service facilities shall be considered a permitted use:

A.

In the I light industrial district;

B.

Only for antennas attached to or otherwise closely integrated with structures established for public utility purposes in any zoning district;

C.

As part of a neutral-host distributed antenna system ^[2];

D.

Only for antennas attached to the outside of non-utility buildings and structures in any zoning district; and

E.

Only for antennas located wholly inside or incorporated within existing non-utility buildings and structures in any zoning district, provided no structural modifications to such building are required by the placement of such antennas.

1-402:

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all other personal wireless service facilities, including related transmission equipment, shall require a special use permit.

1-403:

Height.

A.

Any new personal wireless service facility considered a special use shall require a variation for any portion of the height of the personal wireless service facility in excess of the maximum height requirements of the applicable district.

B.

A personal wireless service facility considered a permitted use or collocated on a tower or base station shall be permitted above: (a) the established height of the tower, or (b) the applicable maximum height for the district where it is located; up to 20 feet, or ten percent of the otherwise applicable limitation, whichever is greater.

1-404:

Setbacks. A personal wireless service facility that is not collocated on an existing tower or base station shall:

A.

Not be located between the front lot line and the principal building, if any, on the property.

B.

Setbacks:

(1)

Residential zones. Be setback from all lot lines a distance equal to the height of the personal wireless service facility, except where it is attached to an existing building or structure;

(2)

Nonresidential zones. Be setback from all lot lines a distance equal to the height of the location on the tower where it is designed to fail (as described in the information required by section 1-1202.E, or the applicable zoning district setback, whichever is greater.

1-405:

Dispersion.

A.

Permitted uses. Where a personal wireless service facility is a permitted use, no dispersion from existing personal wireless facilities shall be required.

B.

Special uses. Where a personal wireless service facility is a special use, it shall be separated from other existing personal wireless service facilities by at least 1,000 feet.

1-501:

All designs for personal wireless service facilities, as well as designs for associated transmission equipment, shall be approved by the village board as part of an application for a special use permit, by reference to the standards described in this section. Personal wireless service facilities that are permitted uses, as well as designs for associated transmission equipment, shall substantially comply with the following standards, which shall be enforced as a condition of the building permit for such facilities.

A.

Personal wireless service facilities shall be of a monopole design unless the village board determines that an alternate design would better blend into the surrounding environment.

B.

Towers and transmission equipment shall be designed to blend into the surrounding environment as closely as possible through the use of color, camouflaging and/or architectural treatment, where possible. A tower shall be painted a single, neutral color, the color of which shall be approved by the village board. Personal wireless service facilities shall be well maintained at all times.

C.

Personal wireless service facilities shall not be illuminated by artificial means and shall not display lights unless such lights are specifically required by a federal or state authority. Lights are permitted to be operated during on-going maintenance activities.

D.

Site location and development shall preserve the existing character of the building or property as much as possible. Existing vegetation must be preserved or improved, and disturbance of the existing topography of the site must be minimized.

E.

Personal wireless services facilities erected on property where there are structures composed of masonry materials and having gabled or other peaked-roof type features are required to enclose ground-mounted facilities and equipment within a structure using the same building materials unless the village board determines that an alternate design would better blend into the surrounding environment. All other facilities shall be enclosed within a solid six-foot high wooden board-on-board style fence. Equipment enclosures may be required to be sized to accommodate co-location of additional facilities as part of a special use permit approval.

F.

Landscaping screening a minimum of five-foot in height at installation shall be required and maintained so as to screen any proposed ground-mounted structure or transmission equipment and to discourage vandalism.

G.

Transmission equipment attached to existing buildings or base stations may extend not more than six feet from the exterior of any wall of the building to which it is attached. Transmission equipment attached to a tower may not protrude from the edge of the tower more than 20 feet.

1-601:

Exemption. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any application for placement, construction and modification of personal wireless service facilities on village-owned real property (e.g., water towers, municipal utility facilities) shall be exempt from the requirement to obtain either a special use or variance, it being hereby declared to be the policy and intent of the village that personal wireless service facilities are to be considered permitted uses on village-owned real property, subject to the order of priority described in section 1-602 of this section and the provisions of section 1-603 of this section.

1-602:

Priority of users. For wireless telecommunication antennas and towers, priority for the use of village-owned land will be given to the following entities and purposes in descending order:

A.

Village of South Chicago Heights;

B.

Public safety agencies, including law enforcement, fire, and ambulance services, which are not part of the village, and private entities with a public safety agreement with the village;

C.

Other governmental agencies, for uses which are not related to public safety;

D.

Entities providing licensed commercial wireless telecommunication services including cellular, personal communication services (PCS), specialized mobile radio (SMR), enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR), paging, and similar services that are marketed to the general public; and

E.

Entities providing unlicensed commercial wireless information services.

1-603:

Reservation of rights. The village board, acting in its capacity as and exercising the commercial rights of a property owner, reserves the right to deny, for any reason or no reason, the use of any or all village-owned property by any one or all applicants.

1-701:

The shared use of towers, base stations and distributed antenna systems ("collocation") shall be preferred to the construction of new personal wireless service facilities. Provided that collocation is accomplished in a manner consistent with the terms of this chapter, then applications for collocation facilities may be approved administratively without any new or additional special use permit approval. Proper plans must be submitted and permits obtained for such collocation facilities as required by the terms of this title.

1-702:

An applicant for a special use permit for a new personal wireless service facility shall submit a report inventorying existing towers, base stations and distributed antenna system within a reasonable distance from the proposed site (not less than a 1,000-foot radius) outlining opportunities for collocation as an alternative to the proposed use. The applicant must demonstrate that the proposed personal wireless service facility cannot be accommodated on existing towers, base stations and distributed antenna systems due to one or more of the following reasons:

A.

Refusal of the owner to permit the collocation;

B.

The planned equipment would exceed the structural or service capacity of existing and approved towers, base stations and distributed antenna systems, considering existing and approved uses for those facilities;

C.

The planned equipment would cause interference with other existing or approved equipment, which cannot reasonably be prevented; or

D.

Existing or approved towers, base stations and distributed antenna systems do not have space on which proposed equipment can be placed so it can function effectively and reasonably.

1-703:

The village board may consider existing towers and base station sites located within one and one-half miles of village boundaries that are capable of serving territory within the village when examining an application for an additional new facility.

1-801:

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the personal wireless service facility shall conform to all applicable federal laws and regulations concerning its use and operation, and shall also conform to all applicable provisions of this title and all other Village of South Chicago Heights codes, rules, and regulations, as amended.

1-802:

Preferences. When collocation is not possible for the reasons described in section 1-702, and more than one location is capable of providing roughly equivalent service to close a significant gap in coverage, the village may direct the location of the new personal wireless service facility in the following order of preference:

A.

Industrial district;

B.

Business district;

C.

Residential district.

1-803:

In considering a request for approval of a special use to permit the installation of personal wireless service facilities the village board shall, in addition to other relevant standards for approval described in this code, also give due consideration and weight to:

A.

Whether the applicant has sought and been denied the opportunity for collocation, as described in part VIII of this chapter.

B.

Whether the applicant has sought and been denied the opportunity to locate its personal wireless service facility on a site with a higher preference according to section 1-702 of this chapter.

C.

Whether a significant gap in coverage exists in each applicant's coverage area for the provision of personal wireless service. A "gap in coverage" exists when a remote user of such services is unable to either connect with the land-based national telephone network or to maintain a connection capable of supporting a reasonably uninterrupted communication. This standard shall be applied separately to each personal wireless service provider.

D.

Whether the means chosen to fill a significant gap in coverage are the least intrusive on the conditions set forth in this chapter.

E.

Whether there are specific and unique aesthetic, visual and safety objections relative to such application and/or the subject property, either in isolation or cumulatively, that are distinct from those generalized concerns otherwise addressed in this chapter.

F.

Whether the proposed site would encroach on a building or district with historical, architectural or economic significance.

1-901:

A personal wireless service facility erected prior to September 1, 2016, which would be prohibited under this chapter shall be considered to be a legal nonconforming use and/or legal nonconforming structure, as the case may be, and shall be subject to the rules on nonconforming uses and structures as provided by chapter 5.

1-1001:

A tower or transmission equipment shall be deemed abandoned if, for reasons within the reasonable control of the owner, it remains unused or unoperated for a period of 12 consecutive months, unless a shorter abandonment period is provided in the applicable lease, in which event, the abandonment period specified in the applicable lease shall govern, and such abandonment shall be as determined by the village board. All or any portion of a personal wireless service facility deemed abandoned or unused under this article shall be removed according to the decommissioning and restoration plan described in this section.

1-1002:

All abandoned or unused portions of a personal wireless service facility shall be removed within six months of the board's determination that such facilities are abandoned, unless a time extension is approved by the village board. Before the board makes a finding or issues an order for removal of the facility resulting from its abandonment, the applicant and the owner shall be given an opportunity for a pre-deprivation hearing in the manner described below:

A.

When the village believes all or any part of a facility has been abandoned, the community development director shall cause a notice of facility abandonment to be sent via first class mail to the owner of the facility. The notice of facility abandonment shall state the name and address of the owner, the name and address of the property owner, a summary of the grounds for the village's determination and describe the opportunity for a hearing.

B.

Failure to request a hearing within 21 days from the date of the notice will result in the village board making its determination solely on the basis of evidence presented by village staff.

C.

A person may challenge the validity of the notice of facility abandonment by requesting a hearing and appearing in person to submit evidence which would disprove abandonment, or the term for which the facility has not been used or operated is less than 12 months. Upon a request for a hearing, the community development director shall schedule the hearing for a regular or special village board meeting.

D.

All parties shall be given a reasonable opportunity to present testimony and evidence at the hearing. A request for a continuance of the hearing date must be made in person before the village board and may be granted upon a showing of good cause. The formal rules of evidence will not apply at the hearing.

1-1003:

Written notice of the board's determination of abandonment shall be sent via regular mail, and via certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner of the personal wireless service facilities and the owner of the property, as determined by reference to the records of the chief county assessment officer.

1-1004:

Decommissioning and restoration plan. Prior to receiving a building permit and/or special use permit for the construction of a personal wireless service facility, the owner and/or operator must include a decommissioning and restoration plan with the application to ensure such facility and all related equipment is properly decommissioned. The owner of the facility and the underlying property owner(s) shall be jointly liable for the removal of all equipment associated with the facility at the expiration of the special use permit, if any, the end of the useful life of the facility, or when the facility is abandoned as herein described. The decommissioning and restoration plan shall contain:

A.

Provisions for removal of the facility and all related equipment, including those below the soil surface.

B.

Provisions for the restoration of the property and improvements upon completion of the decommissioning of the facility and all related equipment.

C.

An estimated cost of decommissioning certified by an authorized agent of the applicant and the financial resources to be used to accomplish decommissioning.

D.

A right of entry onto the site granted to the village, pursuant to reasonable notice to effect or complete decommissioning and/or restoration.

1-1005:

Any facility which remains erected more than six months after the expiration of the special use permit, if any, the end of the useful life of the facility, or the facility is determined to be abandoned shall be deemed a nuisance.

1-1006:

Lien on costs of enforcement or removal.

A.

If the village incurs any costs to abate the nuisance caused by the owner and petitioner's failure to perform the applicant's decommissioning and restoration plan in a timely manner, that cost is a lien upon that underlying parcel. If, for any one parcel, the village engaged in any enforcement activity or performed plan activities on more than one occasion during the course of one year, then the village may combine any or all of the costs of each of those activities into a single lien.

B.

To perfect a lien under this section, the village must, within one year after the cost is incurred, file notice of lien in the Office of the Cook County Recorder. The notice must consist of a sworn statement setting out:

1.

A description of the underlying parcel that sufficiently identifies the parcel;

2.

The amount of the enforcement or removal cost; and

3.

The date or dates when the enforcement or removal cost was incurred by the village.

C.

The removal cost is not a lien on the underlying parcel unless a notice is personally served on, or sent by certified mail, to the applicant and the person to whom the tax bill for the general taxes on the property for the taxable year was sent, not less than ten days preceding the removal activities. The notice must:

1.

State the substance of this section;

2.

Identify the underlying parcel, by common description; and

3.

Describe the village's proposed activity.

D.

A lien under this section may be enforced by proceedings to foreclose as in case of mortgages. An action to foreclose a lien under this section must be commenced within two years after the date of filing notice of lien. Failure to file a foreclosure action does not, in any way, affect the validity of the lien against the underlying parcel.

E.

Upon payment of the lien cost by the applicant or owner of the underlying parcel after notice of lien has been filed, the village shall release the lien, and the release may be filed of record by the owner at his or her sole expense as in the case of filing notice of lien.

1-1101:

No new or existing telecommunications service shall interfere with public safety telecommunications. All applications for new service shall be accompanied by an inter-modulation study which provides a technical evaluation of existing and proposed transmissions and indicates all potential interference problems related to other telecommunications facilities operating on the same facility or adjacent property. Before the introduction of new service or changes in existing service, telecommunication providers shall notify the village at least ten calendar days in advance of such changes and allow the village to monitor interference levels during the testing process. If at any time it is determined by the village board, or its designee, that public safety communications experience interference from the new, modified, or existing telecommunications service so as to jeopardize or impede emergency services to residents of the village, the village shall refer the issue to the appropriate judicial or administrative forum for dispute resolution, the village's costs for which shall be borne entirely by the applicant.

1-1201:

In addition to the information required elsewhere in this title, applications for a special use permit for a new personal wireless service facility shall include the following supplemental information:

A.

A statement of the applicant's purpose and need, including data describing whether a significant gap in coverage exists in the applicant's coverage area for the provision of personal wireless service;

B.

An inventory of existing towers and base stations within a reasonable distance from the proposed site, including the estimated capacity of such sites, outlining opportunities for collocation as an alternative to the proposed use;

C.

Demonstration from a qualified and professional radio frequency engineer that alternative locations with a higher preference, as designated by section 1-802, are unavailable or impractical and that the equipment cannot be mounted on an existing tower or base station;

D.

A architectural site plan including tower and ground structure elevations, and landscaping; and

E.

A plan indicating how specific visual impacts created by the proposed facilities will be minimized.

1-1202:

Applications for a building permit for a new personal wireless service facility shall include a report from a qualified and licensed professional engineer which includes, to the extent applicable, information that:

A.

Describes the tower height and design including a cross section and elevation;

B.

Documents the height above grade for all potential mounting positions for co-located transmission equipment and the minimum separation distances between transmission equipment;

C.

Describes the tower's capacity, including the number and type of transmission equipment that it can accommodate;

D.

Includes a professional engineer's stamp and registration number;

E.

Describes the wind rating of the tower and the manner in which the tower is designed to fail; and

F.

Includes any other information necessary to evaluate the request.

1-1203:

For all new personal wireless service facilities, the applicant shall submit to the village a letter of intent committing the owner and his or her successors to allow the shared use of the tower or base station if an additional user agrees in writing to meet reasonable terms and conditions for shared use.

1-1204:

If the applicant is not the owner of the subject property, the applicant shall submit to the village a copy of the lease agreement pursuant to which the applicant is granted authority to erect the proposed personal wireless service facility.

1-1205:

The village shall be given not more than 30 days to review an application and provide prompt notice to the applicant of whether the application is complete. A failure to provide notice shall result in the application being deemed complete.