Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/04/2000

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REVIEW TOWER ORDINANCE By: City Planner, Anita Rasmussen Background: Due to the recent Conditional Use Permit application by US West Wireless to construct a 180" personal communications tower on a R1 Rural Residential property, the Planning Commission and the City Council have decided to review the City's current tower ordinance. The primary concern regarding towers, is the ability to place restrictions on the location of them, especially in residentially zoned districts. Observations: Enclosed for your review: 1. Current Tower Ordinance 2. Local Officials Guide - Siting Cellular Towers 3. City Council Minutes - November 12, 1996 4. City Council Minutes -November 26, 1999 5. Planning Commission Minutes - January 1, 1997 6. Planning Commission Minutes - February 4, 1997 7. City Council Minutes - May 13, 1997 8. City Council Minutes - May 27, 1997 9. City Council Minutes - June 10, 1997 10. City Council Minutes - January 25, 2000 11. Minutes from the February 1, 2000 Planning Commission Meeting. In order for local governments to maintain zoning authority over wireless telecommunications facilities, local governments must adhere and satisfy the following five conditions: 1. Local zoning requirements may not unreasonably discriminate among wireless telecommunication providers that compete against one another. Local governments should avoid making zoning decisions that would give one competitor a competitive advantage over the other. 2. Local zoning requirements may not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of wireless telecommunications service. This provision is to guarantee that local governments will not ban or have a perceived ban on telecommunications. 3. A local government must act within a reasonable timeframe on requests to place or construct a tower. 4. Denial of a request to install a tower must be in writing and be based on evidence in a written record before the governing body. The reasons must be consistent with the Telecommunications Act's requirements. 5. A local government may not deny a request to construct a tower on the grounds that its emissions would be harmful to the environment. The FCC has the sole authority to make the decision as to whether or not the frequencies harm humans or the environment, and they have determined that they do not.