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Telecommunications Ordinance 2 09/02/98 <br />A-98-3 <br />The majority of sites are located on the rooftop of office, commercial or industrial buildings where <br />they are virtually invisible to neighbors. Other locations are water tanks, hospitals, billboards, <br />church spires and steeples, or man-made trees. These are considered "alternative tower structures." <br />In some instances, the only engineering option is to construct a monopole, a steel pole resembling a <br />light standard or a lattice tower. <br />The present Zoning Code does not make any statement acknowledging the wireless <br />telecommunication industry. Thus, staff has prepared the Ordinance with the following objectives: <br />1. It seeks to reduce the total number of towers located throughout the City; <br />2. It encourages service providers to minimize adverse visual impacts; <br />3. It sets standards upon which staff may approve the placement of telecommunications facilities; <br />4. It enhances customer service to service providers and the general public. <br />Comments Raised at the Planning Commission Meeting <br />The Planning Commission expressed the following concerns and included the necessary changes in <br />its motion for the recommended ordinance: <br />Towers in R Residential Districts should not be permitted at all. They would be visually <br />obtrusive and detract from an established residential neighborhood. This is an acceptable <br />requirement due to the fact that there are other opportunities in the Commercial and <br />Industrial Districts in the City, to construct the telecommunication facilities. <br />2. Towers, antennas and alternative tower structures in the Public and Semipublic Districts <br />should require a conditional use permit, due to the fact that most of these areas are adjacent <br />to or near residential neighborhoods. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The proposed amendment to the Zoning Code is comprehensive in including the following: <br />1. It has definitions using the industry's nomenclature; <br />2. It specifies the types of wireless telecommunications alternatives in each base zoning district <br />and if they are permitted, require administrative review, or are conditionally permitted (see the <br />table on the next page); <br />3. It contains guidelines and requirements for installation such as height, finishes, colors, and <br />landscaping to assure that impacts are minimized; <br />4. It outlines standards for staff to consider for administrative approvals and factors for the Board <br />of Zoning Adjustments to consider in granting conditional use permits; <br />5. It requires the service provider(s) to show that no existing tower or structure can accommodate <br />the proposed antennae; and <br />6. It requires that abandoned antennas and towers that have not been operated for a continuous <br />period of 12-months must be removed and the site restored to its pre -installation condition. <br />2 <br />