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Staff has reviewed a number of other communities' zoning ordinances as they pertain to antennas and antenna towers as well as consulted with the City Attorney. The proposed ordinance amendment (Attachment A) is the result of this review. Discussion The current regulations on antennas, dish antennas, and towers allow these devices on any property within the City with a conditional use permit. In order to place an antenna on a property, the owner must comply with a number of conditions that provide for screening, height limitations, and placement constraints of the antenna or tower. Each property within the City is treated the same in terms of preference for tower and antenna locations, with the exception of City water tower sites, which, in addition to the normal requirements, must meet a number of additional design and placement conditions. In addition to small changes that clarify the existing regulations and update some language to better account for current technology, a number of proposed amendments have been made that would significantly impact where antennas and towers may be placed within the City. Section 1305.04 Definitions The definition for Antennas has been amended in order to remove terms not used within the ordinance and to eliminate redundancy. The definition for Tower is located elsewhere in this Section and would remain unchanged. Exemptions Small dish television antennas are currently exempted in the regulations. The language for these was updated to reflect current uses of these devices. In addition the number of exempt small dish antennas was increased from one to two on residential lots. Antennas and antenna support structures used by the City were added to this paragraph so that they too would be exempt. T.nnntin" The proposed amendment would require that all new antennas be located on City water tower sites unless this is not feasible from an engineering standpoint. It would be the responsibility of the applicant to show that these locations would not work. In the event that one of the City water tower sites would not be feasible the proposed ordinance outlines a list of preferred alternate locations in order of priority. Existing towers and structures are listed as a higher priority than locations that would require new towers to be constructed. In the event that existing towers and structures would not meet the needs of the application, from an engineering standpoint, and a new tower needs to be constructed, the proposed ordinance City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting.for July 8, 2009 C: IDOCUME 11MEAGAN I.BEEILOCALS-1ITempIELF431070809 - PCReport - Wireless Communications Ordinance.doc Page 2 of 3