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water tower site is not feasible, the Code requires the applicant to consider the following locations in order of priority: 1. On existing towers or structures within any industrial, civic -center, or business district; 2. On new towers in any industrial civic -center, or business district; 3. Any existing towers or structures located within any residential district; then, 4. Any new towers or structures located within any residential district. The priority list and evaluation criteria in the Zoning Code help the City fairly evaluate requests while working to minimize the potential impacts and protect the public. Discussion Despite the priority list requiring applicants to consider the City's water towers first, the Code does not really encourage the use of the City water towers. New antenna requests are required to come before the Planning Commission and City Council for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in order to place antennas on a water tower, which adds time and expense. Since the Zoning Code requires the same process for placing an antenna on an existing water tower or constructing a new tower for an antenna, there is less incentive to consider the water towers. To address this issue, Staff proposes to eliminate the CUP requirement for placing antennas on City owned structures, which includes the water towers. In place of the CUP, the antenna request would be subject to an administrative and City Council review. The administrative review for proposed antennas on City owned structures would require the following: • An independent structural engineering review to determine if the structure can accommodate the additional antennas; • For water tower sites, the regulations in Section 1325.09 Subd 8 would continue to apply; and, • A building permit. The applicant would come before the City Council for approval of a lease agreement, but a public hearing and Planning Commission review would not be required. The lease agreement would address all of the water tower provisions in the Code (Section 1325.09 Subd 8) without the need for a CUP. The administrative review process would reduce the amount of time it takes an applicant to find and install antennas. More importantly, this would incentivize the placement of antennas on existing water towers instead of building new towers by streamlining the review process. The result would be in keeping with the goal of the Zoning Code to reduce the need for antenna sites in the City. Staff reviewed a number of other communities' zoning ordinances as they pertain to antennas located on city owned sites as well as consulted with the City Attorney. Staff was unable to find another community that required a Conditional Use Permit for city owned sites that had been City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting for February 3, 2010 IlAhdocsllahlAHdatalPlanninglPlanning Cases120101PC 10-003 Zoning Code Amendment -Antennas on Water Towers (pending)102-03-10 - PC Report - Water Tower ordinance amendment - james.doc Page 2 of 4