7C, Ordinance 2010-002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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or has the effect of prohibiting the provision of wireless services, must act on applications within a reasonable period of time, and must make any denial of an application in writing supported by substantial evidence in a written record. The statute also preempts local decisions premised directly or indirectly on the environmental effects of radio frequency (RF) emissions, assuming that the provider is in compliance with the Commission's RF rules. (http://wireless.fcc. ov/siting/local-state-gov.html). City Zoning Regulations Section 1325.09 Subd 1 of the City's Zoning Code states that a purpose of regulating antennas, dish antennas, and towers within the City is to "maximize the use of existing and approved towers and buildings to accommodate new personal wireless service antennas in order to reduce the number of new towers necessary to serve the community." Essentially, it has been the City's desire to encourage new antennas to be located on existing platforms (i.e. water tower, antenna tower, or building) where feasible instead of building new antenna towers or monopoles throughout the City. Cities are allowed to regulate towers in such a manner provided it does not leave parts of a community without access to wireless services. In August 2009, the City updated the Zoning Code to include a priority list for the placement of new antennas (Section 1325.09 Subd 6). Again, the goal is to encourage the grouping of antennas to minimize the construction of new antenna towers and limit the impact on the public health, safety and welfare, which includes the aesthetic impact. The code states that new antennas shall be located on City water tower sites unless the applicant shows, to the reasonable satisfaction of the City, that the City water towers cannot be feasibly used from an engineering standpoint. If the City water tower site is not feasible, the Code requires the applicant to consider the following locations in order of priority: l. 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. As stated above, the Zoning Code requires applicants to consider the City water tower sites and existing towers before any other location or before building a new tower. However, the Code also prohibits the addition of new antennas to the existing Reiling Tower because it is considered legally non-conforming under the code. This creates a contradiction in the Zoning Code because if the water tower sites were deemed infeasible from an engineering review, a potential applicant would not be able to consider the Reiling Tower due to its non-conforming status. This could result in a request for a new antenna tower, which the City is trying to avoid when possible. The height requirements within the code are also contrary to the purpose of reducing the number of towers necessary to provide suitable service. Generally speaking the greater the height of the City ofA�den Hills City Council Meeting for Feb�uary 22, 2010 C: IDocuments and SettingslUecky.brazyslLocal Settingsl Temporary Internet FilesIOLKISFl�2-22-10 - Regular Meeting - Memo - Reiling Tower CUP Amend.doc Page 3 of 8