TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending and restating Chapter 21.56, related to Wireless Telecommunications Facilities, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On June 7, 2011, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. ORD-11-0011, which revised the City’s zoning regulations for wireless telecommunications facilities. A number of major changes were established in that Ordinance, including a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) requirement for any new wireless telecommunication facility outside the public right-of-way, and more rigorous design and aesthetic standards for all wireless telecommunications facilities.
At the time this Ordinance was adopted, practically all wireless telecommunications facility development was occurring at “macro” sites on monopoles, building rooftops, or electrical transmission towers. Most of these sites are located on private property, and consist of multiple large panel antennas (typically six to twelve) with multiple radio units and several large (refrigerator-sized) equipment cabinets, and a backup power generator located on a ground lease area or leased equipment room. Currently, there are over 120 such macro wireless telecommunication facilities in the City that provide broad area coverage to the carriers’ customers throughout the City.
The 2011 Ordinance also included new regulations (in Section 21.56.130) for a different type of wireless telecommunications facility, located in the public right-of-way. These were anticipated to be located on existing or new poles, such as street light standards, and were expected to be considerably smaller in scale than macro sites. Referred to by the wireless industry as “micro” sites or “small cells,” they consist of a single small omnidirectional antenna atop a pole, or up to three small panel antennas concealed behind a cylindrical shroud at the top of a pole, with small (briefcase-sized) radio equipment and electrical power connections, either in an underground vault or moun...
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