TITLE
Adopt resolution directing the Director of Development Services to submit a request to the California Coastal Commission to certify an amendment to the Certified Local Coastal Program; and
DISCUSSION
On February 15, 2018, the Planning Commission adopted Negative Declaration ND-11-17 and approved a Zoning Code Amendment (ACA17-008) and Local Coastal Program Amendment (LCPA 17-001) to remove from Title 21 of the Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC) those provisions that relate to the regulations of wireless telecommunications facilities in the public right-of-way (ROW). The regulation of wireless telecommunications facilities in the public ROW will now fall under Title 15 of the LBMC and be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works (PW), which will review all applications related to the installation of such facilities in the public ROW. The Department of Development Services will continue to regulate the installation of wireless telecommunications facilities that are outside the public ROW, pursuant to Chapter 21.56 of the LMBC.
In addition to shifting departmental responsibility, this action follows through a series of substantial Ordinance changes that began last year. On May 2, 2017, the City Council adopted a Zoning Code Amendment for time-critical regulations for small cell wireless telecommunications facilities. These facilities, which are commonly located on City infrastructure such as street lights, are often referred to as small cells. This amendment was intended to be a short-term patch to implement several aesthetic standards and regulations, with the understanding that a more complete Ordinance would follow. Since then, City staff has collaborated to produce a comprehensive Ordinance regulating small cells in the ROW that addresses not only design and aesthetic standards, but sets forth a new streamlined review and approval process.
Before 2016, wireless development was occurring principally through macro wireless telecommunication...
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