Telecommunications

Towers

Proposed Telecommunications Towers, Antennas and Associated Facilities Ordinance


SECTION 1. PURPOSE

This Ordinance is designed and intended to balance the interest of the residents of the Town of Sebago, telecommunications providers, and telecommunications customers in the sitting of telecommunications facilities within the town. These purposes are also intended:

A.      To minimize the adverse impact of such facilities including visual impacts, environmental impacts, impacts to historically significant areas, health and safety impacts and property value impacts.

B.      To encourage co-location of carriers and minimize the total number of towers located within the town.

C.      To permit: the construction of new towers only where all of her reasonable opportunities have been exhausted.

D.      To encourage the users of towers and antennas to configure them in a way that minimizes the need for additional towers in the Town of Sebago.

E.      To provide for the removal of structures which are no longer being used for telecommunications purposes.

 

SECTION II. DEFINITIONS

Alternative Tower Structure- shall mean clock towers, bell steeples, light poles and water towers, and similar alternative-design mounting structures that camouflage or conceal the presence of antennas or towers.

Antenna – shall mean any exterior apparatus designed for commercial transmission of telephonic, radio, or television, or similar communications through the sending and/or receiving of electromagnetic waves.

Go-Location – shall mean the location of more than one telecommunications facility (use) on a tower or alternative tower structure.

FAA – shall mean the Federal Aviation Administration.

FCC – shall mean the Federal Communications Commission


Height – shall mean, when referring to a tower or other structure, the distance measured from ground level to the highest point on the tower or other structure, even if said highest point is an antenna.

Telecommunications Facility – shall mean any structure, antenna, tower, or other device which provides radio/television transmission, commercial mobile wireless services, unlicensed wireless services, cellular phone services, specialized mobile radio communications (SMR), common carrier wireless exchange access services, and personal communications service (PCS) or pager services. Telecommunications facilities shall be considered a principal use.

Threshold Height – shall mean the height , as defined above, below which a telecommunications facility does not need review and approval as a special exception, unless otherwise noted herein.

Tower – shall mean any structure, whether freestanding or in association with a building or other permanent structure, that is designed and constructed primarily for the purposes of supporting one of more antennas, including self-supporting lattice towers, guy towers, or monopole towers. The term includes radio and television transmission towers, microwave towers, common-carrier towers, cellular telephone towers, alternative tower structures, and similar structures.  

 

SECTION III.      PERMITS REQUIRED

A.      All new telecommunications facilities which exceed 35 feet in height in the shoreland zone and all towers exceeding 70 feet in all other areas must acquire and conform to the requirements of a permit from the Planning Board.

B.      New telecommunications facilities below those threshold heights shall be considered a permitted accessory use, and shall need only a building permit form the Code Enforcement Officer, if such telecommunications facility is accessory to a principal use on the lot an is used for the private communications of the owner of or business location on the lot.

C.      All telecommunications facilities proposing to locate on existing towers or alternative tower structures below the threshold heights as set forth above shall conform to the requirements of a building permit for the Code Enforcement Officer.

D.      All other telecommunications facilities below the threshold heights as set forth above shall conform to the requirements of a building permit from the Code Enforcement Officer.

 

SECTION IV.          APPLICATION PROCEDURE

A.      All applications under this section shall be reviewed by the Planning Board of the          Town of Sebago in accordance with the procedure, standards and submission requirements of The Sebago Site Plan Review Ordinance and the Sebago Shoreland Zoning Ordinance as applicable.

B.      All activities that require a permit in accordance with this Ordinance shall have an application submitted to the Code Enforcement Officer. The Code Enforcement Officer, after reviewing the application to determine if it contains sufficient information, as required below, will schedule for the next available Planning Board meeting.

C.      Each applicant for a permit under this Ordinance shall submit a scaled plan and application in accordance with the following requirements:

1.      Location of the proposed structure, including map/lot number and street address.

2.      Name of owner or operator of the telecommunications facility and owner of property.

3.      Proof of right, title and interest to use the property on which the telecommunications facility is proposed.

4.      Name of company(ies) responsible for constructing and/or maintaining the telecommunication facility.

5.      Date the telecommunication facility, in cases of co-location, was initially constructed or is proposed to be constructed.

6.      A description and construction detail of the telecommunication facility, including: plot plan identifying location of the tower on the property; dimensions of the tower; structural supports, it any: lighting; color; and equipment located on the structure, if any. This description shall also identify any accessory structures that are essential to operation of the telecommunication facility.

7.      A topographic map, drawn at a scale of 1 inch = 50 feet (or other appropriate scale as determined by the Planning Board) of the property proposed as location of the structure. The topographic map shall identify: accurate contours at not less than 5 foot intervals ( or other dimensions of the property; appropriate scale as determined by the Planning Board) existing vegetation, particularly noting height, diameter, density, quality, and type (deciduous or evergreen) of existing trees, wetlands, floodplains, streams and open bodies of water; ledge outcrops; soils data, medium intensity; all existing structures on the property; and any right-of-ways, easements, or similar encumbrances on the property; and other significant features.

8.      A locus map drawn at a scale of not less than 1 inch = 100 feet ( or other appropriate scale as determined by the Planning Board) that identifies all properties, all residences, all non-residential structures, all roads and the natural topography (vegetation and contours at 20 foot intervals) of the area located within a radius of 1000 feet of the proposed telecommunication facility location.

9.      A landscape plan prepared at a scale of 1 inch + 50 feet ( or other appropriate scale as determined by the Planning Board); that identifies how the applicant shall satisfy landscape, screening and buffering requirements.

10.     A visual impact analysis prepared by a landscape architect or other qualified professional that quantifies the amount of visual impact on properties located within 500 feet, within 2,500 feet and within 2 miles of the proposed telecommunication structure. This analysis will include recommendations to mitigate adverse visual impacts on such properties.

11.     An analysis prepared by a qualified professional that describes why this site and structure is critical to the operation for which it is proposed. The analysis shall address, at a minimum, existing and proposed service area maps; how this structure is integrated with other company operations, particularly other structures in the Sebago and surrounding communities; future expansion needs in the area; the affect on company operations if this structure is not constructed in this location; other sites evaluated for location of this structure and how such sites compare to the proposed site; other option, if any, which could be used ot deliver similar services, particularly if the proposed equipment can be co-located (shared use) on an existing structure; and an analysis to the projected life cycle of this structure and location.

12.     Certification by a structural engineer that construction  of the structure shall satisfy all Federal, State and Local building code requirements as well as be able to satisfy the needs of maximum permitted co-location at the site ( as approved by the Planning Board ) per the height limits of the applicable zoning district.

13.     Payment of all required performance guarantees as a condition of plan approval- with a note on the plan so stating.

D.      The Planning Board has discretion to request additional information to proceed

with the review process.

E.      All applications shall be accompanied by fees as follows:

$0-$10,000 value……$35.00

Over $10,000 value….$35.00 + $5.00 per additional $1,000


SECTION V.                                 REVIEW PROCEDURES    

A.      The Planning Board shall schedule a public hearing within forty-five (45) days of

taking up the completed application. Notification of the hearing shall be provided:

1.      By the Applicant in writing, at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing, to all

owners of property that directly abut or are located within one thousand (1,000) feet of any property line of the property for which the permit is requested. (Notice to the owners within the first 500 feet shall be by certified mail, the remaining notices shall be by first class mail.) Notice shall also be given to any town located within 1,000 feet of the proposed telecommunications facility. The applicant also shall present proof of such notification to the Code Enforcement Officer. The notification shall include: the name of the applicant location of the property, a brief description of the project, and a plot plan identifying the proposed site layout in relation to nearby streets and properties.

2.      By the Town posting notice of such hearing in Town Hall a minimum of ten (10)

days in advance of the hearing.

3.      By the Town advertising in a newspaper of general circulation notice of the

hearing a minimum of ten (10) days in advance of the hearing.

B.      The Planning Board will, after a public hearing and sufficient review of the

application, issue Findings of Facts which outline the reasons it approves or denies the telecommunications structure application. The Board shall use the standards identified in The Sebago Site Plan Review Ordinance as well as those noted below (Section VI) to make its decision. The Planning Board may establish reasonable conditions to ensure conformity with the purposes of this Ordinance and the Town of Sebago Comprehensive Plan.

 

SECTION VI.             REVIEW GUIDELINES

The Planning Board will be guided in its consideration by the following standards:

1.      Height of proposed tower or other structure does not exceed that which is

Essential for its intended use and public safety.

2.      Proximity of tower to residential development or zones.

3.      Nature of uses on adjacent and nearby properties-

4.      Surrounding topography

5.      Surrounding tree coverage and foliage

6.      Design of the tower, antenna, or facility with particular reference to design