This chapter shall be known as the "Perkiomen Township Small Wireless Facilities Ordinance of 2022."
A. 
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted the small wireless facilities Deployment Act, the Act of June 30, 2021, P.L. 232, No. 50, with an effective date of August 30, 2021 (hereinafter the "SWF Deployment Act" or "Act 50").[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 11704.1 et seq.
B. 
Act 50 governs the deployment of small wireless facilities within the public right-of-way, authorizes municipalities to adopt ordinances that comply with Act 50, and, where necessary, requires municipalities to amend existing ordinances to comply with Act 50.
C. 
The Township of Perkiomen (the "Township") has determined that the best interests of the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Township warrant the enactment of an ordinance to regulate the deployment of small wireless facilities within public rights-of-way within the Township pursuant to Act 50.
A. 
The purpose of this chapter is to establish reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and uniform standards for the siting, design, permitting, maintenance, and use of small wireless facilities in Perkiomen Township. While the Township recognizes the importance of small wireless facilities in providing high-quality communication service to its residents and businesses, the Township also recognizes that it has an obligation to protect public safety and to minimize the adverse effects of such facilities (including adverse visual effects) through the standards set forth in the following provisions.
B. 
By enacting this chapter, the Township intends to:
(1) 
Promote health, safety and welfare of Township residents and businesses with respect to small wireless facilities;
(2) 
Provide for the managed development of small wireless facilities in a reasonable and nondiscriminatory manner that enhances the benefits of wireless communication and accommodates the needs of Township residents and wireless carriers in accordance with federal and state laws and local ordinances and regulations;
(3) 
Establish procedures for the design, siting, permitting, construction, installation, maintenance, and removal of small wireless facilities in the Township within the public right-of-way;
(4) 
Encourage the co-location of small wireless facilities on existing structures rather than the construction of a new wireless support structure;
(5) 
Protect Township residents and businesses from potential adverse impacts of small wireless facilities, to the extent permitted under law, and to attempt to preserve the visual character of established communities and the natural beauty of the landscape; and
(6) 
Update the Township's ordinances by incorporating recent changes in federal and state laws and regulations.
Any small wireless facility installed, modified, or replaced after the effective date of this chapter shall conform to the regulations set forth within this chapter. To the extent that any provision of this chapter conflicts with any term, provision or requirement of Article XXV (Wireless Communication Facilities) of Chapter 310, the Perkiomen Township Zoning Ordinance, the provisions of this chapter shall control and the conflicting provision of Chapter 310, Article XXV, shall be deemed nullified, replaced, preempted and superseded by the provisions of this chapter.