[Added 5-21-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003[1]]
A.
The Planning Board of the Town of Poestenkill is hereby authorized
to review and approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove applications
for special use permits for personal wireless services facilities,
consistent with this article, this chapter and other applicable laws,
ordinances and regulations of the Town of Poestenkill, and Town Law
§ 274-b.
B.
The Planning Board of the Town of Poestenkill is hereby further authorized
to review and approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove site
plans for personal wireless services facilities, consistent with this
article, this chapter, other applicable laws, ordinances and regulations
of the Town of Poestenkill, and Town Law § 274-a.
A.
The purpose
of this article is to promote the health, safety, and general welfare
of the citizens of the Town of Poestenkill; to provide standards for
the safe provision of telecommunications consistent with applicable
federal and state regulations; to minimize the total number of telecommunications
towers in the community by encouraging shared use of existing and
future towers and the use of existing tall buildings and other high
structures; to minimize adverse visual effects from telecommunications
towers by requiring careful siting, visual impact assessment, and
appropriate landscaping; to protect and preserve the Town's scenic
beauty, aesthetic character and natural features, including particularly
the viewshed of the Rensselaer escarpment; to minimize any potential
impacts upon local air traffic and the safe and efficient operation
and use of the small aircraft facility situate within the Town; and
to preserve and protect property values within the Town of Poestenkill.
B.
The regulations
in this article are intended to be consistent with the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 in that:
(1)
The regulations do not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting
the provision of personal wireless services;
(2)
The regulations are not intended to be used to unreasonably discriminate
among providers of functionally equivalent services; and
(3)
The regulations do not seek to regulate personal wireless services
on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions
to the extent that the regulated services and facilities comply with
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations covering such
emissions.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any accessory facility or structure serving or being used
as part of a personal wireless services facility and located on the
same lot. Examples of an accessory facility are utility or transmission
equipment storage sheds or cabinets.
The radius around a telecommunications tower within which
all portions of the tower and antenna would fall in the event of a
structural failure of the tower.
Any personal wireless services facility that is not a minor
personal wireless services facility and/or requires the erection of
a new telecommunications tower, proposed to be used for the provision
of personal wireless services.
Any personal wireless services facility installed on, in,
or to any existing building or other existing structure, including,
but not limited to, any existing telecommunications tower, pole, other
utility tower or pole, smokestack, steeple, water tank, billboard
or other signage or streetlight, comprised solely of antennas and
ancillary and accessory telecommunications equipment, which do not
individually or in the aggregate extend farther than 20 feet above
the highest point of the existing building or structure on which the
personal wireless services facility is installed.
The area where, in the event of a telecommunications tower
failure, the entire height of the tower would fall completely within
the boundaries of the property in which it is located.[1]
The provision of personal wireless services, including, but
not limited to, the provision of commercial mobile radio services
such as cellular service, personal communications service (PCS) and
specialized mobile radio services; unlicensed wireless services; and
common carrier exchange access services, which services are regulated
by the Federal Communications Commission in accordance with Section
704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Any facility or equipment (including repeaters) used in connection
with the provision of personal wireless services, including, but not
limited to, antenna(s), ancillary and accessory telecommunications
equipment, telecommunications towers and access.
Any personal wireless services facility designed and/or constructed
so as to blend into the surrounding area, including, but not limited
to, telecommunications towers and/or telecommunications antennas designed
to resemble trees and silos.
Any antenna designed to transmit or receive communications
as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Design
examples of telecommunications antennas are whip, panel, and dish.
Any freestanding tower, lattice structure or framework, monopole
or similar structure used for the provision of personal wireless services
and designed to support personal wireless services transmission, receiving
and/or relaying antennas and/or equipment.
A.
The siting, placement, construction and modification of all personal
wireless services facilities within the boundaries of the Town of
Poestenkill shall be permitted only upon the issuance of a special
use permit and site plan approval by the Planning Board and the issuance
of a building permit by the Code Enforcement Officer, subject to all
of the provisions of this article and all other applicable laws, ordinances
and regulations.
B.
All personal wireless services facilities lawfully existing as of
the effective date of this article shall be allowed to remain and
continue in their current use.
C.
No existing or approved personal wireless services facility shall
be hereafter used, erected, moved, reconstructed, changed, or altered
except in conformity with the requirements of this article. This provision
does not require approval for routine maintenance of personal wireless
services facilities.
D.
No existing structure shall be modified to serve as a personal wireless
services facility except in conformity with this article.
E.
Minor personal wireless services facilities may be approved in all
zoning districts within the Town upon the issuance of a special use
permit, site plan approval and issuance of a building permit, as hereinbefore
provided.
F.
Major personal wireless services facilities may be approved in Rural
Residential 1 (RR-1), Rural Residential 2 (RR-2), and Rural Agricultural
(RA) Zoning Districts upon the issuance of a special use permit, site
plan approval and issuance of a building permit, as hereinbefore provided.
No major personal wireless services facility may be approved in any
other district.
At all times, minor personal wireless services facilities shall
be preferred to major personal wireless services facilities.
A.
An applicant proposing to construct a minor personal wireless services
facility shall be required to submit:
(1)
A completed application for a special use permit;
(2)
Documentation of intent from the owner of the existing building
or existing structure upon which the applicant proposes to locate
to allow the shared use;
(3)
A site plan meeting the requirements of this article and other
applicable laws and regulations of the Town of Poestenkill. Without
intending to limit the foregoing, the site plan shall show all existing
and proposed structures and improvements, including antennas, roads,
buildings, guy wires and anchors, parking and landscaping, and shall
include grading plans for new facilities and roads. Any proposed methods
to conceal the modification of the existing facility shall be indicated
on the site plan.
(4)
A report by a licensed professional engineer certifying that
the proposed minor personal wireless services facility will not diminish
the structural integrity and safety of the existing building or structure
and detailing what modifications to the existing building or structure
or to the minor personal wireless services facility being proposed
will be required in order to certify the above;
(5)
A completed long-form EAF with Visual Addendum;
(6)
A copy of its Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license;
and
(7)
A certified report by a qualified RF engineer, as well as calculated
data, demonstrating that all radio-frequency emissions from the minor
personal wireless services facility are in full compliance with FCC
regulations in effect at the time of the application.
B.
If an applicant proposing to construct a minor personal wireless services facility submits complete and satisfactory documentation in accordance with Subsection A above, and if the proposed modifications to the existing building or structure are deemed insignificant by the Planning Board, and after the Planning Board conducts a public hearing and complies with all SEQRA requirements, the Planning Board shall grant a special use permit without further review under this article. If the Planning Board determines that the proposed modifications are significant, it may require further review as hereinafter provided in this article.
A.
The Planning Board may consider an application for a major personal
wireless services facility only where it is established that for physical,
technical or financial reasons a minor personal wireless services
facility is impractical or will not meet the reasonable needs of the
applicant.
B.
The Planning Board may consider an application for a major personal
wireless services facility which involves the construction of a new
telecommunications tower only where it is established that for physical,
technical or financial reasons a major personal wireless services
facility which does not include the construction of a new telecommunications
tower is impractical or will not meet the reasonable needs of the
applicant.
C.
In all cases where a new telecommunications tower is proposed to
be constructed, the placement of the new tower on a site already developed
with an existing telecommunications tower(s) shall be preferred.
D.
Applicants for a special use permit to site, place or construct a
major personal wireless services facility shall submit the following
information to the Planning Board:
(1)
A completed application for a special use permit;
(2)
A completed long-form EAF with Visual Addendum; and
(3)
A site plan prepared by a New York State-licensed land surveyor
meeting the requirements of this article and other applicable laws
and regulations of the Town of Poestenkill, prepared to scale and
in sufficient detail and accuracy, showing at the minimum:
(a)
The exact location of the proposed major personal wireless services
facility;
(b)
If a new telecommunications tower is proposed, the location
of guy wires and guy anchors, if applicable, and the maximum height
of the tower;
(c)
Preliminary construction drawings or sketches sufficient to
allow the Planning Board to identify the type of construction proposed;
(d)
The color or colors of any proposed telecommunications tower
or antenna(s);
(e)
The location, type and intensity of any proposed lighting on
any proposed telecommunications tower;
(f)
Surveyed boundaries of the leased or owned property upon which
the proposed facility is to be located;
(g)
Written proof, executed and acknowledged in form substantially
similar to that required for a recordable conveyance of an interest
in real property, of the landowner's consent if the applicant will
not own the property upon which the facility is located, together
with a copy of any lease or other agreement;
(h)
The location of all other structures within the 100% clear zone,
together with the distance to those structures;
(i)
The names and mailing addresses of all landowners who own land
adjacent to the property upon which the facility will be placed, as
well as those nonadjacent landowners who own land within the 100%
clear zone;
(j)
The location, nature and extent of any proposed landscaping,
screening and buffering;
(k)
The location of any proposed utility easements and access roads;
and
(l)
Building elevation of any accessory buildings or structures.
(4)
A preliminary report prepared by a licensed professional engineer,
describing:
(a)
In substantial detail, the precise reasons why a minor personal
wireless services facility is not practical or will not meet the reasonable
needs of the applicant;
(b)
The applicant's full map and grid coverage in the Town;
(c)
Surrounding topography and relation to line-of-sight transmission;
(d)
Available road access, electric power and land-based telephone
lines, and/or microwave link capability;
(e)
Required improvements or construction activities, including
those within the public right-of-way or lands owned or controlled
by the Town of Poestenkill;
(f)
Identity of the location, ownership and usage of currently existing
personal wireless services facilities within the Town of Poestenkill;
(g)
Plans for construction of telecommunications accessory equipment
buildings or structures and a landscaping plan;
(h)
Proposed mitigation measures for visual impacts;
(i)
Proposed safety measures; and
(j)
Compatibility with existing telecommunications networks, public
safety and emergency networks, fire, police, ambulance, and 911.
(5)
In the case where a new telecommunications tower is proposed,
additional detailed information shall be provided, describing the
tower height and design, including a cross section of the structure;
the tower's compliance with applicable structural standards; the tower's
capacity, including the number and type of telecommunications antennas
it can accommodate and the basis of calculation of capacity; detailed
justification for the proposed height of the tower.
(6)
In the case where a new telecommunications antenna is proposed
to be mounted to an existing structure, additional information shall
be provided, indicating the existing structure's suitability to accept
the telecommunications antenna; the proposed method affixing the telecommunications
antenna to the structure; complete details of all fixtures and couplings;
and the precise point of attachment. In addition, there shall be provided
written certification by a duly licensed professional engineer attesting
to the suitability and sufficiency of the attachment method and verifying
the integrity and strength of the underlying structure and the fact
that said structure can safely support the proposed antenna.
(7)
"Before" and "after" propagation studies prepared by a qualified
radio frequency engineer demonstrating the applicant's existing signal
coverage, contrasted with the proposed signal coverage resulting from
the proposed facility.
(8)
A "search ring" prepared by a qualified radio frequency engineer
and overlaid on an appropriate background map demonstrating the area
within which the proposed facility needs to be located in order to
provide proper signal strength and coverage to the target area.
(9)
Demonstration of the need for the proposed facility showing
the impracticality of utilizing a minor personal wireless services
facility.
(10)
Demonstration that the proposed site is the most appropriate
site for the proposed facility. In cases where a new telecommunications
tower is proposed on a site not previously developed with an existing
telecommunications tower, the applicant shall further demonstrate
that siting the new tower on a site previously developed with an existing
telecommunications tower is impractical or will not meet the applicant's
reasonable needs.
(11)
Inventory of existing personal wireless services facilities
within the Town, outlining opportunities for shared use as an alternative
to the proposed major personal wireless services facility. The applicant
must demonstrate that its needs cannot reasonably be met by way of
a minor personal wireless services facility as an alternative to the
proposed facility.
(12)
A line-of-sight or visual impact assessment as follows:
(a)
A "zone of visibility map" shall be provided in order to determine
locations from which the proposed facility may be seen.
(b)
Drawings, photographs or computer-generated graphic representations
of the views from 1,000 feet away from the north, south, east and
west and all natural and man-made features and structures within those
views including the proposed facility.
(c)
Pictorial representations of "before" and "after" views from
key viewpoints both inside and outside the Town, including, but not
limited to, state highways or other major roads, state and local parks,
other public land, preserves and historic sites, and from any other
location where the proposed facility is visible to a large number
of visitors, travelers or tourists.
(d)
An analysis prepared and sealed by a licensed professional engineer
or architect detailing the potential visual and aesthetic impacts
the proposed facility is likely to have on the surrounding community,
scenic vistas and viewsheds, and on the use and enjoyment of public
and private property.
(e)
Assessment of alternative tower designs and color schemes.
(13)
Identification of the effects siting and operation of the proposed
facility will have on existing personal wireless services facilities,
other communications equipment or electromagnetic devices within 1,000
feet of the proposed facility.
(14)
Description of the applicant's long-range plans which project
market demand and long-range expansion needs within the Town.
(15)
A certified report from a qualified RF engineer as well as calculated
data demonstrating that all radio-frequency emissions from the facility
will be in compliance with FCC regulations in effect at the time of
the application.
(16)
A copy of the applicant's Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) application confirming the location of the proposed project.
(17)
Such other additional information, studies, identification and
analysis of alternative sites, and assessments as may be required
by the Planning Board or its consultants to fully review and evaluate
the potential impact and location of the proposed facility.
The Planning Board shall apply the specific standards hereinafter set forth in its consideration of any application for a special use permit for a personal wireless services facility, such standards to be considered supplemental and in addition to any general standards for special use permits set forth in Article VII of this chapter, or elsewhere in the laws, ordinances and regulations of the Town of Poestenkill:
A.
Minimum lot area. The minimum lot area upon which a major personal
wireless services facility involving a new telecommunications tower
may be located is 150,000 square feet. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
depending upon the configuration of the proposed site and its relationship
to neighboring properties, a site in excess of the minimum lot area
may be required to ensure the protection of the public health, safety
and welfare through both substantial setback from neighboring properties,
with special consideration given to properties on which preexisting
residential dwellings are located, and proper visual screening of
the proposed facility from those properties.
B.
Minimum setbacks. The minimum setback of a telecommunications tower
shall be a distance equal to the height of the proposed tower plus
30 feet from any adjoining property line. Setbacks shall apply to
all tower parts including guy wires, guy anchors and any accessory
facilities. The foregoing notwithstanding, the minimum distance of
any telecommunications tower including guy wires and anchors from
any single-family or two-family dwelling, as measured from the nearest
point to nearest point, shall be 750 feet.
C.
Maximum height. No personal wireless services facility shall exceed
200 feet in height. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all personal wireless
services facilities shall be designed at the minimum height necessary
to achieve the communication need and function they are intended to
fulfill.
D.
Personal wireless service facilities shall be located on a single
lot.
E.
Any new telecommunications tower must be designed so as to be structurally
capable of reasonably accommodating future shared use.
The following site requirements shall be applied by the Planning
Board in its consideration of any application for the issuance of
a special use permit for a personal wireless services facility and
in its consideration of any application for site plan approval for
a personal wireless services facility.
A.
Minimal visual impacts. Personal wireless services facilities shall
be designed and sited so as to have the least possible practical visual
impact on the environment. Accessory buildings or other structures
shall employ building materials, colors, textures that are both durable
and selected to blend with the natural surroundings.
B.
Lighting. Telecommunications towers shall not be artificially lighted
unless otherwise required by the Federal Aviation Administration or
other federal, state or local authority.
C.
Materials and paint. Telecommunications towers and telecommunications
antennas shall be of a galvanized finish or painted gray above the
surrounding treeline, and painted gray, green, black or similar colors
designed to blend into the natural surroundings below the treeline,
unless otherwise required by Federal Aviation Administration standards.
D.
Signs. No telecommunications tower or telecommunications antenna
shall support any advertising messages or other commercial signs.
Non-ionizing warning signs and other signs necessary to meet the requirements
of the applicant's FCC license to operate shall be permitted.
E.
Screening. Existing on-site vegetation shall be preserved to the
maximum extent practicable to both mitigate the visual impact of the
personal wireless services facility and to maintain the stability
of soils within the site. Where a personal wireless services facility
abuts a residential or public property, the following vegetative screening
will be required: one row of native evergreen shrubs or trees capable
of forming a continuous hedge at least eight feet in height within
two years of planting shall be provided to effectively screen the
telecommunications tower base and any accessory buildings or structures.
Additional vegetative screening may be required by the Planning Board
when necessary to screen portions of the personal wireless services
facility from nearby residential property or important views. In addition
to vegetative screening, the use of creative architectural design
methods and measures to camouflage facilities by integrating them
with existing structures and among other existing uses is preferred.
F.
Telecommunications accessory structures. Telecommunications support
facilities, such as vaults and equipment rooms, utilities, and other
support structures, should be screened, placed underground, depressed,
earth-bermed or sited below the ridgeline to the greatest extent feasible,
particularly in areas of high visibility.
G.
Telecommunications antennas. Due to their high visibility, dish and
parabolic telecommunications antenna should be located at as low an
elevation as possible without compromising the function of the device,
preferably on the sides of buildings or ground-mounted on slopes below
the ridgeline wherever possible, rather than elevated on telecommunications
towers. Microwave and satellite dishes should be of mesh construction
wherever possible.
H.
Utility service. Electrical and land-based telephone and/or microwave
utilities extended to serve personal wireless services facilities
shall be undergrounded.
I.
Safe zone. Telecommunications towers should be designed so that in
the event of failure they will fall within the setback area of the
site and/or away from adjacent development.
J.
Security. Each personal wireless services facility should have a
security program, including physical features such as fencing, anti-climbing
devices or elevating ladders on the telecommunications tower, and/or
monitoring, either by staff or electronic devices, to prevent unauthorized
access or vandalism. The fencing shall be, at minimum, eight feet
in height, with locking gates, and shall be installed to fully surround
the base of the telecommunications tower, including all of its components,
and any accessory buildings or other improvements of the facility.
K.
Access and parking. Adequate access to and parking at the personal
wireless services facility site shall be provided for both service
and emergency vehicles, with maximum use made of existing roadways,
either public or private. Any access road to a personal wireless services
facility site shall be improved and maintained at no less than the
design standards for private roadways as set forth in the Code of
the Town of Poestenkill.[1] Moreover, to the extent practicable, any roadway construction
required to access a personal wireless services facility shall be
carried out in a manner that minimizes ground disturbance and vegetation
cutting to within the toe of fill, the top of cuts, or no more than
10 feet beyond the edge of any pavement. Road grades shall closely
follow natural contours to assure minimal visual disturbance and reduce
soil erosion potential. As a condition of the special use permit and
for maintaining a certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance
once issued, any such access roadway shall be maintained throughout
the useful life of the personal wireless services facility in a workmanlike
manner, including the plowing of snow, periodic trimming of vegetation
that may obstruct the cartway, and undertaking of repairs in a timely
manner to address any roadway defects, drainage problems, erosion
conditions or other circumstances that may develop, so as to ensure
the roadway is at all times in a safe and passable condition for both
service and emergency vehicles.
L.
Noise. Noise-producing equipment should be sited and/or insulated
to minimize noise impacts on adjacent and nearby properties.
The applicant shall design a proposed new telecommunications
tower to accommodate future demand for reception and transmitting
facilities. The applicant shall submit to the Planning Board, in the
context of any application for a major personal wireless services
facility which involves the construction of a new telecommunications
tower, a letter of intent committing the owner of the proposed new
telecommunications tower and any successor in interest to negotiate
in good faith for shared use of the proposed tower by other telecommunications
providers in the future. The letter shall be filed with the Code Enforcement
Officer prior to the issuance of a building permit for the new telecommunications
tower. Failure to abide by the conditions outlined in the letter may
be grounds for revocation of the special use permit. The letter shall
commit the new telecommunications tower owner or any successor in
interest to:
A.
Respond within 90 days to a request for information from a potential
shared-use applicant;
B.
Negotiate in good faith concerning future requests for shared use
of the new telecommunications tower by other telecommunications providers;
and
C.
Allow shared use of the new telecommunications tower if another telecommunications
provider agrees in writing to pay reasonable charges. The charges
may include but are not limited to a pro rata share of the cost of
site selection, planning, project administration, land costs, site
design, construction and maintenance financing, return on equity,
depreciation, and all of the costs of adapting the tower or equipment
to accommodate a shared user without causing electromagnetic interference.
A post-installation field report identifying the facility's
coverage area, the telecommunications tower's maximum capacity and
unused capacity, if any, and co-located users of the facility shall
be submitted to the Planning Board within 60 days of the issuance
of a certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance.
All personal wireless services facilities, and all parts and
components thereof, and any accessory buildings or other structures
appurtenant thereto shall be dismantled and removed from the site
when they have been inoperative or abandoned for a period of 18 consecutive
months. Intention on the part of any person to resume the use or operation
of the facility at some future time shall not provide an exemption
from this requirement. Applicants shall post a bond or other suitable
undertaking as a condition of the special use permit in order to guarantee
removal of the abandoned structures. The bond or undertaking shall
be continued in effect during the life of the facility. The amount
of the bond or undertaking shall be set by the Town Board, considering
any input from the Planning Board, prior to the issuance of the special
use permit. Anything hereinabove to the contrary notwithstanding,
in the event of any failure of the owner or operator of any facility
permitted hereunder to provide inspections, reports, certifications,
insurances or services required hereunder, after having been given
10 days' notice of said deficiency, shall be grounds for immediate
termination of the special use permit and shall further constitute
an abandonment of the facility which entitles the Town to demand removal
thereof in accordance with this section.
Upon submission of an application for the issuance of a special
use permit or for site plan approval for a personal wireless services
facility, the Planning Board shall retain an independent consultant,
at a reasonable rate to be paid by the applicant, to assist the Planning
Board in the technical review of the application. The consultant shall
be a qualified professional in the field of telecommunications engineering,
structural engineering, landscape architecture, or any other relevant
field deemed appropriate by the Planning Board. The consultant may
reasonably engage the services of other professionals, at reasonable
rates to be paid by the applicant, to assist in the review of aspects
of the application in which he has no expertise. Upon being retained
by the Planning Board, the consultant shall confer with the Town Clerk
regarding the establishment of an escrow fund for the project. The
Town Clerk shall advise the applicant, from time to time, of the amounts
which must be placed in escrow by the applicant to fund the review
of the application by the consultant. Sufficient escrowed funds shall
be deemed a condition to continued review of the application by the
Planning Board.
A.
All major personal wireless services facilities which include a telecommunications
tower shall be inspected annually by a licensed professional engineer
and a copy of the certified inspection report filed with the Town
Code Enforcement Officer. The said certified inspection report shall
be filed within 60 days of the first and each succeeding anniversary
of the issuance of the original certificate of occupancy or certificate
of compliance authorizing the use of the facility.
B.
All major personal wireless services facilities which do not include
a telecommunications tower and all minor personal wireless services
facilities shall be inspected biennially (i.e., every two years) by
a licensed professional engineer and a copy of the certified inspection
report filed with the Town Code Enforcement Officer. The said certified
inspection report shall be filed within 60 days of the first and each
succeeding biennial anniversary of the issuance of the original certificate
of occupancy or certificate of compliance authorizing the use of the
facility. Said inspections shall be solely the responsibility of the
permittee as shall be any and all costs associated therewith.
In order to keep neighboring municipalities informed and to
facilitate the possibility of directing that an existing tall structure
or existing telecommunications tower in a neighboring municipality
be considered for shared use, and to assist in the continued development
of County E-911 services, the Planning Board shall require that an
applicant whose application entails a new telecommunications tower
shall notify in writing the legislative body of each municipality
that borders the Town of Poestenkill, the Rensselaer County Bureau
of Economic Development and Planning, and the Director of the Rensselaer
County Bureau of Emergency Services. Notification shall include the
exact location of the proposed tower and a general description of
the project, including, but not limited to, the height of the proposed
telecommunications tower and its capacity for future shared use. The
applicant shall provide proof of compliance with this provision to
the Planning Board at the time of the submission of the application.
The applicant shall be required to mail notice of the public
hearing on any application for the issuance of a special use permit
for a personal wireless services facility directly to all landowners
whose property is located within 750 feet of the property line of
the parcel on which the personal wireless services facility is proposed.
Notice shall also be mailed to the administrator of any state, federal
or municipal parklands, or any building or structure having historical
significance, from which the proposed personal wireless services facility
would be visible. Notice shall also be directed to the owners and
operators of any aircraft facility located within the Town of Poestenkill.
Notification, in all cases, shall be made by certified mail. Documentation
of such notification shall be submitted to the Planning Board prior
to the public hearing.
Adequate and sufficient liability insurance shall be maintained
during the construction period and throughout the life of any personal
wireless services facility erected within the Town of Poestenkill.
The minimum acceptable amount of liability insurance shall be established
by the Town Board, taking into consideration input from the Planning
Board based upon its review of the application for a special use permit.
Prior to the issuance of the special use permit, documentation that
such liability insurance has been secured shall be submitted to the
Town in the form of a certificate of insurance naming the Town of
Poestenkill, its boards, agents, servants and employees as additional
insureds, and in at least the minimum amount specified by the Planning
Board. Maintenance without interruption of liability insurance in
like or greater amount and with the Town named as an additional insured
shall be required as a continuing condition of the special use permit
and related certificate of occupancy and/or certificate of compliance.
It shall be the continuing responsibility of any person owning
or operating a personal wireless services facility within the Town
of Poestenkill, and a condition of any special use permit granted
in connection therewith, to comply with any and all new or superseding
regulations pertaining to radio-frequency emissions that may be adopted
by either the FCC or other federal regulatory agency. A copy of each
report filed with the FCC or any other federal regulatory agency in
connection with the personal wireless services facility pertaining
to radio-frequency emissions shall be simultaneously filed with the
Town Code Enforcement Officer. This requirement shall apply for the
life of the facility;
The Planning Board may grant the special use permit, deny the
special use permit or grant the special use permit with written stated
conditions. Without intending to limit the foregoing, the Planning
Board is specifically authorized to require, as a condition of the
granting of a special use permit for a personal wireless services
facility, that the facility be designed and built to blend into the
surrounding area, including, but not limited to, facilities commonly
referred to as "stealth installations." Examples of such facilities
are telecommunications towers and/or telecommunications antennas designed
to resemble trees and silos. Denial of the special use permit shall
be by written decision of the Planning Board, which shall set forth
the reasons and bases for the Board's denial.
The following are exempted from the requirements of this article:
A.
Fire, police and other emergency dispatch services where the telecommunications
facilities are less than 50 feet above the ground, or are less than
20 feet above the average roofline if originating from the roof of
the building;
B.
Nonbusiness television or radio reception, private citizen band,
amateur radio, and other similar communications system utilizing a
tower and antenna, which do not exceed 35 feet above the ground, or
which do not exceed 20 feet above the average roofline if originating
on the roof. For the purposes of this provision, "nonbusiness" shall
mean a use for which money, property or something of value is not
charged, earned or received by the owner, operator, lessee or person(s)
in control of the facility.
The application fees for a special use permit for a minor personal wireless services facility, for a special use permit for a major personal wireless services facility which does not include a new telecommunications tower, and for a special use permit for a major personal wireless services facility which includes a new telecommunications tower shall be as specified and set forth in the Schedule of Fees legislated by the Poestenkill Town Board in effect as of the date of submission of the application. Such application fee shall be in addition to the escrow fund required pursuant to § 150-108 of this article.
