[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Bethlehem 6-10-1999. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
Telecommunications facilities, including towers, antennas and
associated structures and equipment, may have profound effects on
the environment and character of communities such as Bethlehem and
on the health, safety and welfare of its residents. Therefore, such
facilities must be carefully and thoughtfully regulated.
The intent of this chapter is to make provisions, with due consideration
given to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to permit the location
of telecommunications facilities in the Town of Bethlehem while protecting
the public health, safety, welfare and environment, all in accordance
with C.G.S. § 7-148. Specific objectives are as follows:
A.
To accommodate the need for telecommunications facilities, while
regulating their location and number and reducing their impact on
the surrounding community.
B.
To minimize the adverse environmental (including visual) effects
of towers, antennas and facilities through careful design, siting
and vegetative screening; use of existing structures such as silos
and church steeples; and the use of other visual buffering methods
as camouflage towers.
C.
To encourage shared or joint use of towers and facilities.
D.
To reduce the number of antennas or towers needed in the future.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
Any device used to receive or to transmit electromagnetic
waves and includes, without limitation, whip antennas, dish antennas
and panel antennas.
The area within which a tower could potentially land if it
were to fall.
Any device used to receive electromagnetic waves from one
or more points and to transmit those waves to one or more other points.
Any building, structure or equipment used to receive or transmit
electromagnetic waves.
A structure that is intended to support equipment used to
receive or transmit electromagnetic waves.
A.
Towers.
(1)
Location.
(a)
The applicant for a permit to construct, alter or expand a tower
within the Town of Bethlehem shall be required to provide adequate
information as to the reason for selecting the proposed tower location,
including information on all alternative locations reviewed and the
reasons such alternative locations were not selected. No new tower
shall be permitted unless the applicant demonstrates that no existing
tower or structure can or will accommodate the applicant's proposed
antenna. Evidence submitted to demonstrate that no existing tower
or structure can accommodate the applicant's proposed antenna
may consist of any of the following:[1]
[1]
No existing towers or structures are located within the geographical
area required to meet the applicant's engineering requirements.
[2]
Existing towers or structures are not of sufficient height to
meet the applicant's engineering requirements.
[3]
Existing towers or structures do not have sufficient structural
strength to support the applicant's proposed antenna and related
equipment.
[4]
The applicant's proposed antenna would cause electromagnetic
interference with the antenna on the existing towers or structures,
or the antenna on the existing towers or structures would cause interference
with the applicant's proposed antenna.
[5]
The owner or owners of towers within the geographical area required
for the applicant's antennas have refused to allow the placement
of those antennas on the existing towers after good faith efforts
by the applicant to obtain such permission, including an offer to
pay a reasonable fee for leasing such space.
(b)
Telecommunications facilities shall be placed in locations on
the lots where the existing topography, vegetation, buildings or other
structures provide adequate screening as determined by the Board of
Selectmen. Additional screening may be required if deemed necessary.
(c)
Each tower site must be served by a driveway with parking for
at least one vehicle.
(d)
The facility shall be surrounded by a fence not higher than
eight feet.
(e)
All utilities serving such facilities shall be underground.
(2)
Height.
(a)
Towers shall be no taller than necessary to reasonably accommodate
the proposed use of the tower. If the tower is proposed to be part
of a telecommunications transmission network, the applicant shall
be required to provide adequate evidence that the height of the tower
is no greater than reasonably necessary to accommodate the reception
and transmission needs of the network. Such evidence shall include,
without limitation, information on the current status of the network;
the location(s) within the Town of Bethlehem or any adjoining towns
of all existing or proposed towers or other relay facilities within
the network; the reception and transmission range of all such towers
or relay facilities; and any alternative tower locations and heights
reviewed by the applicant and the reasons such alternatives were not
selected.
(b)
No tower, antenna or other accessory structures or equipment
shall exceed 120 feet in height unless the applicant can demonstrate
that such service can only be provided at the location and at the
height requested, and that emergency circumstances occurring on the
tower at heights greater than 120 feet can be remedied with existing
emergency equipment available within the Town of Bethlehem. In no
event shall the total height of any tower exceed 200 feet.
(c)
Any proposed tower exceeding 100 feet shall be designed to accommodate
no less than three sets of antennas at three different elevations,
unless the applicant demonstrates that such design is not technically
feasible.
(3)
Fall zone and setbacks. The applicant shall provide an analysis by
a licensed engineer of the potential fall zone of the proposed tower.
Towers shall be set back from all property lines by a horizontal distance
equivalent to no less than 150% of the tower's height. The Board
of Selectmen may waive this requirement, upon written request, if
it determines that such setback distances would require the tower
to be located in such a way as to damage or destroy significant natural
resources on the property. In making any such written request, the
applicant must specify the natural resources that would be impacted
and the manner and degree of such impact. Under no circumstances shall
the proposed fall zone encompass any existing buildings intended for
human occupancy.
(4)
Design. All towers shall be of a monopole design unless the applicant
demonstrates that a monopole design would not be technically feasible
or that an alternative design would better protect natural resources
or the environment. Monopoles may be required to incorporate a predesigned
breakpoint upon a finding that such a design is necessary to protect
significant natural resources on the property.
(5)
Visual character.
(a)
The applicant shall be required to provide adequate evidence
that the visibility of the proposed telecommunications facilities
from surrounding areas has been minimized to the extent possible.
Such evidence shall include a viewshed analysis showing all areas
from which the facilities would be visible. The Commission may require
the applicant to fly a balloon or to employ another appropriate method
to simulate the visibility of the tower or other facilities at the
proposed location from other sites within the Town.
(b)
Towers not requiring FAA painting/marking shall have a nonreflective
galvanized finish or be painted a color approved by the Board of Selectmen.
(c)
No signs shall be permitted on any tower or antenna other than
for safety or security purposes directly involving the operation.
(d)
No lights or illumination shall be permitted unless required
by state or federal laws or regulations.
B.
Antennas.
(1)
Antennas shall be attached to a building or structure, to a tower
existing on or before the effective date of this chapter, or to a
tower that has been constructed in accordance with this chapter.
(2)
Satellite and microwave dishes may be attached to towers, buildings
and structures only when the applicant can demonstrate that such placement
would not unreasonably damage or impair any natural or historic resources
of the Town or state, and would not unreasonably interfere with existing
or currently proposed public safety communications or the receipt
or transmission of telecommunications signals from or to existing
properties in the vicinity of the dish or dishes. Such dishes must
be located on the tower building or structure in a manner that minimizes
their visibility from other property in the Town. In no instance shall
any dish exceed three feet in diameter. Not more than three dishes
shall be allowed on any tower.
(3)
Panel antennas shall not exceed six feet in any dimension.
(4)
Wherever possible, antennas and dishes shall be enclosed in their
host structures and in all cases shall be disguised or camouflaged.
C.
Telecommunications equipment buildings.
(1)
All telecommunications facilities, other than towers and antennas,
shall be enclosed in a building.
(2)
No such equipment building shall exceed 750 square feet for each
antenna served.
(3)
All such equipment buildings shall be designed so as to be visually
compatible with other buildings in the area and fully screened by
vegetation.
(4)
Multiple equipment buildings for a shared facility shall be attached
structures or shall be clustered around the facility.
No telecommunications facility shall be constructed, altered
or expanded within the Town of Bethlehem without a permit. Applications
for such permits shall be filed with the Board of Selectmen, who shall
determine whether the proposed facility complies with the provisions
of this chapter. The following requirements shall apply to all applications
for telecommunications facilities:
A.
A detailed site development plan will be presented which will include
an A-2 survey. Plans for any tower shall include field-developed topographic
details, at a contour interval no greater than five feet, of the proposed
tower location and all land within a horizontal distance equivalent
to 150% of the height of the tower. The plan will also include, among
other appropriate items, the following:
(1)
Detailed architectural, engineering and construction plans, including
complete elevation details for all improvements contemplated as part
of the application.
(2)
A detailed soil and erosion control plan.
(3)
Detailed driveway access construction plans, including, among other
items, drainage and utility plans.
(4)
Detailed proposed landscaping plans prepared by a licensed landscape
designer.
(5)
The location of the fall zone.
B.
Details of proposed antenna and mounting equipment, including size
and color.
C.
Elevations of all proposed and existing screening and details of
materials, including color.
D.
Elevations of all proposed equipment buildings or boxes, and details
of all proposed fencing, including color.
E.
A preliminary design drawing, including cross sections and elevations
of any proposed tower; a description of the tower's capacity,
including the number and type of antennas it can accommodate as well
as the proposed location of all mounting positions for co-located
antennas and the minimum separation distances between antennas.
F.
A structural analysis of the tower certified by a registered professional
engineer demonstrating the adequacy of the design to support the required
load and indicating any additional capacity provided for co-located
antennas. If a predesigned breakpoint has been incorporated, an illustration
of how the tower will collapse shall be provided as well.
G.
A report from a licensed engineer certifying that the installation
of the proposed telecommunications facilities will not interfere with
public safety communications.
I.
Documentation regarding the availability of any existing or approved
telecommunications tower or other structure within the search area
ring (one-fourth-mile radius) that meets the needs of the applicant,
with particular regard to proposed towers.
J.
A map depicting the extent of the provider's planned coverage
within the Town of Bethlehem and the service area of the proposed
facility.
K.
Upon request of the Board of Selectmen, the applicant shall provide
a simulation of the proposed telecommunications facility in order
to help the Board of Selectmen ascertain the visual impacts associated
with such proposal. If such a simulation is required, public notice
of the time and place of such balloon elevation, and an alternate
date in the case of unfavorable weather conditions, shall be published
in the form of a legal advertisement appearing in a newspaper having
a substantial circulation in Bethlehem at least seven days before
the elevation of such balloon.
L.
Certain areas of special investigation and consideration may require
additional information to be supplied as part of the application process
for any proposed telecommunications facility, and such information
may be requested by the Board of Selectmen. These areas include the
area within a one-half-mile radius of the Town Office Building, and
within a one-half-mile radius of each of the three operating airports
within Bethlehem and located at 249 Hard Hill Road North, 78 Thomson
Road and 337 Crane Hollow Road.
A.
The permit holder shall exercise good faith in allowing other providers
to co-locate on the tower, provided that such shared use does not
impair the technical level of quality of service. In the event that
any dispute arises as to whether the permit holder has exercised good
faith in accommodating other users, the Town may require a third-party
technical study at the expense of either or both the permit holder
and the applicant.
B.
The permit holder shall be required to remove all towers, antennas
and ancillary equipment within six months of the date of cessation
of use of such equipment for transmission purposes. Upon removal of
such facilities, and within three months after such removal, the site
shall be restored as nearly as possible to the physical condition
that existed prior to the installation of the facilities. Each application
shall include a plan for such facility removal and site restoration
for approval by the Board of Selectmen.
The Board of Selectmen may require a cash bond, to be administered
by the Town Treasurer, against the restoration plan and any special
landscaping or erosion control required as a condition of approval.
Any permit granted hereunder will expire six months after cessation
of use.
