All personal wireless service facilities shall comply with the
performance standards set forth in this section.
A. Design standards.
(1)
Visibility/camouflage. Personal wireless service facilities
shall be camouflaged as follows:
(a)
Camouflage by existing buildings or structures.
[1] When a personal wireless service facility extends
above the roof height of a building on which it is mounted, every
reasonable effort shall be made to conceal the facility within or
behind existing architectural features to limit its visibility from
public ways. Facilities mounted on a roof shall be stepped back from
the front facade in order to limit their impact on the building's
silhouette.
[2] Personal wireless service facilities which are
side mounted shall blend with the existing building's architecture
and, if over five square feet, shall be painted or shielded with material
which is consistent with the design features and materials of the
building.
(b)
Color.
[1] Personal wireless service facilities which are
side-mounted on buildings shall be painted or constructed of materials
to match the color of the building material directly behind them.
[2] To the extent that any personal wireless service
facilities extend above the height of the vegetation immediately surrounding
them, they shall be painted in a light gray or light blue hue that
blends with sky and clouds.
(2)
Equipment shelters. Equipment shelters for personal wireless
service facilities shall be designed consistent with one of the following
design standards:
(a)
Equipment shelters shall be located in underground vaults; or
(b)
Equipment shelters shall be designed to be consistent with the
architectural styles, materials and roof design typical of the district
in which the facility is located; or
(c)
Equipment shelters shall be camouflaged behind an effective
year-round landscape buffer and/or wooden fence, equal to the height
of the proposed building. The Board of Appeals shall determine the
style of fencing and/or landscape buffer that is compatible with the
neighborhood.
(3)
Lighting and signs.
(a)
Personal wireless facilities shall be lighted only if required
by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Lighting of equipment
structures and any other facilities on site shall be shielded from
abutting properties. There shall be total cutoff of all light at the
property lines of the property to be developed, and footcandle measurements
at the property line shall be 0.0 initial footcandle when measured
at grade.
(b)
Signs shall be limited to those needed to identify the property and the owner and warn of any danger. All such signs shall comply with the requirements of Article
14 of these bylaws.
(4)
Historic buildings and districts.
(a)
Any personal wireless service facilities located on or within
a historic structure shall not alter the character-defining features,
distinctive construction methods or original historic materials of
the building.
(b)
Any alteration made to a historic structure to accommodate a
personal wireless service facility shall be fully reversible.
(c)
Personal wireless service facilities within a historic district
shall be concealed within or behind existing architectural features,
or shall be located so that they are not visible from public roads
and viewing areas within the district.
(5)
Scenic landscapes and vistas.
(a)
Equipment shelters shall not be located within open areas that are visible from public roads or residential development. As required in Subsection
A(2), all ground-mounted equipment shelters which are not camouflaged by existing buildings or structures shall be surrounded by a buffer of dense tree growth.
(b)
Any personal wireless service facility that is located within
300 feet of a scenic vista, scenic landscape or scenic road as designated
by the Town shall not exceed the height of vegetation at the proposed
location. If the facility is located farther than 300 feet from the
scenic vista, scenic landscape or scenic road, the height regulations
described elsewhere in this bylaw will apply.
B. Environmental standards.
(1)
Personal wireless service facilities shall not be located in
wetlands. Locating of wireless facilities in wetland buffer areas
shall be avoided whenever possible and disturbance to wetland buffer
areas shall be minimized.
(2)
No hazardous waste shall be discharged on the site of any personal
wireless service facility. If any hazardous materials are to be used
on site, there shall be provisions for full containment of such materials.
An enclosed containment area shall be provided with a sealed floor,
designed to contain at least 110% of the volume of the hazardous materials
stored or used on the site.
(3)
Stormwater runoff shall be contained on site.
(4)
Ground-mounted equipment for personal wireless service facilities
shall not generate noise in excess of 50 db at the property line.
(5)
Roof-mounted or side-mounted equipment for personal wireless
service facilities shall not generate noise in excess of 50 db at
ground level at the base of the building closest to the antenna.
C. Safety standards.
(1)
Radiofrequency radiation (RFR) standards. All equipment proposed
for a personal wireless service facility shall be authorized per the
FCC Guidelines for Evaluating the Environmental Effects of Radiofrequency
Radiation.
(2)
All ground-mounted personal wireless service facilities shall
be surrounded by a security barrier.
A modification of a personal wireless service facility may be
considered equivalent to an application for a new personal wireless
service facility and require a special permit when the following events
apply:
A. The applicant and/or co-applicant wants to alter the terms of the
special permit by changing the personal wireless service facility
in one or more of the following ways:
(1)
Change in the number of facilities permitted on the site.
(2)
Change in technology used for the personal wireless service
facility.
(3)
Additional equipment shelter.
B. The applicant and/or co-applicant wants to add any equipment or additional
height not specified in the original design filing.
Guyed towers, lattice towers, utility towers and monopoles in
existence at the time of adoption of this bylaw may be reconstructed,
altered, extended or replaced on the same site by special permit,
provided that the Board of Appeals finds that such reconstruction,
alteration, extension or replacement will not be substantially more
detrimental to the neighborhood and/or the Town than the existing
structure. In making such a determination, the Board of Appeals shall
consider whether the proposed reconstruction, alteration, extension
or replacement will create public benefits such as opportunities for
co-location, improvements in public safety and/or reduction in visual
and environmental impacts. No reconstruction, alteration, extension
or replacement shall exceed the height of the existing facility by
more than 20 feet.
A special permit issued for any personal wireless service facility
over 50 feet in height shall be valid for 20 years. At the end of
that time period, the personal wireless service facility shall be
removed by the carrier or a new special permit shall be required.
For definitions pertinent to personal wireless service facilities see §
201-1.2.