It is the purpose in this Article to provide specific regulations
applicable to all conditional uses provided for in this chapter.
A.
A church, parish house or Sunday school building, day school, library,
art gallery and museum shall be located on a lot having not less than
five acres.
B.
Off-street parking shall be provided on the basis of one space for
each three seats or one space for each 72 inches of seating space
when benches rather than seats are used.
A.
Hospitals shall be located on tracts having not less than 10 acres.
B.
Nursing homes shall be located on lots having not less than 10 acres.
C.
One off-street loading space shall be provided for each 30,000 square
feet of gross floor area, and an ambulance space shall also be provided.
D.
No hospital or nursing home shall exceed 50 feet in height.
A.
Public libraries, museums and art galleries shall be located on lots
having not less than two acres.
B.
Off-street parking shall be provided at the rate of one space for
every three seats, except where a specific amount of seating is undetermined,
in which event one parking space shall be required for each 75 square
feet of assembly area.
C.
No such building shall exceed 50 feet in height.
[Added 2-13-01 by Ord. No. 2001-11]
The Township of Montague has recognized the need to permit cellular/wireless
telecommunications equipment and facilities in appropriate locations
in the township.
The intent of this section is to allow these facilities and
towers as conditional uses in all highway commercial zones. The conditions
applicable to telecommunications providers are designed to encourage
collocation or the placement of antennas on existing municipally-owned
utility structures, existing commercial or industrial sites, at new
locations or lastly, multiple towers at lower heights provided stealth
technology is employed. Telecommunications providers are specifically
prohibited from constructing towers or placing telecommunications
antennas within residential areas except on existing municipal utility
tower locations with municipal permission and from constructing isolated,
multiple-user, taller towers, in random locations throughout the township,
which will thereby create a negative visual impact. All of the following
subsections are conditions of this conditional use:
A.
Location criteria.
(2)
Stealth technology and monopoles are encouraged in all installations
to reduce visual impact.
(3)
To minimize the height and visual negative impact of towers
throughout the community, owners and users of towers, antennas and
related facilities are required to construct and configure these structures
in such a way as to minimize the perceived adverse visual impact of
towers and antennas through careful design, siting, and landscape
screening.
B.
Telecommunications towers, equipment and facilities are permitted
conditional uses, subject to the following conditions.
(1)
Site location analysis. Every application for a telecommunications tower or antenna shall include a site location alternative analysis, including an analysis of the location priorities set forth in Subsection A of this section, describing the locations of other sites considered, the availability of those sites, the extent to which other sites do or do not meet the provider's service or engineering needs and the reason why the subject site was chosen. The analysis shall address the following issues:
(a)
How the proposed location of the wireless telecommunication
tower or antenna relates to the objective of providing full wireless
communication services within the Montague area at the time full service
is provided by the applicant and by other providers of wireless telecommunications
services within the Montague area.
(b)
How the proposed location of the wireless telecommunications
tower/facility relates to the location of any existing antennas or
towers within or near the Montague area.
(c)
How the proposed location of the wireless telecommunications
tower/facility relates to the anticipated need for additional antennas
or towers within and near the Montague area by the applicant, and
by other providers of wireless telecommunications services within
the Montague area.
(d)
How the proposed location of the wireless telecommunications
tower/facility relates to the objective and goal of maintaining concealed
or reduced tower height with groups of towers within close proximity
to one another rather than isolated, taller towers with many users
at greater tower heights at random locations throughout the township.
(2)
Existing structures.
(a)
Nonmunicipal structures. Towers or antennas meeting the zone
requirements are permitted in all highway commercial zones provided
they are concealed in existing lawful structures.
(b)
Towers or antennas may also be located on power transmission
line systems such as pylons provided they satisfy the stealth requirements.
(3)
New wireless freestanding telecommunications towers, equipment and facilities. For towers which do not satisfy criteria of subsections B(2)(a) and (b) above:
(a)
Lot size. The minimum lot size is to be calculated based upon
the lot having sufficient dimensions such that in the event that the
proposed tower should fall, the tower would lay entirely within the
applicant's lot.
(b)
Maximum height. No tower shall exceed a height of 120 feet,
including any antennas.
[Amended 12-9-08 by Ord. No. 2008-09]
(c)
Setback distances. For safety reasons concerning tower fall
zones and further to insure that appropriate setbacks exist, a telecommunications
tower and related facilities must be set back a sufficient distance
from all lot lines so that if the tower falls it would fall entirely
within the property.
(d)
Buffers. Tower locations shall comply with any buffering required
for lots adjacent to residential zones or uses.
(e)
Visual compatibility requirements and construction details.
Monopole tower construction shall be preferred in all new tower construction.
Additionally, applicants are encouraged to use the latest stealth
or camouflaging techniques to make the tower appear to be a tree of
native species and to blend in with surrounding trees. All towers
shall be fitted with the anti-climbing devices.
(4)
Telecommunications tower permitted accessory structures or uses.
(a)
Accessory equipment sheds. All equipment sheds shall be located
immediately adjacent to the tower serviced by that equipment shed.
All equipment sheds and tower bases shall be enclosed with a screening
fence of at least seven feet in height, but no higher than eight feet
unless otherwise approved by the Township Engineer. All fences shall
include a locking security gate and a copy of the key to this gate
shall be supplied to the township.
(5)
General conditions applying to all towers and antennas.
(a)
Noise Levels. All noise generated by a tower and/or the equipment
shed shall meet the minimum standards contained in all State, Federal
or local noise regulations.
(b)
Provision of access for Municipal Rescue Squad and Fire Department
Antennas. Where possible, the applicant will provide access on its
tower for antennas for use by the municipality, a rescue squad, the
Fire Department and the like.
(c)
Colocation; conditions and limitations. Any new tower or reconstructed
tower approvals shall allow the future colocation as set forth in
this section. Colocation by two or more telecommunications providers
shall be permitted on one tower provided that by colocating, all conditions
of this section are satisfied.
[1]
In the event that there is to be a colocation, the owner or
company proposing a colocation must obtain an approval from the appropriate
land use board pursuant to this section.
[2]
In the event any colocation is proposed, a letter of commitment
shall be filed by the applicant to lease excess space on the tower
to other potential users at prevailing market rates and conditions.
The letter of commitment shall be recorded prior to the issuance of
a building permit and shall be binding upon the tower owner, property
owner and successors in interest.
(d)
Annual report. Upon the issuance of a building permit for a
wireless telecommunication tower site, the owner or operator of the
site shall provide to the Township Engineer, Township Planner, and
Township Zoning Officer, an initial report signed and sealed by a
licensed professional engineer, certifying the estimated use and structural
life of the tower, as well as providing an initial inventory of all
equipment and antennas on the site. After 50% of the structural life
is elapsed, annual recertification reports as to the structural integrity
of the tower shall be required. An updated report shall also be provided
whenever antennas are raised or modified and shall include a detailed
listing of all antennas and equipment. All vendors and lessees shall
also be required to notify the above Montague Township officials when
the use of such antennas or equipment is discontinued. If any of the
reports disclose that a condition of the tower presents an imminent
hazard to the public health, safety or welfare, or that the tower,
antennas or equipment are no longer in use, the owner shall, and the
Township Engineer or Zoning Officer may order, in their discretion,
the removal of the tower to protect the public health, safety and
welfare. Wireless telecommunications towers and sites shall be maintained
to ensure continued structural integrity. The owner of the tower shall
also perform such other maintenance of the structure and of the site
so as to ensure that it does not create a visual nuisance.
(e)
Additional municipal experts. The Reviewing Board reserves the
right to retain, at the applicant's expense, any technical consultants
as it deems necessary to provide assistance in the review of site
location alternatives, analysis and specifications. By submitting
an application for a wireless telecommunications tower or facility,
the applicant is deemed to have consented to this procedure.
(f)
Abandonment and removal. Any antenna or tower that is not operated
for a continuous period of six months shall be considered abandoned,
and the owner of such antenna or tower shall remove the same within
90 days of receipt of notice from the Township of Montague notifying
the owner of such abandonment. Towers that are rendered obsolete or
outdated by advances in technology shall be removed or modified. Failure
to remove an obsolete, outdated or abandoned antenna or tower within
said 90 days shall be grounds for the township to require removal
of the tower or antenna at the owner's expense. If there are two or
more users of a single tower, then this provision shall not become
effective until all users cease using the tower or same is deemed
obsolete or outdated by the township. The township shall condition
the issuance of any permit to construct a tower or antenna on the
posting of an appropriate performance bond or other suitable guarantee
in a face amount of not less than 120% of the cost to remove the tower
and restore the property as determined by the Township Engineer for
such construction as required under all applicable township ordinances.
(g)
Signs prohibited. No signs shall be permitted on either the
tower or equipment building, except for those signs required by law
or containing such information as owner contact information, warnings.
These signs shall not exceed two square feet in total area. Absolutely
no commercial advertising shall be permitted on any wireless telecommunications
tower or equipment building.
(h)
Lighting. No lighting is permitted
except as follows:
(1)
The equipment building and compound may have security and safety
lighting at the entrance, provided the lighting is attached to the
facility, is focused downward and is wired with a timing device and/or
sensor so that the light is turned off when not needed for safety
or security purposes.
(2)
Lighting may be installed on the tower provided that such lighting
complies with F.A.A. requirements.
(i)
Multiple towers and uses. Any prohibition contained in any ordinance
restricting the number of principal uses per lot shall not apply to
the construction of wireless telecommunications towers and facilities
when the conditions contained in this section are met. The minimum
setback distance between structures shall not apply to PCS ("Personal
Communications Systems") providers and those providers who are licensed
to transmit within the 800 MHz frequency band.
(j)
Site plan approval. Site plan approval shall be required for any
wireless telecommunications tower, equipment or facilities.
(k)
Additional municipal experts. The Planning or Zoning Board, as the
case may be, reserves the right to retain, at the applicant's expense,
any technical consultants as it deems necessary to provide assistance
in the review of site location alternatives analysis and specifications.
By submitting an application for a telecommunications tower or facility,
the applicant is deemed to have consented to this procedure.
C.
Fee schedule.
(1)
Application fees.
(a)
If no new tower is proposed:
Application fee - $1,000.
Review fee - $2,000.
(b)
For new tower construction:
Application fee - $3,000.
Review fee - $5,000.
It is the intent of the fee ordinance that the fee provided
herein is comprehensive and there will be no separate fee charged
for site plan review.
