[Approved 11-24-2021 by Ch. No. 3247]
A. 
Purpose. The purpose of this article is to establish policies and procedures for the placement of small wireless facilities on municipal-owned or -operated infrastructures within the City pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws Title 39, Chapter 32, which will provide public benefit consistent with the preservation of the integrity, safe usage, and visual qualities of the City rights-of-way and the City as a whole.
B. 
New poles. A request by a wireless provider for a grant of location to install a new pole in the right-of-way in order to support small wireless facilities shall be processed and determined in a nondiscriminatory manner that is consistent with the provisions of the Small Cells Siting Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See R.I.G.L. § 39-32-1 et seq.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COLLOCATE
To install, mount, maintain, modify, operate, or replace wireless facilities on a pole, including a municipal pole, or on a building, water tower or other structure, including a municipal structure. "Collocation" has a corresponding meaning.
COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER
A cable operator, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 522(5); a provider of information service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 153(24); a telecommunications carrier, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 153(51); or a wireless service provider.
DIRECTOR
The Director of Public Works or his or her designee.
MUNICIPAL POLE
A pole owned or controlled by the City and includes metal, composite, concrete, or wood poles as well as decorative poles.
MUNICIPAL STRUCTURE
A building, water tower or other structure owned or controlled by the City, but not a municipal pole.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, trust or other entity or organization, including an authority.
POLE
A utility pole, light pole, light standard or similar structure that is used in whole or in part for telephone service, wireless service, cable television service, information service, electric service, lighting, traffic control, signage or similar function.
REGULATED POLES
A pole owned or controlled by the City in a public way, including state highways and freeways, and includes metal, composite, concrete, wood and decorative poles.
RIGHT-OF-WAY or ROW
The area on, below, or above a public roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, alley, utility easement, or similar property, but not including a federal interstate highway, in the City.
SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY
A wireless facility with antennas of no more than six cubic feet in cumulative volume and associated equipment with a cumulative volume no larger than 28 cubic feet. The following types of associated equipment may be located outside the primary enclosure and are not included in the calculation of equipment volume: electric meter, concealment, telecommunications demarcation box, ground-based enclosures, backup power system, grounding equipment, power transfer switch, cutoff switch, and cable and conduit runs for the connection of power and other services. Equipment that is concealed from public view within or behind an existing structure or concealment is not included in the volume calculations.
WIRELESS FACILITIES
A. 
Equipment at a fixed location that enables wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network, including, but not limited to:
(1) 
Equipment associated with wireless services, such as private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services, such as microwave backhaul; and
(2) 
Radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration.
B. 
The term "wireless facilities" includes small wireless facilities but does not include the structure or improvements on, under or within which the equipment is collocated; wireline backhaul facilities; coaxial or fiber-optic cable that is between wireless support structures or poles; or coaxial or fiber-optic cable that is otherwise not immediately adjacent to, or directly associated with, an antenna.
WIRELESS PROVIDER
A person who provides wireless service as well as a person who builds, installs or maintains wireless communications transmission equipment, wireless facilities or wireless support structures.
WIRELESS SERVICE
Any services using licensed or unlicensed wireless spectrum, whether at a fixed location or mobile, provided using wireless facilities.
WIRELESS SUPPORT STRUCTURE
A freestanding structure, such as a monopole; a tower, either guyed or self-supporting; billboard; or other existing or proposed structure designed to support or capable of supporting wireless facilities. Such term does not include a pole.
A. 
The rates, fees, terms and conditions established pursuant to this article shall apply to applications for small wireless facilities submitted after the effective date of this article. An agreement with the City for the installation and operation of small wireless facilities on regulated poles in effect as of September 27, 2017, shall not be subject to this article unless and until that agreement expires or terminates.
B. 
A wireless service provider authorized to do business in this state or a contractor acting on its behalf may collocate small wireless facilities on regulated poles and may construct conduit, cables, and facilities between such small wireless facility and other equipment or services located on or adjacent to the regulated pole, subject to the provisions of this article.
C. 
Any small wireless facilities installed on a regulated pole or a City structure without a permit issued under this article will be subject to a fine of not less than $500 per day of wrongful attachment and the unauthorized small wireless facilities will be subject to removal at the owner's expense
A. 
Permit required. No person shall collocate a small wireless facility on a municipal pole without first obtaining a permit for it, except as otherwise provided in this article.
B. 
Application. A wireless provider seeking such a permit, or its duly authorized representative, shall apply to the Director on a form, paper or electronic, provided by the City. The applicant may designate portions of its application materials that it reasonably believes contain proprietary or confidential information as "proprietary" or "confidential" by clearly marking each page of such materials accordingly.
C. 
Application requirements.
(1) 
The application shall contain the following:
(a) 
The wireless provider's name, address, telephone number, and email address;
(b) 
The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the wireless provider's representative, if different than the wireless provider;
(c) 
A general description of the proposed work and an engineering diagram showing the small wireless facility as mounted on the municipal pole or structure, with dimensions.
(d) 
A site plan, with sufficient detail to identify the location of the site and show the proposed location of the facilities, including any manholes or poles and the size, type, and depth of any conduit or enclosure.
(2) 
No application will be accepted or processed if, and as long as the applicant or any entity affiliated with the application has any unpaid and overdue tax bills or other fees such as those affiliated with police details or penalties pending payment with the City.
D. 
When permit not required. Collocation of small wireless facilities on poles or structures other than municipal poles or structures, for example, utility poles owned by investor-owned power and telephone companies, does not require a permit under R.I.G.L. 39-32-6(a) or these procedures. In addition, a permit is not required for:
(1) 
Routine maintenance of a previously permitted small wireless facility.
(2) 
The replacement of a small wireless facility with another small wireless facility of substantially similar or smaller in size and weight.
E. 
Application fee. Each application or consolidated application shall be accompanied by a fee of $100.
A. 
Review of small wireless facility applications.
(1) 
Within 14 days of receiving an application, the Director will determine and notify the applicant by email whether the application is complete. If an application is incomplete, the Director will specifically identify the missing information. The processing deadline in Subsection A(4) is tolled from the date of the email notice of incompleteness to the date the applicant provides the missing information. That processing deadline also may be tolled by agreement of the applicant and the Director.
(2) 
The Director will approve an application unless the proposed collocation fails to comply with applicable building or electrical codes in effect in the City at the time or, if the municipal pole is located in a ROW, standards for construction in the right-of-way, provided that such codes and standards are of general applicability. The Director will issue a permit immediately upon approval of an application.
(3) 
Pursuant to R.I.G.L. 39-32-2(c), small wireless facilities are permitted uses in all zoning districts in the City and are not subject to zoning review or approval.
(4) 
All applications shall be processed on a nondiscriminatory basis. An application is deemed approved and the permit is deemed issued if the Director fails to approve or deny the application within 60 days of receipt of the application.
(5) 
The Director will document the basis for a denial, including the specific code provisions or standards on which the denial is based, and send the documentation to the applicant on or before the day the Director denies the application. The applicant may cure the deficiencies identified by the Director and resubmit the application within 30 days of the denial without paying an additional application fee. The Director shall approve or deny the revised application within 30 days. Any subsequent review shall be limited to the deficiencies cited in the denial.
(6) 
A wireless provider may, in its discretion, file a consolidated application and receive a single permit for the collocation of multiple small wireless facilities; provided, however, that the denial of one or more facilities in a consolidated application shall not delay processing of any other facilities in the same application. If any facility in a consolidated application is denied, each such facility may be the subject of a resubmitted application as provided in Subsection A(5) of this section.
(7) 
Small wireless facilities shall be in accordance with R.I.G.L. § 39-32-1 et seq.
(8) 
All electrical components of the small wireless facility shall conform to relevant and applicable local, state, and national codes, laws and regulations. To the greatest extent possible, all wiring shall be internal to the regulated pole or City structure, and external conduits shall not be allowed.
(9) 
The installation shall comply with any emissions standards established by the Federal Communication Commission and shall not cause radio frequency radiation that could put the public, City workers or contractors in danger or expose them to emissions that require special conditions, training, or safeguards. An on/off switch must be provided or else the City reserves the right to disconnect the small wireless facility at the base of the regulated pole or City structure during maintenance activity, without notice.
B. 
Decorative poles. Where a wireless provider seeks to collocate small wireless facilities on a municipal pole that is a decorative pole, the Director may require the wireless provider to replace the pole when necessary, and any replacement pole must reasonably conform to the design aesthetics of the decorative pole being replaced. As used in this subsection, a "decorative pole" means a municipal pole that is specially designed and placed for aesthetic purposes and on which no appurtenances or attachments, other than a small wireless facility, specially designed informational or direction signage, or temporary holiday or special event attachments have been placed or are permitted to be placed.
C. 
Permit duration. A permit issued under these procedures shall be of unlimited duration; provided, however, that initial construction must be completed within 180 days after the date on which the permit is issued, unless a delay is caused by the lack of commercial power at the site, in which case the construction period is automatically extended until six months after such power becomes available at the site. The Director and the wireless provider may also extend the construction period by agreement.
D. 
Historic districts. A permit issued by the City under this article does not authorize a wireless provider to collocate small wireless facilities on a municipal pole located within an historic district as defined in R.I.G.L. § 45-24.1-1.1 without review and approval of the appropriate historic district commission.
A. 
Installation. All small wireless facilities collocated on municipally owned or operated infrastructures in the ROW shall be installed in accordance with all applicable building and electrical codes and any standards for construction in the ROW in force at the time of installation. The Director may waive one or more of the requirements in this subsection upon good cause shown, as determined by the Director. Such waivers shall be granted in a nondiscriminatory manner.
B. 
Access. Wireless providers and their employees, agents, and contractors shall have the right of access to permitted small wireless facilities and municipal poles in the ROW in accordance with the reasonable and nondiscriminatory policies of the City applicable to all utilities with facilities in the ROW or doing work in the ROW.
C. 
Rates.
(1) 
In addition to the application processing fee, the permit holder must pay an annual recurring fee of no more than $150 or the rate produced by applying the formula adopted by the Federal Communications Commission for telecommunications attachments under 47 U.S.C. § 224(e) for each collocation of a small wireless facility on a regulated poles.
(2) 
In addition to the application processing fee, the permit holder must pay an annual recurring fee of $1,500 for each collocation of a small wireless facility on a municipal structure.
D. 
Make-ready work. Within 60 days after receipt of a complete application to collocate small wireless facilities on a municipal pole, the City will provide a good faith description of any make-ready work necessary to enable the municipal pole to support the requested collocation, including pole replacement if necessary. The City will require make-ready work only as necessary to meet applicable codes or industry standards.
E. 
Repairs. A wireless provider shall repair, at its sole cost and expense, any damage to City streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, trees, parkways, City poles or other property, utility lines and systems, or sewer or water systems or lines resulting from the collocation of a small wireless facility in the ROW. The wireless provider shall restore such areas, structures and systems to substantially the same condition in which they existed prior to the damage, to the satisfaction of the Director.
F. 
Removal. Within 90 days following written notice from the City, a wireless provider shall, at its own expense, protect, support, temporarily or permanently disconnect, remove, relocate, change or alter the position of any small wireless facilities collocated on a City pole whenever the City has reasonably determined that such action is necessary for the construction, repair, maintenance, or installation of any City improvement in the ROW or the operations of the City in the ROW.
G. 
Abandonment. The City may require a wireless provider to remove a small wireless facility permitted hereunder within 180 days after the date that the facility ceases to be used unless the wireless provider gives the City reasonable evidence that it is diligently working to place the facility or pole back in service. Should the wireless provider fail to timely remove the small wireless facility or pole, the City may remove such facility and recover the actual, reasonable cost of such removal from the wireless provider.
A. 
A wireless provider may collocate small wireless facilities on a municipal pole or poles not located in the ROW with the approval of the Director. The application shall be filed and processed pursuant to the provisions of §§ 364-38 and 364-39, and the collocation shall be subject to the provisions of § 364-40, except that:
(1) 
The Director may deny the application to the extent that the City does not permit access to municipal poles outside of the ROW for other commercial projects or uses and may approve such collocation although the City has not previously permitted such access; and
(2) 
The rate for collocation of small wireless facilities on a municipal pole outside of the ROW shall be subject to agreement between the City and the wireless provider, but in any event shall be reasonable, nondiscriminatory and shall not exceed the amount charged for similar commercial projects or uses to occupy or use the same amount of space on similarly situated property.
B. 
A wireless provider may collocate small wireless facilities on a municipal structure, whether located within or outside the ROW, only pursuant to a written agreement with the Director. The agreement shall authorize such collocation to the same extent the City allows access to such structures for other commercial projects or uses and may authorize such collocation if the City has not previously permitted such access. The agreement shall include reasonable and nondiscriminatory rates, terms and conditions, and shall not charge on an annual recurring basis more for such a collocation than the amount charged for similar commercial projects or uses to occupy or use the same amount of space on similarly situated property.
C. 
Insurance. A wireless provider that has been granted a permit to collocate a small wireless facility on a municipal pole inside or outside of the ROW or on a municipal structure shall maintain in effect, during the time that its small wireless facility is so collocated in the ROW, commercial general liability insurance and commercial automobile liability insurance covering the City against claims, injury or damage to persons or property caused by the proposed work, in amounts of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 annual aggregate, and $2,000,000 for each personal injury liability. Such wireless provider shall provide certificates of insurance or other evidence of the above coverage. Such a provider may self-insure any required coverage as long as it or its parent maintains a net worth of at least $200 million.
D. 
Indemnification. A wireless provider granted a permit to collocate a small wireless facility on a municipal pole inside or outside of the ROW or on a municipal structure shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the City, its Council, boards, commissions, officials, officers, agents, contractors, volunteers, and employees from and against any and all loss, damages, liability, claims, suits, costs and expenses, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees resulting from the negligence of the wireless provider, its officers, agents, or employees in connection with the permitted work. This indemnity provision shall apply regardless of the merit or outcome of such claim or suit.