The purpose of this chapter is to establish design and siting guidelines and engineering design standards for small wireless facilities located in the public right-of-way and within utility easements on public and private property in order to regulate the design and placement of this infrastructure. These design and siting guidelines provide objective aesthetic design and siting requirements that all small wireless facilities installed within the public right-of-way and utility easements over public and private properties must meet for approval by the city.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
The city council finds that the reasonably regulated and orderly deployment of small wireless facilities in the public right-of-way is desirable as the unregulated or disorderly deployment represents a threat to the health, welfare, and safety of the community; and that the regulation of small wireless facilities are necessary to protect and preserve the aesthetic character of the community and to ensure that all wireless telecommunications facilities are installed using the least intrusive means possible.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
This chapter applies only small wireless facilities ("SWF") as defined in 47 CFR Section 1.6002(1).
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
The abbreviations, phrases, terms and words used in this chapter will have the meanings assigned to them in this section unless context indicates otherwise. In the event that any definition assigned to any phrase, term or word in this section conflicts with any federal- or state-mandated definition, the federal- or state-mandated definition will control.
"Accessory equipment"
means any and all on-site equipment other than the antenna(s) associated with a wireless facility, which includes, but is not limited to, power supply units, cables and wiring, generators, fans, air conditioning units, electrical panels, equipment cabinets, pedestals, meters, vaults, splice boxes and surface location markers.
"Antenna"
means that specific device for transmitting and/or receiving radio frequency or other signals for purposes of wireless telecommunications services. "Antenna" is specific to the antenna portion of the SWF.
"Small wireless facility" or "SWF"
means the same as defined by the FCC in 47 CFR Section 1.6002(1), as may be amended.
"Support structure"
means the streetlight or freestanding pole upon which the small wireless facility is located.
"Transmission equipment"
means the same as defined by the FCC in 47 CFR Section 1.61OO(b)(8), as may be amended.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
A. 
Small Wireless Facility Permit. A small wireless facility permit issued by the city engineer pursuant to this chapter is required for the installation of any SWF in the city within the public rights-of-way or within utility easements upon private property.
B. 
Administration. The city engineer is responsible for administering this chapter and establishing rules and regulations for this purpose. When necessary to carry out these responsibilities, the city engineer may designate and authorize a representative to act on the city engineer's behalf. The responsibilities of the city engineer include the following:
1. 
Interpret the provisions of this chapter.
2. 
Develop and implement standards governing the placement and modification of SWFs consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
3. 
Develop and implement acceptable design, location and development standards for SWFs.
4. 
Develop forms and procedures for submission of applications for placement or modification of SWFs, and proposed changes to any support structure consistent with this chapter.
5. 
Review permit applications for compliance with this chapter and all rules and regulations promulgated hereunder.
6. 
Determine if a proposed SWF and site comply with this chapter, the Crescent City Municipal Code, and any applicable state and federal laws.
7. 
Inspect the SWF prior to, during, and post construction for compliance with this chapter.
8. 
Subject to appeal as provided herein, determine whether to approve, approve with conditions, or deny an application for SWF permit.
9. 
Take such other steps as may be required to timely act upon applications for placement of SWFs, including entering into agreements to mutually extend the time for action on an application.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
A. 
Application Review. The city engineer will review and act upon application materials in a manner consistent with any timeframes provided in controlling state or federal law, including valid regulations and orders promulgated by the FCC.
B. 
Application Contents. Applications must be filed along with all required fees, information, and materials as required by the city engineer.
C. 
Application Fees and Deposits. The city engineer may begin processing the application only after all required fees have been paid. Failure to the application fee will be a basis for denial of an application.
D. 
Refunds and Withdrawals. Application fees cover city costs for public hearings, mailings, staff and consultant time, and the other activities involved in reviewing and processing applications. Consequently, the city will not refund fees for a denied application. In the case of an application withdrawal, the city engineer may authorize a partial refund of a deposit account based upon the prorated costs to date and the status of the application at the time of withdrawal.
E. 
Applications Deemed Withdrawn.
1. 
Response Required. If an applicant does not pay the required fees or provide information requested in writing by the city within seven days following the date of written city notification, the application will automatically expire and be deemed withdrawn without any further action by the city.
2. 
Resubmittal. After the expiration or withdrawal of an application, future city consideration will require the submittal of a new complete application and associated filing fees.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
A. 
The denial of an application may be appealed by the applicant within ten days following the date of the decision. The appeal must be in writing on a form prescribed by the planning commission and filed with the secretary of the planning commission. The appeal must specifically describe the error or abuse of discretion that resulted in an adverse decision as well as what part of the decision was not supported by evidence in the record.
B. 
A hearing will be scheduled for the next regular meeting of the planning commission that is at least ten days but no more than forty-five days from the date of receipt of the appeal. During the hearing, the applicant may make its presentation and present to the planning commission the site drawings and structural renderings and all other data which was presented to staff, together with its arguments on said appeal.
C. 
If the planning commission grants the appeal, the commission shall order the secretary of the planning commission to sign the SWF permit and submit one copy to the applicant and one copy to the planning department.
D. 
If the planning commission denies the appeal, the applicant may appeal the decision to the city council by submitting said appeal to the city clerk within ten days following the date of the decision of the planning commission. The procedures and process set forth in subsections A and B will be followed for appeals to the city council. If the city council grants the appeal, the council shall order the city clerk to sign the SWF permit and submit one copy to the applicant, one copy to the planning commission, and one copy to the planning department.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
A. 
Two types of small wireless facilities are permitted within the public right-of-way and within utility easements on public and private properties. The types include: (1) placement on streetlights; and (2) new freestanding poles.
B. 
When evaluating compliance with this chapter, whether any one or more preferred support structures are technically feasible and potentially available will be considered. All applicants for small wireless facilities must propose new SWF on support structures within the public right-of-way according to the following preferences, ordered from most preferred to least preferred:
1. 
Existing or replacement streetlight;
2. 
New streetlights;
3. 
New freestanding poles.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
A. 
Small wireless facilities must not be located in front of business windows, primary walkways, primary entrances or exits, or in such a way that it would impede delivery to the building.
B. 
Small wireless facilities should be located near shared property lines between two adjacent lots as much as possible or along a secondary rear property street frontage.
C. 
Mid-block locations are preferred instead of at more visible corners and street intersections, except if the location is proposed on traffic control signal poles.
D. 
New poles should be located in the parkway strip whenever possible and in alignment with existing trees, utility poles, and streetlights.
E. 
New poles should be an approximately equal distance between trees when possible, with a minimum of fifteen feet separation such that no proposed disturbance will occur within the critical root zone of any tree.
F. 
Small wireless facilities should be no closer than one hundred fifty feet away, radially, from another small wireless facility.
G. 
Arterial streets are more preferable to local streets for the placement of small wireless facilities.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
The following engineering design standards apply to all small wireless facilities:
A. 
Separation of service should be provided by installing all-new electrical conduit(s) or utilizing existing empty conduit(s) with conduit owner's expressed consent in writing.
B. 
A disconnect switch should be mounted on the pole. The bottom of the disconnect switch should measure ten feet above grade.
C. 
All the equipment, including the shroud, should be mounted to provide seven feet of clearance from the ground.
D. 
For proposed facilities on a streetlight, a hand hole should be provided at the top of the pole to maintain fiber and electrical service for streetlights and future attachments.
E. 
Pole foundation calculations should be prepared and stamped by a California professionally licensed engineer and should be provided to city for review. Pole foundation calculations should account for all new and existing pole attachments and the pole.
F. 
Pole structural calculations, including seismic loads, showing the load impacts of the SWF on city streetlight and traffic control signal poles should be prepared and stamped by a California professionally licensed engineer and should be provided to the city for review.
G. 
Design wind velocity should be one hundred fifteen mph minimum per TIA-222 rev G, CBC-current edition, ASCE 7, as amended from time to time for local conditions.
H. 
Other reasonable requirements of the city engineer consistent with this chapter.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
To ensure visual impacts are minimized, small wireless facilities are required comply with the following design guidelines:
A. 
Installations should conceal to the maximum extent feasible with design elements and techniques that mimic or blend with the underlying support structure, surrounding environment and adjacent uses with regard to appearance, size, and location.
B. 
All equipment and antenna should be shrouded and where possible located behind any street signs located on the pole.
C. 
Only one SWF is permitted per support structure.
D. 
A minimum distance of one hundred fifty feet is required between small wireless facilities.
E. 
Installations should be located on poles that are located outside of the driveway and intersection sightlines. Installations should be located on poles that are located as close as feasible to shared property lines between two adjacent lots and not directly in front of residences and businesses.
F. 
Equipment should be located entirely on the pole in a vertical arrangement. Exterior mounted accessory equipment should be within a single arrangement not to exceed nine cubic feet in volume (exclusive of the concealing elements like shrouding). Required meters and disconnect switches that are infeasible to be shrouded for safety and/or accessibility reasons are excluded from this shrouding guideline.
G. 
All accessory equipment must be designed to not be visible to the maximum extent possible. When evaluating compliance with this section, the city engineer will consider whether other more preferred designs are technically feasible and other more appropriate sites potentially available. All applicants for a SWF permit must propose accessory equipment designs according to the following preferences, ordered from most preferred to least preferred:
1. 
Underground installation;
2. 
Pole-mounted installation (equipment should be located within poles whenever possible);
3. 
Ground-mounted installation:
a. 
Ground-mounted installation of equipment will not be permitted, unless: (i) the applicant demonstrates that pole-mounted or underground accessory equipment is not technically feasible and that no other site options reasonably exist that would support a SWF, or (ii) the city specifically finds that ground-mounted installation of equipment would be more aesthetically desirable and consistent with the objectives of these guidelines than underground or pole-mounted installation of accessory equipment.
b. 
Ground-mounted equipment may only be permitted in locations that do not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic and if the city engineer finds that the above-ground equipment would not unreasonably interfere with the public's ability to use the right-of-way for uses that include without limitation travel, social, expressive uses and/or aesthetic values.
c. 
The city engineer may condition approval based on new or enhanced landscaping to conceal ground-mounted equipment.
H. 
All cables, wires and other connectors should be routed through conduits within poles whenever possible, and all external conduits, conduit attachments, cables, wires, and other connectors must be concealed from public view.
I. 
All SWF must include signage that accurately identifies the equipment owner/operator, the site name or identification number and a toll-free number to the owner/operator's network operations center. SWF may not bear any other signage or advertisements unless expressly approved by the city, required by law or recommended under existing and future FCC or other United States governmental agencies for compliance with radio frequency emissions regulations. Radio frequency notification signs should be placed where appropriate, and not at pedestrian eye level unless required by the FCC or other regulatory agencies.
J. 
Ground-mounted electric meters are prohibited.
K. 
Wireless facilities and all accessory equipment and transmission equipment must comply with all noise regulations and must not exceed, either individually or cumulatively, the applicable noise level standards in Crescent City Municipal Code.
L. 
Pole heights must be minimized and in no case may the maximum height of any facilities exceed thirty-five feet. Pole height is measured from the top of the foundation, which should be flush with the ground, to the top of the pole or top of the antenna, whichever is greater.
M. 
Small wireless facilities are required to incorporate reasonable and appropriate site security measures, such as locks and anti-climbing devices, to prevent unauthorized access, theft or vandalism. All SWF must be constructed from graffiti-resistant materials. The city engineer may require additional concealment elements as the city engineer finds necessary to blend the security measures and other improvements into the natural and/or built environment. The city engineer will not approve barbed wire, razor ribbon, electrified fences or any similar security measures.
N. 
Wireless facilities must not interfere with access to a fire hydrant, fire station, fire escape, water valve, underground vault, valve housing structure or any other public health or safety facility.
O. 
No person may install, use or maintain any facilities (in whole or in part) that rest upon, in or over any public right-of-way, when such installation, use or maintenance: (1) endangers or is reasonably likely to endanger the safety of persons or property; or (2) when such site or location is used for public utility purposes, public transportation purposes or other governmental use; or (3) when such facilities unreasonably interfere with or unreasonably impede the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicle, ingress into or egress from any residence or place of business, use of poles, posts, traffic signs or signals, hydrants, mailboxes, permitted sidewalk dining, permitted street furniture and/or other objects permitted at or near the location where the wireless facilities are located.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
An applicant proposing to attach to a streetlight in the public right-of-way must comply with the following design standards:
A. 
Equipment should be painted, treated or finished to match existing streetlight pole aesthetics and materials in finish and color that are in the immediate vicinity of the proposed pole(s).
B. 
The antenna should be mounted at the top of the streetlight pole where the arm extends from the pole where feasible.
C. 
The top of the antenna if top-mounted should be no higher than forty-eight inches above the top of the existing pole.
D. 
All antennas should be shrouded. Antenna shroud should have an outer diameter of fifteen inches or less and measure no more than five cubic feet in size. The shroud should be no more than four feet tall, including antenna, radio head, mounting bracket, and all other hardware necessary for a complete installation.
E. 
Antenna shroud should be no more than thirty percent greater in diameter than the streetlight it is attached to and the transition between the pole and the shroud should be tapered.
F. 
All cables, wires, and other connectors should be hidden within the base and shaft of the streetlight. Where this is not feasible, the equipment should be installed in an underground vault.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)
A. 
New poles are only permitted if: (1) the applicant demonstrates that above-ground support structures near the project site either do not exist or are not reasonably available to the applicant; or (2) the city specifically finds that a new, non-replacement support structure would be more aesthetically desirable and consistent with the objectives of these guidelines than installations on existing structures near the project site.
B. 
Pole material and finishes should match the existing materials of the city standard streetlight poles.
C. 
Poles should be functioning streetlights and designed to resemble existing standalone streetlights in the vicinity.
D. 
When technically feasible, all antennas and associated equipment must fit within the diameter of the poles with no exterior wires or conduit. If all antennas and equipment cannot fit within the pole for technical reasons, then the installation will be subject to the standards above.
E. 
Antennas should be mounted on the top of the pole.
F. 
Relocated poles will be subject to guidelines in this section and their respective pole type section.
(Ord. 820 § 2, 2020)