The intent of this article is to regulate the location and erection of all transmission towers in all districts in order to minimize adverse visual effects of towers through careful design, siting and vegetative screening; to avoid potential damage to adjacent properties from tower failure and falling ice through engineering and careful siting of tower structures; and to preserve the rural character of Standish.
[Amended 8-8-2000 by Order No. 96-00]
There shall be no transmission towers permitted in the Shoreland, Resource Protection, Rural Residential and Residential Zones. Towers shall not exceed 125 feet in height above ground surface in the Rural Zone. Towers shall not exceed 200 feet in height above ground surface in all other zones. Special exceptions and variances shall not be granted. Towers used for municipal purposes are exempt from these requirements; the municipal tower shall not exceed 200 feet. Municipal towers may be owned by other than the municipality as long as they are located on Town-owned land or contain Town transmission facilities and have shared communication uses.
All transmission towers shall be set back from the lot lines a distance of 1 1/2 times the structure height, but not less than the minimum setback requirements for that zone. Other structures [including but not limited to any accessory structure(s) and guy wire anchors] must meet setbacks established in this chapter. Municipal towers are exempt from these requirements, when the tower is an accessory use with a municipal building; the municipal tower shall not exceed 200 feet.
When regulated by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or Federal Communications Commission (FCC), applications for transmission towers shall be accompanied by evidence that such tower (and any related structures) meets or can meet requirements and specifications of the FAA and FCC. The applicant shall also furnish evidence of appropriate FAA/FCC operator licensing prior to construction.
A chain-link (security) fence or wall not less than eight feet in height from the finished grade shall be provided around each transmission tower. Access to the tower(s) shall be through a locked gate.
Vegetative buffering must be provided to screen the transmission tower, including any accessory buildings and structures at ground level, from adjacent land uses. If existing vegetation does not provide adequate buffering, as defined by the Planning Board, to minimize visual impact of the structure, the Planning Board may require the applicant to provide a visual impact analysis by a qualified professional, at the applicant's expense, who will provide a written recommendation to the Planning Board for approval.
Lights shall be focused, shielded or hooded in accordance with this chapter. Security lights must be motion-activated and shall not remain on when there is no activity in the vicinity of the tower.
At least 30 days prior to the beginning of transmission tower construction, the applicant shall notify the Code Enforcement Officer of the date on which construction will begin. The Code Enforcement Officer may require the applicant to pay the cost for special officers to ensure traffic safety while the transmission tower and related materials and equipment are being delivered to the site and to take other reasonable measures which might be necessary to protect rights-of-way, neighboring property and persons during construction of the transmission tower.
The design, siting and operation of the transmission tower and any related structures must assure that all potentially hazardous radiation is controlled or contained and that radiation levels are at safe levels at the property lines of the site. The standards for emission levels shall be the federal or state NIER emission or measurement standard, whichever is more strict. Until such standard(s) are established, the NIER emissions shall not expose the general public to ambient radiation exceeding an equivalent plane wave power density of zero and 0.2 milliwatts per square centimeter (mW/cm2) to 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz) frequency range average over a one-tenth-hour period. The standard shall be measured at the property lines.
Subject to federal requirements stating otherwise, transmission towers shall be finished or painted silver or gray or retain galvanized finish in order to blend with the sky above treetop level and earth-tone colors to blend with colors below treetop level. The purpose of these requirements is to minimize the visual effects the tower(s) through design, siting or possible screening.
A. 
A new permit or a modification of an existing permit shall be required before any additional antenna or broadcasting capacity is added to the transmission tower facilities and capacity that exist at the time of a previous tower site plan approval or changes to existing towers, accessory building or other uses on the site not covered by a site plan approval.
B. 
The new permit or modification of a previously existing permit must provide all necessary information and assurances to substantiate that the tower is capable of safely handling additional antenna and that the other site requirements (parking, screening, etc.) will be met according to the requirements of this Part 1.
C. 
The Planning Board may require that certain information and evidence be provided by a third-party professional at the expense of the applicant to ensure that the requirements of this Part 1 are satisfied.
Prior to approval of site plan review, the applicant shall establish that the location, construction and operation of the proposed transmission tower will not represent a safety hazard to abutting properties or public right-of-way. The Planning Board may require that certain information and evidence be provided by a third-party professional at the expense of the applicant to ensure that this requirement is satisfied.
The transmission tower owner will notify the Code Enforcement Officer within 30 days of the tower being taken out of operation. Within 60 days of the tower going out of operation, the owner shall notify the Planning Board of their intentions for the tower in the future. If there is no future use intended for the tower, it must be dismantled and removed from the site within nine months of the date of notice. The applicant shall be required to place in escrow an amount sufficient to cover the cost of tower removal, with this bond to be reviewed every 10 years. These requirements shall be placed on the site plan as conditions of the use.