Application process.
(1) In recognition of the mandates of the Telecommunications Act, the installation and maintenance of telecommunications antennas and supporting structures or ancillary facilities by or for the benefit of telecommunications carriers shall be a permitted use in all zones subject to the following application requirements which shall apply unless preempted by state or federal law:
(a) The application requirements of this section shall be deemed to have been satisfied with respect to any antenna or supporting structure located on property owned by the Town of West Hartford and which has been approved by the Town Council as a result of a request for proposals.
(b) For purposes of this section, an antenna or supporting structure shall be deemed to be located in the most restrictive zone which is contained in its fall zone.
(c) In all zones the collocation of antennas onto existing supporting structures shall be subject to site plan review pursuant to §
177-42B and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section.
(d) In BOL, BO, BN, BND, BS, BC and CDBH Zones, the installation of any antenna directly onto an existing building or other structure without the installation of a new supporting structure shall be subject to site plan review pursuant to §
177-42B and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section, provided that such antenna does not extend more than 15 feet above the height of the existing building or other structure. Any antenna which extends more than 15 feet above the height of the existing building or other structure shall be subject to special use permit pursuant to §
177-42A and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section.
(e) In all commercial and industrial zones, the installation of disguised antennas shall be subject to site plan review pursuant to §
177-42B and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section.
(f) In all residential zones, installation of any disguised antenna directly onto an existing structure without the installation of a new supporting structure shall be subject to site plan review pursuant to §
177-42B and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section.
(g) Except as provided in Subsection (1)(c) and (f) above, the installation of any antenna in a residential zone shall be subject to special use permit pursuant to §
177-42A and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section.
(h) In BG, IP, IE, IR and IG Zones, the installation of any antenna directly onto an existing building or other structure without the installation of a new supporting structure or the erection of any new supporting structure shall be subject to site plan review pursuant to §
177-42B and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section. Except as provided in Subsections (1)(d) and (e), in all other zones the installation of any antenna directly onto an existing building or other structure without the installation of a new supporting structure or the erection of any new supporting structure shall be subject to special use permit pursuant to §
177-42A and shall be subject to such additional requirements as may be found in this section.
(i) No antenna or supporting structure except a disguised antenna shall be permitted in any designated historic district, any designated historic site or any area designated by the State of Connecticut as a scenic area.
(2) Application requirements.
(a) All applications. In addition to those application requirements contained in §
177-42A or
177-42B of this Code of Ordinances (as applicable), the following requirements shall be met:
[1] The property owner, the proprietor and the telecommunications carrier whose antenna will be located on the site shall all be required coapplicants and shall all be bound by the conditions of any permit.
[2] If any proposed antenna regulated hereunder is intended to provide transmission/reception coverage beyond the borders of the Town of West Hartford, the municipality into which said signal is transmitted or from which a signal may be received shall be notified of the submission of the application by the applicant, which shall provide proof of such notification to the Town Planner.
[3] All applicants must submit copies of all environmental, financial or other impact studies associated with the proposed application which are in their possession at the time of application and must supplement those studies with any studies received prior to the close of the public hearing (if any).
[4] All applicants shall provide such information as may be required to establish that the combined emission/power levels for all antennas comply with FCC requirements at the nearest point to the antenna or supporting structure which may be accessible to the public, regardless of whether such access is permitted by the applicant or the property owner.
[5] All applicants shall establish compliance with the environmental assessment requirements contained in the Federal Communication Commission regulations located at 47 CFR, Part 1, Subpart I, §§ 1.1307 and 1.1308 (implementing the National Environmental Policy Act), as those regulations may be amended or renumbered from time to time, and shall provide copies of any environmental assessments produced in compliance with those sections.
(b) Applications for new supporting structures or increase in height of existing supporting structures. In addition to the requirements contained in Subsection (2)(a) above and those application requirements contained in §
177-42A of this Code of Ordinances, the following requirements shall be met:
[1] The applicant shall provide notice of the application to all other telecommunications carriers licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to provide telecommunications services in West Hartford.
[2] The applicant shall provide a map showing the location of all antennas operated by the applicant which provide service to any portion of West Hartford and all antennas which the applicant intends to construct (to the extent known), together with the effective transmission/reception areas for each of those sites.
[3] The applicant shall provide such supporting documentation as is necessary to establish that the antenna and/or supporting structure is no taller than required to meet the applicant's technical needs or the requirements of this section.
[4] All supporting structures shall be designed to permit the collocation of no fewer than three sets of antennas. This provision may be waived by the Plan and Zoning Commission if such waiver would be in the best interest of the Town.
[5] The applicant shall establish that at least one telecommunications carrier has committed to installing or operating antennas upon the proposed supporting structure within 90 days after the supporting structure has been completed.
[6] All applications involving the erection of a new supporting structure or an increase in the height of an existing supporting structure shall be accompanied by a detailed plan showing:
[a] The fall zone surrounding the supporting structure and identifying all structures within said fall zone by use and by owner; and
[b] All supporting structures within 2,000 feet of the proposed supporting structure and all buildings within 2,000 feet of the proposed supporting structure the roof levels of which are not more than 25 feet lower than the supporting structure.
[7] In any case where an applicant proposes to erect a new supporting structure within 2,000 feet of an existing supporting structure or building of approximately equal elevation to the proposed supporting structure, the applicant shall be required to establish that collocation of the proposed antenna upon the existing supporting structure or installation onto said existing building is not a technically feasible alternative.
(3) Fees.
(a) In addition to the fees established elsewhere for site plan applications or special use permit applications, the applicant shall pay a fee equivalent to the cost borne by the Town to obtain an independent evaluation of the technical aspects of the application which are not within the expertise of Town staff. This fee shall be paid before any permit may be issued pursuant to section.
(b) A telecommunications carrier may submit a single application and a single application fee for antennas at multiple locations within West Hartford, provided that the applicant submits with the application an affidavit stating that the application encompasses all remaining antennas required by the applicant to provide service throughout the Town of West Hartford and that the applicant does not currently anticipate installing further antennas in West Hartford. In the event that this single application involves a combination of locations requiring both site plan approval and special use permit approval, the more stringent approval process and the greater application fee shall apply.
Conditions of approval.
(1) Collocation. Collocation of antennas onto existing supporting structures or at existing antenna sites is encouraged wherever feasible. In keeping with that policy, it shall be a condition of approval that the proprietor of any supporting structure permitted pursuant to this section must agree to permit the subsequent collocation of antennas upon its supporting structure wherever technically feasible, subject to the right of the proprietor to receive a reasonable fee for the use of its supporting structure. If any telecommunications carrier has been denied permission to collocate on a supporting structure permitted pursuant to this section, or if the proprietor of the supporting structure has been unreasonably dilatory in providing such permission, the Town Planner may issue civil fines of $150 per calendar day to the proprietor pursuant to C.G.S. § 8-12a, as that section may be amended from time to time, until such time as the proprietor issues permission to collocate upon its supporting structure, and may take such other enforcement action as is deemed reasonable and appropriate.
(2) Site protection and landscaping.
(a) All antennas, ancillary facilities and supporting structures (including the base of any guy wires used to stabilize a supporting structure) shall be secured from unauthorized access by fencing unless located in a manner which satisfies the Plan and Zoning Commission or the Town Planner, as appropriate, that such fencing is unnecessary. Power-generating equipment and other electrical equipment associated with any antenna shall be secured within locked cabinets or sheds and shall incorporate noise-reduction techniques designed to minimize the sound emanating from such equipment during its operation.
(b) All ancillary facilities and the base of all supporting structures shall be screened from view using Type C screening as defined at §
177-34D(3) unless the Plan and Zoning Commission shall determine that such screening is unnecessary or inappropriate in a particular case. Equipment sheds shall be designed to present a visual appearance consistent with the structures in the surrounding area.
(3) Maintenance of antennas, supporting structures, ancillary facilities and access routes.
(a) Prior to obtaining a permit to erect any approved antenna, ancillary facilities or supporting structure, the applicant shall provide the Town Planner with a detailed maintenance plan setting forth the schedule for anticipated maintenance and monitoring of the site, including the antennas, supporting structures, ancillary facilities, fencing, landscaping and all other site improvements. Such maintenance plan shall specifically address both structural/mechanical maintenance and electrical/electromagnetic maintenance so as to ensure that both the structures and the transmission/reception operations on the site continue to function safely and within all regulatory limits.
(b) In the event that the uppermost antennas mounted on any supporting structure are removed or lowered in height, any portion of the supporting structure remaining above the uppermost antennas shall be removed within 90 days unless the proprietor can establish that additional antennas shall be mounted thereupon within said ninety-day period. The administration may waive the requirements of this subsection upon a showing of technical need.
(4) There is hereby established a special revenue fund of the Town to be known as the "Tower Abandonment Fund." The revenues contained in this fund, including any interest which shall accrue thereto, be used exclusively for the purpose of funding the cost of dismantling and removing antennas, ancillary facilities and/or supporting structures which are unused or which have become dangerous by virtue of neglect if the proprietor of said antennas, ancillary facilities or supporting structure is unable to, or has refused to do so.
(a) Upon receipt of approval for the erection of any supporting structure, the applicant shall tender to the Town of West Hartford a statement setting forth the estimated cost of construction for the approved antennas, ancillary facilities and supporting structure, together with a payment equal to 5% of the estimated cost of construction. Said payment shall be deposited to the Tower Abandonment Fund.
(b) In the event that an antenna, ancillary facilities and/or supporting structure is dismantled and removed by and at the expense of the applicant or its successor, the amount of the original payment made to the Tower Abandonment Fund at the time of approval shall be returned to the applicant or its successor upon application therefor to the extent that sufficient funds remain in the Tower Abandonment Fund. No interest shall be paid thereupon, and no funds shall be returned in the event that the Tower Abandonment Fund has been depleted.
(c) In the event that an antenna, ancillary facilities and/or supporting structure is unused or has become dangerous by virtue of neglect, reasonable efforts shall be made to request the applicant to dismantle and remove said antenna, ancillary facilities and/or supporting structure.
(d) If the applicant cannot be found after reasonable efforts, is unable to or refuses to dismantle and remove said antenna, ancillary facilities and/or supporting structure, the Town Manager is authorized to take such action as is reasonable, necessary or appropriate to dismantle and remove said antenna, ancillary facilities and/or supporting structure and to charge the expenses associated therewith to the Tower Abandonment Fund. The Corporation Counsel is authorized to take such further legal action as may be necessary to obtain resolution for the Town's costs incurred in such dismantling and removal from the applicant or from any third parties who might otherwise be liable therefor to the extent that those costs exceed the applicant's original contribution to the Tower Abandonment Fund relative to the site in question.
