Union City › Zoning Ordinance
Article 8 — Towers and Antennas
§ 8-1
Applicability.
A.District height limitations. The requirements set forth in this ordinance shall govern the location of towers that exceed, and antennas that are installed at a height in excess of, any existing height limitations of any other zoning ordinances of the City. The height limitations applicable to buildings and structures shall not apply to towers and antennas.
B.Public property. Antennas or towers located on publicly owned property shall be exempt from the requirements of this Ordinance, provided a license orlease authorizing such antenna or tower has been approved by the City Council.
C.Amateur Radio: Receive-Only Antenna. This Ordinance shall not govern any tower, or the installation of any antenna, that is under 70 feet in height and is owned and operated by a federally-licensed amateur radio station operator or is used exclusively for receive-only antennas.
D.Grandfathered Towers and Antennas. Any tower or antenna existing on the effective date of this Ordinance shall not be required to meet the requirements of this Ordinance, other than the requirements of 8-2 (E) and 8-2 (F). Any such towers or antennas that fail to meet the requirements of this Ordinance shall be referred to in this Ordinance as “grandfathered towers” or “grandfathered antennas”.
§ 8-2
General Guidelines andRequirements.
A.Purpose and Goals. The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish guidelines for the siting of towers and antennas. The goals of this Ordinance are to:
1.Enhance the ability of the providers of telecommunications services to provide such services to the community quickly, effectively and efficiently;
2.Encourage strongly the joint use of new and existing tower sites;
3.Encourage users of towers and antennas to locate them, to the extent possible, in areas where the adverse impact on the community is minimal;
4.Encourage users of towers and antennas to configure them in a way that minimizes the adverse visual impact of the towers and antennas; and
5.Discourage, specifically, the location of towers in residential areas and, generally, the proliferation of towers throughout the community.
B.Principal or Accessory Use. Antennas and towers may be considered either principal or accessory uses. A different existing use or an existing structure on the same lot shall not preclude the installation of an antenna or tower on such lot. For purposes of determining whether the installation of tower or antenna complies with district development regulations, including but not limited to setback requirements, lot-coverage requirements and other such requirements, the dimensions of the entire lot shall control, even though the antennas or towers may be located on leased parcels within such lots.
C.Inventory of Existing Sites. Each applicant for an administrative approval or a special use permit shall provide the Planning and Zoning Department with an inventory of its existing towers, including specific information about the location, height and design of each tower. The Planning andZoningDepartment may share such information with other applicants applying for administrative appeals or special use permits under this Ordinance or other organizations seeking to locate antennas within the jurisdiction of the City.
D.Aesthetics and Lighting. The guidelines set forth in 8-3 (D) shall govern the location of all towers, and the installation of all antennas, governed by this Ordinance; provided, that the City may waive these requirements if, in its sole discretion, it determines that the goals of this Ordinance are better served thereby.
1.Towers shall either maintain a galvanized steel finish or, subject to any applicable standards of the FAA, be painted sky blue or gray, so as to reduce visual obtrusiveness.
2.At a tower site, the design of the buildings and related structures shall, to the extent possible, use materials, colors, textures, screening and landscaping that will blend the tower facilities to the natural setting and built environment.
3.If an antenna is installed on a structure other than a tower, the antenna and supporting electrical and mechanical equipment must be of a neutral color that is identical to, or closely compatible with, the color of the supporting structure so as to make the antenna and related equipment as visually unobtrusive as possible.
4.Towers shall not be artificially lighted, unless required by the FAA or other applicable authority. If lighting is required, the Council may review the available lighting alternatives and approve the design that would cause the least disturbance to the surrounding views.
E.Federal Requirements. All towers must meet or exceed current standards and regulations of the FAA, the FCC and any other agency of the federal government with the authority to regulate towers and antennas. If such standards and regulations are changed, then the owners of the towers and antennas governed by this Ordinance shall bring such towers and antennas into compliance with such revised standards and regulations within six (6) months of the effective date of such standards and regulations. Failure to bring towers and antennas into compliance with such revised standards and regulations shall constitute grounds for the removal of the tower or antenna at the owner’s expense.
F.Building Codes; Safety Standards. To ensure the structural integrity of towers, the owner of a tower shall ensure that it is maintained in compliance with standards contained in applicable local building codes and the applicable standards for towers that are published by the Electronic IndustriesAssociation, as amended from time to time. If, upon inspection, the City inspection department concludes that a tower fails to comply with such codes and standards and constitutes a danger to persons or property, then upon notice being provided to the owner of the tower, the owner shall have 30 days to bring such tower into compliance with such codes and standards. If the owner fails to bring such tower into compliance within said 30 days, the governing authority may remove such tower at the owner’s expense.
§ 8-3
Conditional Uses.
A.General. The uses listed in this section are deemed to be conditional uses and shall require administrative review. Nevertheless, all such uses shall comply with 8-2 (D),
8-2 (E) and 8-2 (F) of this Ordinance and all other applicable Ordinances, and prior
to the installation of any antenna or tower pursuant tothis section, the owner of such antenna or tower shall send written notice tothe Planning and Zoning Department, which notice shall include the location, size and configuration of such antenna or tower.
B.Specific Conditional Uses. The following uses are conditionally permitted:
1.Locating a tower in an M-1 or M-2 Zoning District or within any property located within 1,000 feet of either side of the right-of-way of a collector, arterial or interstate road on property zoned TCMU (added 7/20/10, Ordinance 10-13);
provided, however, that such tower shall be setback from any existing off-site residential structure a distance equal to the height of the tower, plus 50 feet;
2.Installing a tower in a GC Zoning District, provided that the applicant has demonstrated a gap in coverage that cannot be remedied by placing such a tower on property zoned M-1, M-2 or TCMU districts and provided that such tower shall be set back from any existing off-site residential structure a distance equal to the height of the tower, plus 50 feet. (Ordinance No. 2018-___; 9/18/18)
3.Installing an antenna in an M-1 or M-2 Zoning District or within anyproperty located within 1,000 feet of either side of the right-of-way of a collector, arterial or interstate road on property zoned TCMU (added 7/20/10, Ordinance10-13) on an existing structurethatis50feetinheight or greater, so long as said additional antenna adds no more than 20 feet to the height of said existing structure, such structures to include buildings, signs, light poles, water towers and other free-standing non-residential structures; and
4.Installing an antenna on any existing tower of any height, so long as the addition of said antenna adds no more than 20 feet to the height of said existing tower and said existing tower is not a grandfathered tower.
§ 8-4
AdministrativeApprovals.
A.General.
1.The Planning and Zoning Department may administratively approve the uses listed in this section.
2.Applicants for administrative approval shall apply to the Planning and Zoning Department, providing the information set forth in 8-5 (B) and 8-5 (D) of this Ordinance.
3.The Planning and Zoning Department shall respond to each such application within 30 days of receiving it by either approving the application, denying the application, or requesting further information from the applicant. If the Planning and Zoning Department fails to respond to the applicant within said 30 days, then the application shall be deemed to be approved.
4.In connection with any such administrative approval, the Planning and Zoning Department may, in order to encourage shared use, administratively waive any district setback requirement by up to 50%.
B.Reserved. (Ordinance No. 2018-___; 9/18/18)
§ 8-5
Conditional UsePermits.
A.General. The following provisions shall govern the issuance of conditional use permits:
1.A conditional use permit shall be required for the construction of a tower or the placement of an antenna.
2.Any information of an engineering nature that the applicant submits, whether civil, mechanical, electrical or radio frequency, shall be certified by a qualified professional engineer.
B.Site Plan. Applicants requesting a conditional use permit under this ordinance shall submit a scaled site plan, showing the location and dimensions of all improvements, including information concerning topography, radio frequency coverage, tower height requirements, setbacks, drives, parking, fencing, landscaping and other information necessary to access compliance with this Ordinance.
C.Factors Considered in Granting Conditional Use Permits. The City shall consider the following factors in determining whether to issue a conditional use permit, although the City may waive or reduce the burden on the applicant of one or more of these criteria, if, in the sole discretion of the City, the goals of this Ordinance are better served thereby:
1.Height of the proposed tower;
2.Proximity of the tower to residential structures and residential district boundaries;
3.Nature of uses on adjacent and nearby properties;
4.Surrounding topography;
5.Surrounding tree coverage and foliage;
6.Design of the tower, with particular reference to design characteristics that have the effect of reducing or eliminating visual obtrusiveness; and
7.Availability of suitable existing towers and other structures as discussed in Section 8-3 of this Ordinance.
D.Availability of Suitable Existing Towers or Other Structures. No new tower shall be permitted unless the applicant demonstrates to the reasonable satisfaction of the City that no existing tower or structure can accommodate the applicant’s proposed antenna. Evidence submitted to demonstrate that no existing tower or structure can accommodate the applicant’s proposed antenna may consist of the following:
1.No existing towers or structures are located within the geographic area required to meet applicant’s engineering requirements;
2.Existing towers or structures are not of sufficient height to meet applicant’s engineering requirements;
3.Existing towers or structures do not have sufficient structural strength to support applicant’s proposed antenna and related equipment;
4.Applicant’s proposed antenna would cause electromagnetic interference with the antenna on the existing towers or structure;
5.The fees or costs required to share an existing tower or structure or to adapt an existing tower or structure for sharing are unreasonable. Costs exceeding new tower development are presumed unreasonable;
6.Property owners of existing towers or structures are unwilling to accommodate reasonably the applicant’s needs; and
7.Applicant demonstrates that there are other limiting factors that render existing towers and structures unsuitable.
E.Setbacks and Separation. The following setbacks and separation requirements shall apply to all towers and antennas for which a conditional use permit is required;
provided, however, that the City may, in its sole discretion, reduce the standard setbacks and separation requirements if the goals of this Ordinance would be better served thereby.
1.Towers must be set back a distance equal to the height of the tower plus 50 feet from any off-site residential structure;
2.Towers, guys and accessory facilities must satisfy the minimum district yard setback requirements; and
3.Towers over 70 feet in height shall not be located within one-quarter of a mile from any existing tower that is over 70 feet in height.
F.Security Fencing. Towers shall be enclosed by security fencing not less than six (6)
feet and shall be equipped with an appropriate anti-climbing device; provided, however, that the City may, in its sole discretion, waive such requirements if the goals of this Ordinance would be better served thereby.
1.Tower facilities shall be landscaped with a buffer that effectively screens the view of the tower compound from adjacent residential property. The standard buffer shall consist of a landscaped strip at least four (4) feet wide outside the perimeter of the compound;
2.In locations where the visual impact of the tower would be minimal, the landscaping requirement may be reduced or waived altogether; and
3.Existing mature tree growth and natural land forms on the site shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible. In some cases, such as towers sited on large, wooded lots, natural growth around the property perimeter may be a sufficient buffer.
§ 8-6
Removal of Abandoned Towers and Antennas.
Any antenna or tower that is not operated for a continuous period of 12 months shall be considered abandoned, and the owner of such antenna or tower shall remove same within 90 days of receipt of notice from the City notifying the owner of such abandonment. If such antenna or tower is not removed within said 90 days, the governing authority may remove such antenna or tower 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.
ARTICLE IX
TREE PRESERVATION AND LANDSCAPE ENHANCEMENT