05-27-1997 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF ORONO POLICY STATEMENT REGARDING WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION ANTENNAS AND TOWERS This policy is established as a guide to City staff in preparing zoning and other regulatory ordinances concerning wireless telecommunication antennas and towers, and in responding to requests for the location of such antennas and towers within the City of Orono. The majority of the City of Orono is developed or planned for development as rural residential. This type of land use allows maximum distance between telecommunication antennas for the provision of wireless telecommunication services. The two exceptions to this are the Navarre and Highway 12 commercial areas. Orono also surrounds the City of Long Lake which currently provides a tower for wireless telecommunications antennas adjacent to the Highway 12 commercial area. Orono is also adjacent to several cities who plan to allow PCS antennas in close proximity to Orono and, in particular, the Navarre commercial area. These cities include Spring Park, Wayzata and Tonka Bay. Orono's rural residential development, and proximity to cities providing antennas for wireless telecommunications services, appears to enable the provision of wireless telecommunication service throughout Orono without the need for telecommunication antennas in Orono. Therefore, Orono's wireless telecommunications tower and antenna policy is that no towers or antennas will be allowed unless it can be shown that, even with the antennas in adjacent cities, Orono would be prohibiting the provision of telecommunication services to a portion of the City in the absence of an antenna in Orono. This must be shown through a technical analysis which indicates specific parameters within which an antenna is needed, so that the City can determine the best location for the antenna within the identified parameters. Article I: Regulation Under City Police Power. City actions taken with regard to telecommunication activities must comply with a number of Federal parameters established by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. For example, local actions must foster rather than discourage competition, thus the City will not discriminate against one or a group of providers in favor of another group of providers or potential providers. Under the same act, local actions which result in a prohibition on provision of telecommunication services are invalid. Thus staff is directed to address the provision of lawlul wireless telecommunication services with the following local objectives in mind: A. Minimize the number of wireless telecommunication antennas and towers based on the availability of antennas and towers in adjacent jurisdictions w’hich enable the provision of telecommunication services both in those jurisdictions and throughout Orono. B. If telecommunications antennas are required, minimize the number of towers through co-location requirements. I