The text
The city council makes the following findings: A.
Personal wireless services devices are an integral part of the rapidly growing and evolving telecommunications industry, and present unique zoning challenges and concerns for the city.
B.
The city needs to balance the interests and desires of the telecommunications industry and its customers to provide competitive and effective telecommunications systems in the city, against the sometimes differing interests and desires of others concerning health, safety, welfare and aesthetics, and orderly planning of the community.
C.
The city has experienced an increased demand for personal wireless services facilities to be located in the city, and expects the increased demand to continue into the future.
D.
It is in the best interests of the city to have quality personal wireless services available, which necessarily entails the erection of personal wireless services facilities in the city.
E.
The unnecessary proliferation of personal wireless services facilities throughout the city creates a negative visual impact on the community.
F.
The visual effects of personal wireless services facilities can be mitigated by fair standards regulating their siting, construction, maintenance and use.
G.
Because of the height and appearance of personal wireless services facilities, surrounding properties bear a disproportionate share of the negative impacts of a telecommunications tower.
H.
A private property owner who leases space for a personal wireless services facility is the only one who receives compensation for the facility, even though numerous other property owners in the area are adversely affected by the location of the facility.
I.
Personal wireless services may be located on city property at the discretion of the city council, with lease payments paid to the city instead of an individual property owner, which indirectly compensates all citizens of the community for the adverse impacts of the facilities, and is therefore the fairest method of distributing burden and benefit.
J.
Locating antennas on existing buildings and structures creates less of a negative visual impact on the community than the erection of towers.
K.
Buildings and structures on public property are capable of being used to provide support for antenna arrays, thus reducing the proliferation of towers in all areas of the city.
L.
The public policy objectives to reduce the proliferation of telecommunication towers and to mitigate their impact can best be facilitated by permitting the locating of wireless communication systems on telecommunication towers and antenna support structures that are located on property owned, leased or used by the city.
M.
The requirements set forth in this chapter for the placement of personal wireless services facilities on property owned, leased or used by the city are necessary to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the community.
(Ord. 557, 2-3-1999)