(1) Telecommunications towers shall not be located within or closer to a residential district than two hundred (200) feet or a 3 to 1 distance to height ratio, whichever is greater.

(2) New telecommunications towers shall be a minimum distance of five thousand (5,000) feet from another telecommunications tower.

(3) All guys and guy anchors shall be located within the buildable area of the lot and not within the front, rear, or side yard setbacks and no closer than five (5) feet to any property line.

(4) The base of the tower shall be enclosed by security fencing at least eight (8) feet high.

(5) Equipment buildings shall be similar in color and character to the main or adjoining building or structure or blend with the landscape and other surroundings immediately adjacent to it and shall be screened by a masonry wall.

(6) The tower shall be erected and operated in compliance with current Federal Communication Commission and Federal Aviation Administration rules and regulations and other applicable federal and state standards.

(7) A telecommunications tower shall be designed and built so as to be capable of use by more than one wireless communications provider, including providers such as cellular or PCS providers.

(8) All towers shall be of a tapering monopole construction, except that another type tower shall only be allowed upon a showing that it would cause less visual impact on surrounding property than a similar monopole structure.

(9) No lettering, symbols, images, signs or trademarks large enough to be legible to occupants of vehicular traffic on any adjacent roadway shall be placed on or affixed to any part of a telecommunications tower, antenna array or antenna, other than as required by FCC regulations regarding tower registration or other applicable law.

(10) Telecommunications towers shall be constructed to minimize potential safety hazards. Telecommunications towers shall be constructed so as to meet or exceed the most recent FCC standards and prior to issuance of a building permit the building official shall be provided with an engineer’s certification that the tower’s design meets or exceeds those standards. Guyed towers shall be located in such a manner that if the structure should fall along its longest dimension, it will remain within property boundaries and avoid habitable structures, public streets, utility lines and other telecommunications towers.

(11) Telecommunications towers and equipment buildings shall be located to minimize their number, height and obtrusiveness, to minimize visual impacts on the surrounding area, and in accordance with the following policies:

(A) The height of towers and monopoles shall have the least visual impact and be no greater than required to achieve service area requirements and potential co-location, when visually appropriate.

(B) Site telecommunication facilities to minimize being visually solitary or prominent when viewed from residential areas and the public rights-of-way. The facility shall be screened by vegetation, tree cover, topographic features, and buildings or other structures to the maximum extent possible and reasonably feasible.

(C) Telecommunication facilities shall be placed to ensure that historically significant landscapes are protected. The views of and vistas from architecturally and/or historically significant structures should not be impaired or diminished by the placement of telecommunication facilities.

(D) A variance may be granted by the board of adjustment to these policies for a telecommunications tower when it is determined that such a variance better accomplishes the policies set out in this ordinance than would a strict application of the requirement. Such variance shall be no greater than necessary to accomplish those policies.
 

(12) No signals or lights or illumination shall be permitted on a monopole unless required by the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, or the city.

(13) If any additions, changes, or modifications are made to the monopole, the changes shall comply with all of the above requirements for new towers and shall demonstrate, through the submission of engineering and structural data, that the addition, change, or modification conforms to structural wind load and all other requirements of the current building code.

(14) Telecommunication towers which have not been used for a period of one (1) year shall be removed from a site. The last telecommunication service provider to use a tower shall notify the city secretary within thirty (30) days that use of a tower has been discontinued.