15 - ORDINANCE IMPLEMENTING SB 1004, WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE

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Item No. 15 memorandum TO: City Council John Godwin, City Manager FROM: Stephanie H. Harris, City Attorney SUBJECT: Ordinance implementing SB 1004, New Texas Local Government Code Chapter 284, relating to wireless infrastructure. DATE: August 23, 2017 BACKGROUND: SB 1004 will go into effect September 1, 2017 as new Texas Local Government Code Chapter 284. Prior to the effective date of the law, cities have been able to charge franchise fees to wireless providers who wanted to install equipment in the rights -of -way (ROW) or to simply prohibit wireless providers from doing so altogether. Chapter 284 mandates that wireless infrastructure providers and wireless service providers have access to the public ROW to locate their facilities, and they may do so without having to negotiate franchise agreements and pay franchise fees. I have attached photographs of the types of infrastructure we are talking about here. Under this new law, cities are very limited in the types of regulations they can pass to try to blunt the aesthetic and public safety impact of the proliferation of this technology, but cities may require permits; enact some design requirements, including requiring camouflaging of wireless nodes in historic and design districts; and require certain statutorily capped payments for use of the ROW. In order to get the benefit of these negligible (to the City) benefits, the City must pass an ordinance compliant with Chapter 284. STATUS OF ISSUE: As noted, SB 1004 (Chapter 284) goes into effect on September 1St. If the City is to be able to regulate the proliferation of small cell wireless facilities, Council needs to pass an ordinance prior to that date. The attached ordinance was prepared by Rebecca Edwards and Gerald Lederer of Best Best & Krieger, LLP of Washington, DC and Houston, Texas with input City staff and myself. Best Best & Krieger is one of the premier firms in the country assisting municipalities in the area of telecommunications. The proposed ordinance adheres to the requirements set forth in Chapter 284 and attempts to balance the need of telecommunications and wireless providers to meet the ever - growing demand for additional wireless capacity with the need of the City to ameliorate the aesthetic and public safety concerns of its residents associated with the placement of these facilities in the public ROW. BUDGET: There is the potential for revenues derived from permitting fees and ROW rentals consistent with the ordinance and Chapter 284. RECOMMENDATION: Adopt ordinance implementing SB 1004 /Tex.Loc.Gov.Code Chap. 284.