05-E Tower Ordinance Options - Laserfiche WebLink

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AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET SUBJECT: Consider various regulations for inclusion in a proposed ordinance regulating the siting of telecommunications towers within the City of Paris. BACKGROUND: The City of Paris has previously adopted an ordinance imposing a moratorium on the siting of new telecommunications towers in the City, pending adoption of a comprehensive regulatory ordinance. The moratorium ordinance, which has recently been extended by the City to allow completion of the ordinance process, applies only to newly constructed towers; it does not prohibit collocation of antenna equipment on existing towers, nor does it in any way impose regulations on towers in Lamar County but outside the city limits of the City of Paris. In order to prepare an ordinance which hopefully will be a reflection of the needs of the Paris community, several existing ordinances and model ordinances were requested and received by the Legal Department and reviewed incident to the process of ordinance preparation. The firm of Faulk and Foster, which represents the industry, forwarded a sample tower ordinance prepared by the Telecommunication Subcommittee of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). In addition, Faulk and Foster provided copies of regulatory ordinances which presumably are satisfactory to the industry from the cities of Monroe, Louisiana (MO); Shreveport, Louisiana (SH); and Hot Springs, Arkansas (HS). Finally, Faulk and Foster also referred the Legal Department to ordinances prepared by the City of Arlington (AR) and the City of Irving (IR) as ordinances which were prepared based on the model telecommunications ordinance which they recommended from NCTCOG. On its own initiative, the Legal Department requested ordinances from the City of Bryan, Texas (BRY) and Mesquite, Texas (MESQ). Finally, comprehensive model ordinances were obtained by the Legal Department from the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) and from the law firm ofVarnum, Ridering, Schmidt, & Howlett, a major Michigan law firm which specializes in providing representation to many cities in many states on issues related to telecommunications (hereinafter referred to as VR). The various provisions of these many ordinances have been reviewed by the Legal Department, and a proposed draft of an ordinance is under preparation. However, City Council can provide valuable assistance to the Legal Department at this stage in the process to advise the Legal Department on various policy issues which have already been identified during the ordinance review and preparation process. As a consequence, City Council will be asked to provide specific guidance to the Legal Department on these issues as summarized in this agenda information sheet. DESCRIPTION: For purposes of the issues requested for review and action by City Council, reference will be made to the specific ordinances above as to the source of various alternative information. For example, one of the issues on which City Council will be asked to consider and provide guidance is the maximum height permissible under an ordinance regulating towers. Keeping in mind that an answer to such an issue will still be subject to further review based on information and input we may receive from the industry, the various height limitations, if any, in the ordinances which are referenced above will be identified by their source ordinance using the abbreviations listed above. Page -1-