AG 2004 01 26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memo To: From: Date: Re: Cabarrus County Planning & Zoning Commission Mt. Pleasant Planning & Zoning Board Harrisburg Planning & Zoning Commission Midland Planning & Zoning Board Jonathan B. Marshall, Planning Services Director 08/21/03 Independent Review of Wireless Communication Towers The Cabarrus County Planning & Zoning Commission requested that staff provide information about independent review of applications for new wireless communication towers. The purpose for this review is to ensure that the information submitted by an applicant is propedy reviewed for technical merit. It also guarantees for residents and the jurisdiction that there is a valid need for a new lower location. I felt that this information might be useful to all jurisdictions that we serve. Wireless communication facilities are regulated as a utility and there are limits to local regulations. The Federal Communications Commission and theTelecommunications Act of 1996 are the regulating authority and law that guide the review process for local authorities. There is a copy of a local officials guide "Siting Cellular Towers; What You Need to Know, What You Need to Do" in our planning library. For the purpose of this discussion, however, I have attached a photocopy of the section on local zoning authority. This section provides a framework for the types of regulation that can or cannot be enforced. One of the provisions of this section is that the review of applications for wireless facilities may not take longer than the review of similar type applications. Though an independent review may cause the application process to be extended, the limits on local authority do not include any specific guidance on the subject. It can be assumed, therefore, that this type of review is permitted as an extension of the local review process as long as the time frame remains reasonably like that of other applications. There are other jurisdictions in North Carolina that have employed a process that includes independent review of wireless applications. I have attached a table summarizing those communities use of these provisions. It is instructive to look at their procedures as well as what their experience has been with this method of regulation. All of the communities listed have contracted with a single firm to perform the independent review. They have also set up a fee structure and payment so that the cost of that review is borne by the applicant and not the reviewing jurisdiction. That fee structure ranges from the payment of a set fee to the creation of an escrow account, but all methods are designed so that the independent review firm bills · Page 1 ~3'-~