Regulations applicable to all wireless communications facilities outside the right-of-way.
(1) All applications for installation of a wireless communications facility shall include a sworn affidavit from a radio frequency engineer that the placement of the wireless communications facility will not interfere with public safety communications and the usual and customary transmission or reception of radio, television or other communication services enjoyed by adjacent residential and nonresidential properties in compliance with federal law.
(2) The Telecommunications Act of 1996 gives the FCC sole power to regulate radio frequency (RF) emissions and does not allow the Township to condition or deny on the basis of RF impacts the approval of any wireless communications facilities which meet or exceed FCC standards. In order to make available information to Township citizens, the applicant shall provide to the Township copies of ongoing FCC information and RF emission standards for transmissions from a wireless communications facility. Applicants shall be required to submit information on the proposed power intensity of their wireless communications facilities. Applicants shall demonstrate that the proposed wireless communications facilities comply with all FCC standards relating to radio frequency emissions and shall supplement that information upon the request of the Township no less frequently than annually. Once installed, any technical change that could increase power or output of the wireless communications facility shall be immediately reported to the Township.
(3) If applicable, all applications shall include a copy of the provider's current Federal Communications Commission license. The provider shall maintain with the Township the current name, address and emergency telephone number of the owner or operator of the support or wireless support structure on which the WCF is mounted.
(4) Upon receipt of an application, the applicant shall mail notice thereof to the owner or owners, if their residence is known, or to the occupier or occupiers of every residentially zoned property on the same street within 500 feet of the site of the proposed facility and of every residentially zoned property not on the same street within 150 feet of the proposed facility and provide documentation to the Township that such notice has been provided.
(5) Applicants proposing an eligible facilities request pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 1455 shall be required only to obtain a building permit from the Director of Building and Planning. In order to be considered for such permit, the applicant must submit a permit application to the Township in accordance with applicable permit policies and procedures.
(6) An application for a wireless communications facility requiring the installation of a new wireless support structure shall demonstrate that the proposed wireless communications facility cannot be accommodated on an existing building, structure or tower. The Township may deny an application to construct a new wireless support structure if the applicant has not made a good faith effort to mount the WCF on an existing building, structure or tower. The applicant shall demonstrate that it contacted the owners of tall structures, buildings, and towers within a one-quarter-mile radius of the site proposed, sought permission to install the proposed WCF on those structures, buildings, and towers and was denied for one of the following reasons:
(a) The proposed antenna and accessory equipment would exceed the structural capacity of the existing building, structure or tower, and its reinforcement cannot be accomplished at a reasonable cost.
(b) The proposed antenna and accessory equipment would cause radio frequency interference with other existing equipment for that existing building, structure, or tower and the interference cannot be prevented at a reasonable cost.
(c) Such existing buildings, structures, or towers do not have adequate location, space, access, or height to accommodate the proposed equipment or to allow it to perform its intended function.
(d) A commercially reasonable agreement could not be reached with the owner of such building, structure, or tower.
(7) Insurance. See
§ 155-10.10D(7) for detailed information.
(8) The owner or operator of a WCF shall, at its sole cost and expense, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Township, its elected and appointed officials, employees and agents, at all times against any and all claims for personal injury, including death, and property damage arising in whole or in part from, caused by or connected with any act or omission of the person, its officers, agents, employees or contractors arising out of, but not limited to, the construction, installation, operation, maintenance or removal of the WCF. The owner or operator of a WCF shall defend any actions or proceedings against the Township in which it is claimed that personal injury, including death, or property damage was caused by the construction, installation, operation, maintenance or removal of WCF. The obligation to indemnify, hold harmless and defend shall include, but not be limited to, the obligation to pay judgments, injuries, liabilities, damages, reasonable attorneys' fees, reasonable expert fees, court costs and all other costs of indemnification.
(9) All plans and drawings for a WCF shall contain a seal and signature of a professional structural engineer, licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(10) WCFs shall be permitted to co-locate upon nonconforming tower-based wireless communications facilities and other nonconforming structures. Collocation of WCFs upon existing tower-based wireless communications facilities is encouraged even if the WCF is nonconforming as to use within a zoning district.
(11) All WCFs shall be designed, constructed, operated, maintained, repaired, modified and removed in strict compliance with all current applicable technical, safety and safety-related codes, including but not limited to the most recent editions of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Code, National Electrical Safety Code, National Electrical Code, or to the industry standard applicable to the structure. Any WCF shall at all times be kept and maintained in good condition, order and repair by qualified maintenance and construction personnel, so that the same shall not endanger the life of any person or damage any property in the Township.
(12) All WCFs shall be designed to withstand the effects of wind gusts and ice to the standard designed by the American National Standards Institute as prepared by the engineering departments of the Electronics Industry Association, National Electrical Safety Code, National Electrical Code, or to the industry standard applicable to the structure.
(13) WCFs shall comply with all federal and state laws and regulations concerning aviation safety.
(14) Any graffiti on the wireless support structure or on any accessory equipment shall be removed at the sole expense of the owner within 30 days of notification by the Township.
