The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a declaratory ruling and order on September 26 that dramatically preempts local authority on the siting of cellular wireless technology. In our October 17 issue of CityVoice, we shared a good article from the National League of Cities. AWC joined NLC and other cities in expressing opposition to the FCC’s proposal. NLC has also developed small cell wireless municipal action guide and model ordinance for city leaders.
The effective date of the new FCC rules is January 14, 2019, which doesn’t give cities a great deal of time to respond. We expect legal challenges to the rules; however, there is no guarantee of a stay in implementation of the rules.
The new rule will:
- Shorten the time cities have to process applications for small cells to either 60 or 90 days, depending on whether they are being mounted on an existing or new structure;
- Limit application fees for small cells to $100 per site, and recurring fees to $270 per site, per year, for small cells in the rights-of-way;
- Prohibit cities from assessing fees that include anything other than a “reasonable approximation” of “reasonable costs” directly related to maintaining the rights-of-way and the small cell facility; and
- Limit aesthetic review and requirements (including undergrounding and historic/environmental requirements) to those that are reasonable, comparable to requirements for other rights-of-way users, and published in advance.
The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) has also put together a good summary of the new rule.
The NLC model ordinance is a potentially good starting point for a city looking to update their regulations, but you should confer with your city attorney about necessary revisions to your local ordinances.
Recently, Ogden Murphy Wallace hosted a webinar overview of the new rules and how they impact cites. If you missed that webinar and would like a copy, you can contact Elana Zana, ezana@omwlaw.com.