AN ORDINANCE SUPPLEMENTING AND AMENDING THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE TOWN OF NEWTON, CHAPTER XX, ENTITLED ZONING FOR THE PURPOSE OF IDENTIFYING THOSE DISTRICTS WHEREIN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES MAY BE LOCATED AND MATTERS RELATED THERETO
WHEREAS, the purpose of this Ordinance is to create the opportunity to locate state-of-the-art wireless telecommunications facilities in areas where there will be either minimal or no appreciable adverse impact on the character of the Town, and
WHEREAS, the intent of this Ordinance is to limit the location of such facilities to areas which are acceptable to communications companies wishing to provide services to ensure that competition is fostered among local wireless service providers; to insure that opportunities for economic development are created; and to ensure that local government benefits from services by telecommunications providers;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED by the Town Council of the Town of Newton that Chapter XX, Zoning, of the Revised General Ordinances of the Town of Newton be amended as follows:
The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish general guidelines for the siting of wireless communications facilities including towers and antennae. The goals of this Ordinance are to:
a. Encourage the location of towers in specific areas within the Town;
b. Minimize the total number of towers constructed within the Town;
c. Strongly encourage the joint use of new and existing tower sites among telecommunications providers;
d. Enhance the ability of telecommunications providers to provide such services to the community quickly, effectively and efficiently;
e. Exempt from the provisions hereof non-commercial amateur radio antennae and structures which attend private residences;
f. Encourage users of towers and antennae to locate them, to the extent possible, in areas where the adverse impact on the community is minimal;
g. Encourage users of towers and antennae to configure them in a way that minimizes the adverse visual impact of the towers and antennae through careful design, siting, landscape screening, and innovative camouflaging techniques, and
h. Avoid potential damage to adjacent properties from tower failure through engineering and careful siting of tower structures.
In furtherance of these goals, the Town of Newton shall give due consideration to the Master Plan, Zoning Map, existing land uses, and environmentally sensitive areas in approving sites for the location of towers and antennae.
Definitions shall include the following:
a. Wireless communications facilities, including towers and antennae shall be conditionally permitted in the R-l and R-2 zones subject to the following specific conditions and standards:
1. The property shall be owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the Town of Newton, the County of Sussex or a public college, provided a license or lease authorizing such antenna or tower has been approved by the applicable agency. The decision to extend such lease shall be vested solely with the applicable agency and shall not be governed by this Ordinance.
2. Maximum height - 120 feet except where more than one set of commercial transmitting/receiving antennae collocated on a tower, the total height of the tower shall not exceed 160 feet, measured as the overall height including antennae and any other appurtenances.
3. Minimum lot size - six (6) acres.
4. Minimum front yard set back - fifty (50) feet or height of structure, whichever is greater.
5. Minimum side yard set back - fifty (50) feet or height of structure, whichever is greater.
6. Minimum rear yard set back - fifty (50) feet or height of structure, whichever is greater.
7. Minimum distance to residential structures, public or private schools, houses of worship - seven hundred fifty (750) feet or 300% of the height of tower, whichever is greater.
8. The parcel shall have either: (1) a minimum of seven hundred (700) linear feet of road frontage on a state highway and a minimum of one hundred (100) linear feet of road frontage on a municipal road with a portion of the property being at elevation eight hundred thirty-five (835) or higher; or (2) a minimum of one thousand five hundred (1 500) feet of road frontage on a county road a minimum of one thousand (1,000) linear feet of road frontage on a municipal road with a portion of the property being at elevation seven hundred (700) or higher.
9. At least one corner of the subject property must be located at the intersection of either: a state highway and municipal road, or a county road and a municipal road.
10. The minimum height of security fence shall be six (6) feet and the maximum height shall be eight (8) feet, exclusive of barbed wire on top.
11. Equipment shelters constructed in association with antennae or towers located on properties as described above shall maintain a maximum fifteen (15) foot distance from the base of the structure and shall be appropriately landscaped to minimize visual impact on properties.
a. In all other zones in the Town, wireless communications facilities, as defined herein, shall not be considered as either permitted or conditional uses.
b. Existing structures located on lands owned or otherwise controlled by the Town of Newton, or private water companies, the County of Sussex, the State of New Jersey, or the United States of America, may be utilized for the placement of antennae subject to the following conditions:
1. The added equipment shall not extend higher than 25 feet above the existing structure upon which said equipment is to be placed.
2. The added equipment shall not protrude more than 5 feet beyond the existing sides of the structure and must not violate existing setbacks.
3. Equipment shelters constructed in association with antennae or located on an existing structure as described above shall maintain a minimum 15 foot distance from the base of the structure and shall be appropriately landscaped to minimize visual impact on neighboring properties
Such towers which predate this Ordinance shall be deemed permitted principal uses and may be utilized for the placement of antennae subject to the following conditions:
a. A tower which is modified or reconstructed to accommodate the collocation of an additional antenna shall be of the same type as the existing tower, unless the Town of Newton allows reconstruction as another type of structure.
b. An existing tower may be modified or rebuilt to a taller height, not to exceed the maximum tower height established by this Ordinance.
c. The height change referred to above may only occur one time per such additional user of the tower, up to a maximum of three (3) times per tower.
d. A tower which is rebuilt to accommodate the collocation of an additional antenna may be moved on-site within one hundred (100) feet of its existing location.
e. After the tower is rebuilt to accommodate collocation, only one (1) tower may remain on site.
f. Antennae may be located inside structures if they are not visible from surrounding parcels, and site plan may be waived in this instance.
The following design standards shall apply and be considered part of the site plan review process and require approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-50:
a. AESTHETICS. Towers and antennae shall, at the discretion of the appropriate land use board, meet the following requirements:
1. Towers shall either maintain a galvanized steel finish subject to any applicable standards of the FAA or the appropriate land use board, or be painted a neutral color so as to reduce visual obtrusiveness.
2. At a lower site, the design of the buildings and related structures shall, to the extent possible, use materials, colors, textures, screening and landscaping that will blend them into the natural setting and surrounding buildings, and shall be located behind existing structures, buildings or terrain features which will shield the buildings and related structures from view.
3. If an antenna is installed on a structure other than a tower, the antenna and supporting electrical and mechanical equipment must be at a neutral ratio that is identical to, or closely comparable with, the color of the supporting structure so as to make the antenna and related equipment as visually unobtrusive as possible.
b. LIGHTING. No lighting shall be permitted except as follows, which shall be subject to review and approval of the appropriate land use board as part of the site plan application process:
1. A building enclosing electronic equipment may have one (1) light at the entrance to the building provided the light is attached to the building, is focused downward and is switched so that the light is turned on only when workers are at the building.
2. No lighting is permitted on any tower except lighting specifically required by the FAA.
3. Any such required lighting shall be focused and shielded to the greatest extent possible so as not to project toward adjacent and nearby properties.
c. STATE AND FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS. All towers must meet or exceed current standards and regulations of the FAA, the FCC and any other state or federal agency with the authority to regulate such uses. When any such applicable standards and regulations are changed, the owners of the towers and antennas governed by this Ordinance shall bring such towers and antennas into compliance with such revised standards within six (6) months of the effective date of such standards and regulations, unless a different compliance schedule is mandated by the controlling state or federal agency. Failure to bring towers and antennas into compliance with such revised standards and regulations shall constitute grounds for the immediate removal of the tower or antenna at the owners expense.
d. BUILDING CODES. To ensure the structural integrity of towers, the owner of a tower shall ensure that it is maintained in compliance with standards contained in the applicable state or local building codes and the applicable standards for towers that are published by the Electronic Industries Association, as amended from time to time. If, upon inspection, the Town of Newton concludes that a tower fails to comply with such codes and standards and constitutes a danger to persons or property, then upon notice being provided to the owner of the tower, the owner shall have thirty (30) calendar days to bring such tower into compliance with such standards. Failure to bring such tower
into compliance within said thirty (30) calendar days shall constitute grounds for the immediate removal of the tower or antenna by the owner, lessee or by the Town at the owners expense.
e. SIGNS. No signs shall be allowed on an antenna or tower except as may be required by the FAA or FCC.
f. ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT BUILDINGS. Any proposed building related to electronic equipment shall not be more than fifteen (15) feet in height nor more than seven hundred (700) square feet in area, and only one (1) such building shall be permitted on the lot for each provider of communication services located on the site.
g. PARKING. Minimal off-street parking shall be permitted as needed and approved by the appropriate land use board.
h. SECURITY. All towers shall be designed with anti-climbing devices in order to prevent unauthorized access. Additionally, any tower supporting cellular or other wireless tower antennas and any building enclosing related electronic equipment shall be surrounded by a fence between six (6') feet and eight (8') feet high excluding barbed wire The fence shall be bordered by a double stepped row of evergreen conifer trees at least eight (8) feet tall at the time of planting and shall be planted ten (10) feet on center.
1. INTERFERENCE WITH PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS. No cellular or other wireless antenna and/or its related electronic equipment shall interfere with any public safety communications.
j. NOISE. Noise levels at any property line shall not exceed fifty (50) decibels or current noise standards promulgated by the State of New Jersey, whichever is less.
k. GENERATORS. Any generator located on site shall be enclosed within a portion of the electronic equipment building. Any fuel storage shall be done in compliance with federal and state regulations and shall be limited to fuel stored within the primary fuel tank provided by the manufacturer of the generator. No auxiliary or supplementary fuel storage shall be permitted.
a. PRINCIPAL OR ACCESSORY USE. Antennas and towers shall be considered principal uses Notwithstanding any other town land use regulations, an existing structure on the same lot shall not preclude the installation of an antenna or tower on such lot. If a tower and its appurtenant structures constitute the sole use of the lot, the tower shall be deemed to be the principal use.
b. LOT SIZE. For purposes of determining whether the installation of a tower or antenna complies with the zone district development regulations, including but not limited to setback requirements, lot coverage requirements, and other such requirements, the dimensions of the entire lot shall control, even though the antennas may be located on leased parcels within such lot.
c. FACILITY ABANDONMENT. In the event that any tower is abandoned or not operated for a period of one (1) year, the same shall be removed within sixty (60) days notice by the Town at the sole expense of the owner. The owner shall provide a performance bond and/or other assurances satisfactory to the appropriate land use board and the Town that will cause the antennas, the supporting tower, the auxiliary building enclosing related electronic equipment and all other related improvements to the land to be removed at no cost to the Town.
In addition to the applicable documentation and items of information required for major site plans within the Town of Newton Land Use Ordinance, the following additional documentation and items of information shall be required as part of any wireless communications facility site plan application for any site in the Town, regardless of whether the proposed site is in an area where such a tower is a permitted use:
a. A scaled site plan clearly indicating the location, type and height of the proposed facility, on-site land uses and zoning, adjacent land uses and zoning (including when adjacent to other municipalities), adjacent roadways proposed means of access setback from property lines
tower and other structures, topography, wood lands, tree lines, buffers or significant topographic terrain features, parking and other information deemed necessary to assess compliance with this ordinance.
b. The setback between the proposed tower and the nearest residential unit.
c. Documentation by a qualified expert regarding the capacity of the proposed tower for the number of antennas.
d. Documentation by a qualified expert that any proposed tower will:
1. Have sufficient structural integrity to support the proposed antennas and the anticipated future collocated antennas;
2. That the structural developed for antennas by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and/or the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) have been met; and
3. That the applicant shall make available any unoccupied space in an existing equipment building or permit the co-locator to construct its own separate equipment building, if existing space is not available.
e. A letter of intent by the applicant, in a form acceptable to the Town of Newton, indicating that the applicant will share the use of any tower with other approved cellular or other wireless communications services. Additionally, the applicant shall make available to subsequent co-locators, any space in the applicants existing equipment building, or if no additional space is available to address the needs of the proposed co-locator, the applicant shall make available a portion of the site for construction of an additional equipment building for the use of the proposed co locator.
f. A visual sight distance analysis graphically simulating the appearance of any proposed tower and indicating the view from at least five (5) locations around and within one (1) mile of the proposed tower where the tower will be most visible.
g. An overall comprehensive plan indicating how the applicant intends to provide full service throughout the Town and, to the greatest extent possible, how its plan to provide full service specifically relates to and is coordinated with the needs of all other providers of cellular or other wireless communications services within the Town of Newton. Specifically, the plan shall indicate the following:
1. How the proposed antenna relates to the location of any existing towers within the Town of Newton;
2. How the proposed location relates to the anticipated need for additional antennas and supporting towers within and near the Town of Newton by the applicant and by other providers of cellular or other wireless communications services within the Town;
3. How the proposed location relates to the objective of allocating the antennas of many different providers of cellular or other wireless or other forms of wireless communications services on the same tower;
4. How the proposed location relates to the overall objective of providing full cellular or other wireless or other forms of wireless communications services within the Town of Newton while, at the same time, limiting the number of towers to the fewest possible; and
5. A radio frequency (RF) emissions report from a qualified expert detailing latent site emissions.
h. Upon completion of the construction of the facility, as-built drawings (plans and profiles) certified by a professional engineer licensed by the State of New Jersey shall be submitted showing all improvements, appurtenances, structures and conditions at the time of preparation.
1. No modifications and/or additions to the facilities which are the subject of an approved site plan shall be made without subsequent application to, review and approval by the appropriate land use board of an amended site plan showing such modifications or additions.
j. The applicant shall protect and preserve, by deed restriction which shall be subject to the approval of the land use board attorney, all existing, proposed and/or required buffers, subject to reasonable construction easements to facilitate completion of all proposed improvements.
