Gulfstream cell tower installation proceeds

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UPDATE:  in comments
Although the work was supposedly stopped yesterday due to lack of a permit (no one in the building department could find the stop order), this morning at 8:30 the installers had a permit. The cell network will be installed today on the roof of the historic Gulfstream Hotel. Who gets the money? How easy is it to get permits? Is there any State permits involved?

Usually a city will have public hearings where the public is allowed to comment on towers especially in and around a neighborhood. Wireless carriers can spend $40,000 on a zoning hearing to get approval. The process can take upwards of 2 years in some jurisdictions, and there is no guarantee that approval will be granted. It seems that it was very easy in Lake Worth to get a cell tower installed. We had it covered and the Historic Preservation Board approved it.

WHAT OUR CODE SAYS:
23.19.18.01. Purpose. It is the purpose of this section to provide regulations and standards for the establishment of communication towers as special land uses.

 23.19.18.02. Regulations and standards: A. Construction. Communication towers must meet or exceed current construction standards established by the Electrical Industry Association (EIA) under fully loaded conditions. (1) Construction documents for communication towers must be signed and sealed by a Florida-registered structural engineer. (2) Construction documents must also be accompanied by a certification from a Florida-registered structural engineer stating that any tower failure will cause it to collapse within the confines of the designated site. B. Setbacks. The principal support structure of all communication towers shall conform to the minimum setback requirements of the district in which the tower is located. In addition, the following setback standards shall apply: (1) Communication towers shall be located to provide a minimum radius distance from the tower to all property lines equal to thirty-three (33) percent of the height of the tower. The building official may decrease the radius provided the tower is designed to higher EIA standards than required for this area. When a communication tower is erected upon a building or other structure, its base shall be the base of the communication structure, not the building or other structure on which it is mounted. Its height shall be measured from the finished grade. (2) Communication towers shall be set back a minimum of fifty (50) feet from any existing or planned public street right-of-way line. (3) Communication towers shall be set back a minimum of fifty (50) feet from any property line adjacent to a residential use or a residential zoned parcel. C. Anchor location. Communication tower peripheral supports and guy anchors may be located within required yard setbacks, provided that they shall be located entirely within the boundaries of the property on which the tower is located and shall be located no closer than five (5) feet from the property line if the tower is adjacent to a single-family residential district or residential uses. All communication tower supports and peripheral anchors shall be set back a minimum of ten (10) feet from any existing or planned street right-of-way line. D. Location of accessory structures. All structures accessory to a communication tower, other than peripheral guy anchors, shall conform to the setback standards for that district in which the tower is located. A communication tower shall be considered the principal use of the lot, whether or not said lot contains other principal uses. Communication towers may occupy a leased parcel on a lot meeting the minimum lot size requirements of the district in which it is located. Accessory equipment buildings shall be separated from each other by distances as required by the fire and building codes. E. Fencing. A fence or wall not less than eight (8) feet in height from the finished grade shall be constructed around each communication tower and around each guy anchor (if used). Access to the tower shall be through a locked gate. Barbed wire shall be used along the top of the fence or wall if it is necessary to preclude unauthorized access to the tower. F. Parking. All communication tower sites which require a full-time attendant or consumer visitation shall provide a minimum of three (3) parking spaces or one (1) space per employee on the shift of greatest employment plus one (1) space per thousand (1,000) square feet of building floor area, whichever is greater. G. High voltage signs. If high voltage is necessary for the operation of the communication tower and it is present in a ground grid or in the tower, signs shall be located every twenty (20) feet and attached to the fence or wall. The sign shall display in large bold letters the following: "HIGH VOLTAGE DANGER." H. Landscaping and buffer. Landscaping and buffering shall be installed on the property in accordance with section 23.21.08.04. Landscaping and buffering shall also be required around the perimeter of the tower and any accessory structures, including guy anchors, except that this requirement shall be waived when the base of the tower is not visible from the street. Landscaping shall be installed on the outside of all fences. I. Aircraft hazard. Communication towers shall not encroach into or through any established public or private airport approach path as established by the Federal Aviation Administration. If so located, FAA approval shall be provided to the city indicating maximum allowable height. J. Removal of unused towers. All obsolete or unused commercial communication towers shall be removed within six (6) months of use cessation. All existing towers that have ceased operation as of the effective date of this ordinance, shall be removed by no later than November 1, 1996. K. Radiation standards. A communication tower shall comply with the current Federal Communications Commission's standards for nonionizing electromagnetic radiation (NIER). L. Shared use. To encourage shared or combined use; all proposed communication tower applicants shall provide notice by certified mail to all other potential users, indicating the location, height, general rate structure and all other pertinent information. The potential users shall respond to the applicant's offer for shared space within twenty (20) days by certified mail, indicating their intent to co-locate or reasons why shared use is not feasible. Copies of each notice and response shall be supplied to the building, planning and zoning department prior to building permit issuance. M. Deed/leasehold restrictions. The applicant shall prohibit any restrictions being inserted into the deed or lease that will limit the site to a single user. A copy of the deed or lease shall be submitted with the building permit application. Failure to comply with this provision shall automatically nullify the special land use approval. N. Tower separation. In order to enhance community appearance, communication towers shall be separated by a minimum distance of one-half (½) mile from one another. This distance may be waived by the city commission, upon recommendation of the planning board, only after the applicant's structural engineer submits a signed and sealed statement documenting that there are structural problems and a new combined tower at the existing location is not economically feasible. (Ord. No. 92-9, § 1, 4-20-92; Ord. No. 96-7, § 1, 4-16-96) Editor's note—