The latest revision of Peachtree City’s new celltower ordinance will be discussed at Monday night’s meeting of the planning commission.
One of the newest tweaks will allow cellphone towers to be built on land zoned general commercial or office industrial as long as the lot is at least five acres and the fire marshal must review and approve the location of the support structure and access path to the structure to make sure emergency access is adequate.
New celltowers on land zoned GC or OI will be allowed as a conditional use, meaning the city can also place other conditions upon the approval of said usage.
Remaining in the ordinance is controversial language that will allow celltowers to be built in city parks and recreation areas as long as the tower setback and other regulations are met. The ordinance does not require the city to lease any space to a celltower company, and proponents of the measure have argued that the city has more control over a celltower when it is the property owner than if the celltower strikes a lease with a private property owner.
The commission meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall; the meetings are always open to the public.
Among other minor changes to the ordinance, the city has changed the minimum side and rear setback to an amount equal to 50 percent of the height of the tower. The setback also must be at least 75 feet.
Also, the setback for towers abutting arterial roads will be set at 200 feet under the new ordinance, with that number dropping to 100 feet if the tower does not abut an arterial road.
New towers must also be set back at least 250 feet from any adjoining parcel that is used for a residence, school or place of worship. This figure has remained unchanged in the proposed ordinance.
Another new change to the ordinance is the requirement for telecommunications companies to post a $20,000 cash bond with the city to facilitate the removal of the towers should they become abandoned by their owner.
The city also will have the power to declare a celltower “abandoned” if it is not operated for a period of 90 consecutive days. Once the city sends that notice to the celltower owner, the owner will have 30 days to remove the tower.
