HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 810SAJ85088
ORDINANCE NO. 810
AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF
PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A MORATORIUM
ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS AND THE
ISSUANCE OF APPROVALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND
DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
FACILITIES IN THE CITY.
WHEREAS, wireless telecommunications is a rapidly developing
and growing technology that is expected to lead to a high demand
for -new and/or higher wireless communication towers and antennae
within the City of Palm Desert (the "City");
WHEREAS, recent and complex federal legislation, the Federal
Telecommunications Act of 1996, greatly limits the City's authority
to regulate the.placement, construction and modification of such
telecommunication towers and antenna within the City;
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to adopt an interim urgency
ordinance to impose a temporary moratorium on the acceptance of
applications for, and the issuance of, City approvals for any new
and/or higher telecommunications towers, antennae, and other such
facilities in the City, in order to allow the City a reasonable
amount of time to study the new technology and enact appropriate
regulatory and zoning ordinances; and
WHEREAS, to protect the public health, safety and welfare,
California Government Code Section 65858 authorizes the City to
adopt interim urgency ordinances prohibiting any uses which may be
in conflict with a contemplated zoning proposal which the City is
studying or considering or intends to study or consider within a
reasonable time; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code Sections 36937 and 65858
require that an interim urgency ordinance be adopted by a four -
fifths vote of the City Council.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Palm Desert
does ordain as follows:
Section 1. The City Council declares that the adoption of an
interim urgency ordinance imposing a moratorium on the acceptance
of applications and the issuance -of approvals for the construction
and development of new and/or higher wireless communication towers,
antennae, and other such facilities in the City is necessary for
the immediate protection of the public welfare, and hereby finds
and determines as follows:
A. wireless telecommunications is a rapidly developing and
growing technology that is expected to lead to an
increased demand for City approvals pertaining to the
RESCINDED
BY O;;iJiNANCE #.�7---------------
DATED:
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construction and development of wireless communication
facilities in the City.
B. In this ordinance, the term "wireless communication
facilities" includes towers, antennae, or other such
structures utilized for the provision of wireless
communication services in the City, including any
"personal wireless service facilities," as that term is
defined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (See 42
U.S.C. 332(c).) But the term "wireless communication
facilities" shall not be construed as including any form
of wireless communication facility, or aspect thereof,
over which cities may lack regulatory authority by virtue
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 or any other form
of federal or state regulatory preemption.
C. The City's Municipal Code must be amended so as to
adequately address the regulation and zoning of wireless
communication facilities within the City.
D. The recently -enacted Federal Telecommunications Act of
1996 is complex and greatly limits the City's authority
to regulate the placement, construction and modification
of wireless communication facilities within the City.
E. The City is presently conducting a review and analysis of
the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, proposed and
existing federal and state regulations related thereto,
and existing City laws to determine the proper nature and
scope of the City's regulatory and zoning authority over
wireless communication facilities in the City.
F. The City requires time to study the new personal wireless
communication technology and the feasibility of requiring
collocation of wireless communication facilities by
providers of such communication services within the City.
G. The City will not have the ability to make informed and
enforceable laws and decisions regarding the regulation
and zoning of wireless communication facilities in the
City until it has completed its studies and developed a
working knowledge of the technology being employed.
H. Accepting applications and issuing approvals for the
construction and development of wireless communication
facilities in the City, in the absence of a regulatory
and zoning ordinance, could result in negative aesthetic
affects and lower property values for the surrounding
properties and the community as a whole.
I. The City Council desires to minimize and control these
negative effects, and thereby protect the welfare of the
residents of the City; preserve the quality of life in
the community; and preserve the property values and the
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.Ordinance No. 610
character of the neighborhoods surrounding potential
• wireless communication facility sites.
J. Unless the City adopts an interim urgency ordinance to
impose a temporary moratorium on the acceptance of
applications and the issuance of approvals for wireless
communication facilities in the City, the unregulated
construction and development of wireless communication
facilities in the City may result in negative aesthetic
impacts and lower property values in the community.
Section 2. Pursuant to the authority granted to the City by
Government Code Section 65858, the City Council hereby imposes a
moratorium for a period of forty-five days on the acceptance of
applications and the issuance of approvals for the construction and
development of wireless communication facilities within the City.
Section 3. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon
its passage by.a four -fifths vote of the City Council.
Section 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and
adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be published
once in the Palm Desert Post, a newspaper of general circulation,
printed, published and circulated within the City of Palm Desert.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 11th day of July, 1996, by
the following vote, to wit:
AYES: KELLY, SPIEGEL, SNYDER
NOES: NONE
ABSENT: BENSON, CRITES
ABSTAIN: NONE
WALTER H. SNYDER, Mayft
City of Palm Desert, California
SHEILA R.' ��YLLIGAN, X ty Clerk
City of Palm Desert alifornia
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