17.205.070 Application submittal requirements – Determination of completeness.
(1) This section sets forth the submittal requirements for an eligible facilities modification application. The purpose of the submittal requirements is to ensure that the city has all information and documentation that is reasonably necessary to determine if the applicant’s proposed facilities modification will substantially change the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure. The submittal requirements are not intended to require the applicant to establish the need for the proposed modifications or to justify the business decision to propose such modifications.
(2) No eligible facilities modification application shall be deemed complete unless it is in writing, accompanied by the applicable application and review fee, includes the required submittals, and is attested to by the authorized person submitting the application on behalf of the applicant, certifying the truth and accuracy of the information provided in the application. The application shall include the following submittals, unless waived by the approval authority:
(a) The following contact information for the authorized person:
(i) Name;
(ii) Title;
(iii) Mailing address;
(iv) Phone number; and
(v) Electronic mail address (optional).
(b) The legal and dba names, mailing address, Washington tax number, and contact phone number(s) of applicant.
(c) If a corporation, the name and address of the registered agent of applicant in Washington State, and the state of incorporation of applicant.
(d) If applicant is an entity, other than a corporation, such as a partnership or limited liability company, the names and business addresses of the principals.
(e) An assertion that the proposed facilities modification is subject to review under Section 6409 of the Spectrum Act or other applicable law.
(f) If the applicant is not the owner or person in control of the eligible support structure and/or site, an attestation that the owner or person in control of the eligible support structure and/or site has consented to the proposed facilities modification shall be required. If the eligible support structure is located in a public right-of-way, the applicant must also attest that applicant has authorization to install, maintain and operate transmission equipment in, under and above the public right-of-way.
(g) If the applicant proposes a modification involving co-location of transmission equipment or the replacement of transmission equipment, complete copies of the underlying land use approvals for siting of the tower or base station proposed to be modified, establishing that, at the time of submittal of the application, such tower or base station constituted an eligible support structure, shall be required.
(h) If the applicant proposes a modification that will result in an increase in height of the eligible support structure, record drawings, as-built plans, or the equivalent, showing the height of the eligible support structure (i) as originally constructed and granted approval by the city or other applicable local zoning or similar regulatory authority, or (ii) as of the most recent modification that received city or other local zoning or regulatory approval, prior to the passage of the Spectrum Act, whichever height is greater, shall be required.
(i) If the applicant proposes a modification to an eligible support structure, which structure, or proposed modification of the same, is subject to preexisting restrictions or requirements imposed by a reviewing official or decision-making body pursuant to authority granted under the city code, or an ordinance or a municipal code of another local government authority, the following shall be required: a copy of the document (e.g., CUP or SUP) setting forth such preexisting restrictions or requirements together with a certification that the proposed facilities modification conforms to such restrictions or requirements; provided, that such certification shall have no application to the extent the proposed facilities modification relates solely to an increase in height, increase in width, addition of cabinets, or new excavation, that does not result in a substantial change in the physical dimensions of the eligible support structure.
(j) If the applicant proposes a modification to an eligible support structure, which structure, or proposed modification of the same, is subject to preexisting concealment restrictions or requirements, or was constructed with concealment elements, the following shall be required:
Applicant shall set forth the facts and circumstances demonstrating that the proposed modification would not defeat the existing concealment elements of the eligible support structure. If the proposed modification will alter the exterior dimensions or appearance of the eligible support structure, applicant shall include a detailed visual simulation depicting how the eligible support structure will appear after the proposed modification is complete. The visual simulation shall depict to scale the eligible support structure in relation to the trees, landscaping and other structures adjacent to, or in the immediate vicinity of, the eligible support structure.
(k) If the applicant proposes a modification that will protrude from the edge of a non-tower eligible support structure, the following shall be required:
Record drawings, as-built plans, or the equivalent, showing at a minimum the edge of the eligible support structure at the location of the proposed modification.
(l) If the applicant proposes a modification to an eligible support structure that will (i) include any excavation, (ii) would result in a protrusion from the edge of a tower that exceeds an existing protrusion of any transmission equipment attached to a tower, or (iii) would protrude from the edge of a non-tower eligible support structure, the following shall be required:
A description of the boundaries of the site together with a scale drawing based on an accurate traverse, with angular and lineal dimensions, depicting the boundaries of the site in relation to the tower or base station proposed to be modified and depicting the proposed location, elevation and dimensions of the new or replacement transmission equipment. The city may require a survey by a land surveyor licensed in the state of Washington when, in the judgment of the approval authority, a survey is reasonably necessary to verify the boundaries of the site to determine if the proposed facilities modification would result in a substantial change in the physical dimensions of the eligible support structure.
(m) If the applicant proposes a modification to the eligible support structure that includes hardening through structural enhancement, the following shall be required:
A technical report by a qualified engineer accredited by the state of Washington, demonstrating that the structural enhancement is performed in connection with and is necessary to support the proposed co-location, removal, or replacement of transmission equipment and conforms to applicable code requirements. The city may retain the services of an independent technical expert to review, evaluate, and provide an opinion regarding the applicant’s demonstration of necessity.
(n) If the applicant proposes a modification to a tower, the following shall be required:
A stamped report by a state of Washington registered professional engineer demonstrating that the tower with the proposed modifications will comply with applicable structural, electrical and safety codes, including by way of example, and not limitation, EIA/TIA-222-Revision G, published by the American National Standards Institute (as amended), allowable wind speed for the applicable zone in which the tower is located, and describing the general structural capacity of the tower with the proposed modifications, including:
(i) The number and type of antennas that can be accommodated;
(ii) The basis for the calculation of capacity; and
(iii) A written statement that the proposal complies with all federal guidelines regarding interference and ANSI standards as adopted by the FCC, including but not limited to nonionizing electromagnetic radiation (NIER) standards. The city may retain the services of an independent technical expert to review, evaluate, and provide an opinion regarding the applicant’s demonstration of compliance.
(o) If the applicant proposes a modification to a base station, the following shall be required:
A stamped report by a state of Washington registered professional engineer demonstrating that the base station, with the proposed modifications, will comply with applicable structural, electrical and safety codes.
(p) If the applicant proposes a modification requiring alteration to the eligible support structure, excavation, installation of new equipment cabinets, or any other activities impacting or altering the land, existing structures, fencing, or landscaping on the site, the following shall be required:
A detailed site plan and drawings, showing the true north point, a graphic scale and drawn to an appropriate decimal scale, indicating and depicting: (i) the location, elevation and dimensions of the existing eligible support structure, (ii) the location, elevation and dimensions of the existing transmission equipment, (iii) the location, elevation and dimensions of the transmission equipment, if any, proposed to be co-located or that will replace existing transmission equipment, (iv) the location, elevation and dimensions of any proposed new equipment cabinets and the intended use of each, (v) any proposed modification to the eligible support structure, (vi) the location of existing structures on the site, including fencing, screening, trees, and other significant site features, and (vii) the location of any areas where excavation is proposed showing the elevations, depths, and width of the proposed excavation and materials and dimensions of the equipment to be placed in the area excavated.
(q) Copies of any environmental documents required by any federal agency. These shall include the environmental assessment required by 47 CFR Part 1 (Part 1 – Practice and Procedure), Section 1.1307, as amended, or, in the event that an FCC environmental assessment is not required, a statement that describes the specific factors that obviate the requirement for an environmental assessment.
(3) The approval authority may waive any submittal requirement upon determination that the required submittal, or part thereof, is not reasonably related to the substantial change criteria. A waiver, to be effective, must be in writing and signed by the approval authority.
(4) An eligible facilities modification application, and any supplemental submittals, shall be deemed received by the city upon the date such application, or supplemental submittal, is filed with the planning department. An application, and any supplemental submittals, must be filed in person during regular business hours of the city and must be accompanied by the applicable permit review fee(s). Any application received by the city without contemporaneous payment, or deposit, of the applicable permit review fees will be rejected.
(5) Completed Application – Determination – Tolling.
(a) The approval authority shall, within 30 days of receipt of the application, review the application for completeness. An application is complete if it includes the applicable permit review fee(s) and contains all of the applicable submittal requirements set forth at subsection (2) of this section, unless waived by the approval authority pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. The determination of completeness shall not preclude the approval authority from requesting additional information or studies either at the time of the determination of completeness or subsequently if new or additional information is required, or substantial changes in the proposed action occur, or the proposed facilities modification is modified by applicant, as determined by the approval authority.
(b) The approval authority shall notify the applicant within 30 days of receipt of the application that the application is incomplete. Such notice shall clearly and specifically delineate all missing documents or information.
(c) The application review period begins to run when the application is received, and may be tolled when the approval authority determines that the application is incomplete and provides notice as set forth below. The application review period may also be tolled by mutual agreement of the approval authority and applicant. The time frame for review is not tolled by a moratorium on the review of eligible facility modification applications.
(i) To toll the time frame for review for incompleteness, the approval authority must provide written notice to the applicant within 30 days of the date of receipt of the application, clearly and specifically delineating all missing documents or information. Such delineated information is limited to submittals set forth in subsection (2) of this section and any supplemental information requested by the approval authority that is reasonably related to determining whether the proposed facilities modification will substantially change the physical dimension of an eligible support structure.
(ii) The time frame for review begins running again when the city is in receipt of applicant’s supplemental submission in response to the approval authority’s notice of incompleteness.
(iii) Following a supplemental submission, the approval authority shall have 10 days to notify the applicant that the supplemental submission did not provide the information identified in the original notice delineating missing information. The time frame is tolled in the case of second or subsequent notices pursuant to the procedures identified in this subsection (5)(c)(iii). Except as may be otherwise agreed to by the applicant and the approval authority, second or subsequent notices of incompleteness may not specify missing documents or information that was not delineated in the original notice of incompleteness.
(iv) A notice of incompleteness from the city will be deemed received by the applicant upon the earlier of personal service upon the authorized person, delivery by electronic mail to the authorized person (if such delivery is authorized for receipt of notice by the authorized person), or three days from deposit of the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and in an envelope properly addressed to the authorized person using the address set forth in the application.
(d) In the event that after submittal of the application, or as a result of any subsequent submittals, applicant modifies the proposed facilities modification described in the initial application, the application as modified will be considered a new application subject to commencement of a new application review period; provided, that applicant and the approval authority may, in the alternative, enter into a mutually agreeable tolling agreement allowing the city to request additional submittals and additional time that may be reasonably necessary for review of the modified application. (Ord. 1469 § 5 (Att. D), 2019).