HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-12 City Council (15)City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:CITY MANAGER’S
OFFICE
DATE:MARCH 12, 2001 CMR: 154:01
SUBJECT:STATUS REPORT REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF CITY
TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
Passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act increased competition in the
telecommunications industry and established parameters for the regulation of wireless
and wireline facilities by local governments. While the anticipated increase in the
number of telecommunication providers in Palo Alto was intended to benefit consumers
by reducing costs and improving service quality, it has also raises concerns about the
volume of new construction in the city. .Left unchecked, this construction causes
negative consequences such as road degradation due to street cuts, unappealing aesthetic
impacts resulting from above-grade telecommunications infrastructure, and increased
noise and traffic congestion during construction.
On November 17, 1997, Council approved general telecommunications policy statements
to facilitate the competitive delivery of telecommunications services and manage the use
of the City’s rights-of-way, utilities infrastructure, and public facilities and properties
(CMR:369:97). These policy statements were as follows:
General - It is the policy ofth~ City of Palo Alto to facilitate the competitive
delivery of conventional and advanced telecommunications services throughout
Palo Alto in an environmentally sound manner, while ensuring cost recovery and
enhancement of revenues derived from the use of the City’s assets.
Siting and Installation of New Telecommunications Facilities - The City is the
owner of the public right-of-way over which it has control and the regulatory body
for the development of facilities within its jurisdictional boundaries. It is the
policy of the City to regulate the location and manner of construction, manage the
safe, orderly, and efficient use of Palo Alto’s public right-of-way, and facilitate
timely installation of telecommunications infrastructure in an environmentally
sound manner.
CMR: 154:01 Page 1 of 6
Use of Utilities Infrastructure - The City allows the use of Utilities infrastructure
and Utilities’owned i. or-leased facilities to promote the delivery of
telecommunications services provided that any telecommunications use does not
impinge upon the City’s ability to provide safe and reliable electric, gas, water,
wastewater, and storm drainage services and does not interfere with the City’s
planned use of the facility or property.
Use of City Facilities and Property_ - The City owns and leases property and
facilities, in addition to Utilities facilities, that could be used to support the
deployment of affordable telecommunications services while limiting the potential
adverse impacts associated with the development of the necessary infrastructure.
It is the policy of the City to encourage qualified outside parties to use designated
City-owned or -leased property and facilities for siting telecommunications
infrastructure that is compatible with the primary use of the property, and in a
manner that is consistent with City real estate policy, zoning, legal, environmental,
and other requirements as necessary.
In order to further define and implement these policy statements, staff retained Miller and
Van Eaton, LLP (CMR: 15:00) to:
¯Review and refine existing telecommunications policies;
¯Review City-owned property, including utility facilities, for siting
telecommunications facilities;
Review procedures for siting and installation of telecommunications facilities in the
public rights-of-way;
¯Review existing telecommunications ordinances and resolutions and recommend
changes and/or new ordinances and resolutions;
¯Compile and prepare a telecommunications manual and a guidebook for the general
public based on the manual; and
¯Prepare appropriate environmental review documents to ensure the recommended
implementing policies and procedures are in conformance with the Comprehensive
Plan.
The purpose of this information report is to provide an update on the status of this work.
DISCUSSION
The development of a telecommunications policy has broad implications that impact
many parts of the City organization. ConseqUently, a Telecommunications Team. (Team)
with representatives from Utilities, Public Works, Planning, Real Estate, Police
Communications, the City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney’s Office was
established to work with Miller and Van Eaton. This team was originally led by the
Utilities Department.. With the retirement of the project manager, responsibility to
CMR:154:01 Page 2 of 6
manage the contract and coordinate the Team was transferred to the City Manager’s
Office.
The Team first met with Miller and Van Eaton in April 2000. In this early stage of the
project, Miller and Van Eaton briefed City staff on telecommunications law and reviewed
existing City ordinances, resolutions, policies, regulations and practices related to the
permitting of wireline facilities in the public rights-of-way; development review and
¯ siting of above ground telecommunications facilities; and leasing of City property for the
purpose of siting telecommunications facilities. In addition, field visits were conducted
to review current telecommunications antennae, City properties that might accommodate
antennae, and other potential, sites for antennae placement. ¯ The outcomes of this initial
stage of work were a draft Telecommunications Rights-of-Way Management Report and
a draftWireless Communications Site Analysis. After a period of staff review and
feedback, these working documents were used as the basis for Miller and Van Eaton’s
development of a draft Rights-of-Way Management Ordinance and a draft Wireless
Facility Siting Ordinance. :
The various departments involved in the Telecommunication Team have completed their
review of these draft ordinances. The next step, before public input is sought and
recommendations are made to Council, is for the City Attorney’s Office and its outside
counsel to conduct a thorough legal review of the draft ordinances prepared by Miller and
Van Eaton and codify the proposed policy in the Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC).
The City Attorney’s Office has submitted Miller and Van Eaton’s work product to its
outside lawyers, including specialists in real property law, land use planning law and
telecommunications law, and has obtained their preliminary comments. The voluminous
materials prepared by Miller and Van Eaton will require much effort on the part of the
City Attorney’s Office and its telecommunications law counsel to determine the impact, if
any, of the consultant’s recommendations on existing ordinances, rules and regulations.
Preliminary indications are that the proposals are not insubstantial, and staff may be
required to return to the Council with recommendations to possibly modify existing
ordinances if the consultant’s recommendations are accepted as is. The City Attorney’s
office, which is now focused on the statewide energy crisis and energy and gas issues,
will need more time than was initially anticipated to complete its review and submit its
analysis and recommendations to staff.
The general issues to be addressed in the Rights-of-Way Management Ordinance and
Wireless Facility Siting Ordinance are summarized below.
Rights-of-Way Management
The proposed goals of the Rights-of-Way .Management Ordinance are to: define the
highest and best use of the rights-of-way; ensure adequate coordination of construction
activities within the rights-of-way; recover City costs of issuing permits for use of the
CMR:154:01 Page 3 of 6
rights-of-way; and establish an adequate inspection protocol to ensure compliance with
rights-of-way management procedures. As such, it is expected that the ordinance will
establish requirements regarding the registration and permitting of projects, collection of
permit fees, location of facilities, and adherence to street restoration standards. The
ordinance is also expected to call for the creation of an advisory committee to enhance
coordination of workin the City rights-of-way.
Street Restoration
Street restoration is an issue of particular concern to the community. There are many
entities cutting trenches or otherwise working in the streets and sidewalks, including the
City’s Electric, Water, Gas, Wastewater and Storm Water Utilities, as well as
telecommunications companies and other construction contractors. As a result, work in
the street, especially in certain areas of the city, seems to be continual. Currently,
telecommunication companies are required, for the most part, to use directional boring to
install underground facilities in the sidewalk areas. Only where it is not practical to place
conduits beneath the sidewalk will telecommunications facilities to be placed under the
street surface. Consequently, the impact of telecommunications work on street
conditions is not as significant as might be perceived. Nevertheless, it is clear that more
appropriate restoration standards are needed for all entities that work in the streets in
order to reduce traffic congestion, promote traffic safety and protect the condition and
longevity of the streets.
Preliminary review of street cut restoration standards in other cities has confirmed that
the current standards in Palo Alto are inadequate. The Public Works Department has
taken the lead in developing new street cut restoration standards which will likely be
referenced in the telecommunications policy ordinance and will serve as requirements for
telecommunications companies and other private projects as well as City Utility projects.
The standards will be designed to be fair and easy to administer and will be developed
with input from the Utilities Department, private entities that work in the rights-of-way
and the public. Staff expects to have new street cut restoration standards in place by the
summer of 2001.
In addition to revising street cut restoration standards, the City will address community
concern regarding work in the rights-of-way through more pr0active communication and
outreach. For the first time, there will be one number to call to get information about any
project going on in Palo Alto, whether a City project or a private project that has received
a permit from the City. The Public Communications Office will coordinate project
information and act as a central point of contact for the public, with a staff person taking
phone calls about infrastructure projects and producing printed and Internet information
as well. The ultimate plan is to develop an inactive map-based web site that will make it
easy for residents to get information about construction projects.
CMR:154:01 Page 4 of 6
Wireless Facility siting
The proposed goals of the Wireless Facility Siting Ordinance are to: balance the City’s
aesthetic and safety concerns with state and federal interest in customer service,
competition, and non-discrimination; ensure adequate coordination of present
construction and future planning; encourage collocation of multiple providers, use of
existing structures, and where appropriate, lease of public property; and establish an
adequate inspection protocol to ensure compliance. Staff, with the assistance of the
consultant, will develop a wireless siting plan to identify sites on which the City wishes
to encourage antenna siting, as well as sites and areas of the City in which the City would
like to limit antenna siting. This wireless siting plan will be based in part on the field
visit and signal propagation study performed by the consultant to determine which City
and privately owned properties in certain areas of the city might meet the requirements of
wireless service providers while also addressing community concerns and City land use
regulations. For such sites, the ordinance will include a streamlined application and/or
lease process provided that certain specified criteria (e.g., distance from a residential area,
height and stealth design) are met. Currently, all antenna siting applications are
considered a conditional use which requires a lengthy review and approval process that
can be frustrating for applicants and time-consuming for staff.
RESOURCE IMPACT
Funds to cover the cost of contract services to assist with the development of the
telecommunications policy are included in the Fiscal Year 2000-01 budget. The City
Manager’s Contingency will be used to fund the development of new street cut restoration
standards. Once the policy is developed, there will likely be resource impacts to
implement it. Additional staff resources may be needed to address the coordination and
inspection called for in the policy. Likewise, since a goal of-the policy is for the City to
recover its costs for managing the rights-of-way and siting wireless facilities, there may
be changes in permit and application fees.
TIMELINE
The Attomey’s Office expects to complete its review of the draft Rights-of-Way
Management Ordinance and draft Wireless Facility Siting Ordinance prepared by the
consultant and prepare proposed amendments to the PANIC by fall 2001. The extended
time for review is based upon the expectation that the City Attorney’s Office will be able
to completely focus on this project after the Council’s priorities on energy matters are
addressed. Before the ordinances are finalized, staff will convene a meeting of local
telecommunications companies and other interested parties to seek input on the proposed
policies before they are finalized and recommended to the City Council for approval.
Additional next steps at this point will be for the consultant to compile and prepare a
telecommunications manual and a guidebook for the general public based on the manual
CMR: 154:01 Page 5 of 6
and prepare appropriate environmental review documents to ensure the recommended
implementing policies and procedures are in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.
As mentioned previously, an effort related to the development of a telecommunications
policy is the revision of the City’s street cut restoration standards. These standards will
be developed over the next three months and then reviewed with the public for an
anticipated implementation this summer.
PREPARED BY:
AUDREY SESI~IOUR u "
Assistant to the City Manager
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:~ ~fo~~
EM~r’~ HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
CMR:154:01 Page 6 of 6