General requirements

A. All antennas shall comply with applicable Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The Town shall not regulate the placement, construction, and modification of communications antenna arrays on the basis of the environmental effects of radiofrequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Federal Communications Commission's regulations concerning such emissions.
B. A communications tower shall be set back from all property lines a minimum of one foot for each one foot of tower height.
C. All tower supports, accessory equipment, equipment shelters, and peripheral anchors, including guy wire anchors, shall be set back from all property boundaries the minimum distance for the zoning district in which a communications tower is located, and shall comply with all other applicable zoning requirements and building codes.
D. Communications towers not exceeding 200 feet shall not require a height variance. If the tower exceeds 200 feet in height, then a height variance shall also be required.
E. Towers shall be designed to accommodate a minimum of four carriers based on viability of transmission.
F. All communications antenna arrays and all communications towers shall be subject to site plan approval as set forth in Article X herein and in Chapter 450, Land Development and Subdivision Regulations (the "Regulations"), and appropriate disguising, landscaping, and screening shall be provided, pursuant to the design standards set forth in this section.
- (1) For such uses permitted as of right, site plan approval shall be conducted by the Planning Board, and the decision of such authority shall be appealable to the Zoning Board in accordance with the applicable provisions of § 400-8 of this chapter.
- (2) For such uses permitted by special use permit, site plan approval shall be conducted by the Planning Board, and the decision of such authority shall be advisory only to the Zoning Board in accordance with R.I.G.L. § 45-24-49.
- (3) Any expansion or modification to a tower existing prior to the enactment of this article is subject to the terms of this article.
G. A bond adequate to cover the cost of dismantling and removal of a tower no longer in use shall be required to be posted by the owner and lessor.
H. Towers must be structurally inspected by a registered engineer every 10 years, and a certificate of such inspection shall be filed with the Building Official.