Definitions.
ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT All equipment necessary to the secure and successful operation of a WCF, including, but not limited to, support structures, antennas, transmitting, receiving, and combining equipment; equipment shelter or cabinets containing radios and electronic equipment; transmission cables, telephone lines and utility lines; and backup power source.
ANTENNA A device that contains electrical elements for the transmission and/or reception of radio frequency communications.
BASE STATION A structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables FCC-licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network. The term does not encompass a tower as defined herein or any equipment associated with a tower.
(1) The term includes, but is not limited to, equipment associated with wireless communications services such as private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul.
(2) The term includes, but is not limited to, radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration (including distributed antenna systems and small-cell networks).
(3) The term includes any structure other than a tower that, at the time the relevant application is filed, supports or houses equipment described in paragraphs (1) through (2) above that has been reviewed and approved under the applicable zoning or other regulatory process, even if the structure was not built for the sole or primary purpose of providing such support.
(4) The term does not include any structure that, at the time the application is filed, does not support or house equipment described in paragraphs (1) through (2) above.
ELIGIBLE FACILITIES REQUEST Any request for modification of an existing tower or base station that does not result in substantial change of the physical dimensions of such tower or base station, involving:
(1) Collocation of new transmission equipment on an eligible support structure;
(2) Removal of transmission equipment; or
(3) Replacement of transmission equipment.
ELIGIBLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE Any tower or base station, provided that it is lawfully existing at the time the application is filed with the Town of Southwick.
INTERIOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY (INTERIOR WCF) A minor WCF located entirely within a building or structure that is occupied or used primarily for other purposes, but which may include ancillary equipment not located within the building or structure, provided that such facility and ancillary equipment are not visible from any public way or abutting property.
MINOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY (MINOR WCF) (1) Any WCF that is:
(a) Installed on or in or attached on or to a building or lawfully existing structure, including but not limited to, wireless communications tower or pole or transmission tower, overhead cable, smokestack, steeple, water tank or billboard, and ancillary equipment adjacent thereto; and
(b) Composed solely of antennas and ancillary equipment which do not extend higher than 10 feet above the highest point of the building or structure on which the WCF is installed.
(2) To the extent that any tower or pole that was previously authorized is replaced with a tower or pole that is substantially similar in design and is not greater than the approved height, a WCF added to or modified on that structure shall be deemed to be a minor WCF, provided it does not defeat any required camouflage or concealment.
PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICES (PWS) Commercial mobile services, unlicensed wireless services, and common carrier wireless exchange access services [47 USC § 332(c)].
SATELLITE DISH Any antenna with a large surface area with similar dimensions in height and width, such as parabolic and panel antennas, that is used for satellite communications.
SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY (SWF) A facility that meets each of the following conditions:
(1) The facility:
(a) Is mounted on structures 50 feet or less in height including their antennas [as defined by the FCC: an apparatus designed for the purpose of emitting radiofrequency (RF) radiation, to be operated or operating from a fixed location]; or
(b) Is mounted on structures no more than 10% taller than other adjacent structures; or
(c) Does not extend existing structures on which they are located to a height of more than 50 feet or by more than 10%, whichever is greater;
(2) Each antenna associated with the deployment, excluding associated antenna equipment (equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters or cabinets associated with an antenna, located at the same fixed location as the antenna), is no more than three cubic feet in volume;
(3) All other wireless equipment associated with the structure, including the wireless equipment associated with the antenna and any pre-existing associated equipment on the structure, is no more than 28 cubic feet in volume;
(4) The facility does not require antenna structure registration under FCC regulations; and
(5) The facility does not result in human exposure to radiofrequency radiation in excess of the applicable safety standards.
SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE A modification substantially changes the physical dimensions of an eligible support structure if it meets any of the following criteria:
(1) For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it increases the height of the tower by more than 10% or by the height of one additional antenna array with separation from the nearest existing antenna not to exceed 20 feet, whichever is greater; for other eligible support structures, it increases the height of the structure by more than 10% or more than 10 feet, whichever is greater;
Changes in height should be measured from the original support structure in cases where deployments are or will be separated horizontally, such as on buildings' rooftops; in other circumstances, changes in height should be measured from the dimensions of the tower or base station, inclusive of originally approved appurtenances and any modifications that were approved prior to the passage of the Spectrum Act (Section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act and Job Creation Act of 2012, codified at 47 U.S.C. § 1455). |
(2) For towers other than towers in the public rights-of-way, it involves adding an appurtenance to the body of the tower that would protrude from the edge of the tower more than 20 feet, or more than the width of the tower structure at the level of the appurtenance, whichever is greater; for other eligible support structures, it involves adding an appurtenance to the body of the structure that would protrude from the edge of the structure by more than six feet;
(3) For any eligible support structure, it involves installation of more than the standard number of new equipment cabinets for the technology involved, but not to exceed four cabinets; or, for towers in the public rights-of-way and base stations, it involves installation of any new equipment cabinets on the ground if there are no pre-existing ground cabinets associated with the structure, or else involves installation of ground cabinets that are more than 10% larger in height or overall volume than any other ground cabinets associated with the structure;
(4) It entails any excavation or deployment outside the current site;
(5) It would defeat the concealment elements of the eligible support structure; or
(6) It does not comply with conditions associated with the siting approval of the construction or modification of the eligible support structure or base station equipment, provided however that this limitation does not apply to any modification that is noncompliant only in a manner that would not exceed the thresholds identified in (1) through (4) above.
(Based on 47 CFR § 1.6100) |
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY (WCF) An installation of equipment belonging to one party that includes antennas, transmitters and/or receivers, other ancillary equipment, structural supports, enclosures, and utilities, that uses the radio frequency spectrum to communicate on one or more frequency bands. When multiple wireless communications service providers occupy a common location, each is operating a WCF. For convenience, the combined use of one site for multiple WCFs may be referred to as a WCF, as the context requires.
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS TOWER (WCT) or TOWER Any structure built for the sole or primary purpose of supporting any FCC-licensed or FCC-authorized antennas and their associated facilities, including structures that are constructed for wireless communications services including, but not limited to, private, broadcast, and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul, and the associated site.