Due to federal regulations, the Sedona (AZ) City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission have little say on a proposed wireless master plan coming to the city. It does, however, have a say in public health, safety, welfare, aesthetics, landscaping, height, infrastructure, setbacks, location and signage.
The two boards met up with CityScape at a joint work session this week, with the boards receiving an update on the city’s proposed wireless master plan from consultant Susan Rabold. Rabold last met with the council in July, and Red Rock News reported that since then, CityScape “has completed assessments of the existing wireless infrastructure in Sedona and developed propagation maps from their recent assessments.” Rabold deduced that the city will be seeing more towers than ever before, and that planning for them with an approach that helps “align the needs of wireless broadband service providers with government and community objectives” is essential.
Rabold shared the plan’s goals, which included “the creation of an optimized wireless telecommunications environment that is efficient, capable and meets the long-term forecasted user requirements of the businesses, residents and visitors in the city of Sedona while minimizing visual impact of the new infrastructure” while complying with state and federal legislation. Additionally, community revenue with cell towers on properties should be from $500 to $2,400 a month by providers based on the plan.
Red Rock News shared federal law mandates on towers in Sedona, which include:
- Must allow for the carriers to deploy their systems.
- Must act expeditiously in these requests.
- Must treat providers equally by providing equal access to “functionally equivalent services.”
- Local governments’ land development standards may not supersede or undermine areas of federal jurisdiction.
- Enable federal government to use federal property, rights-of-way and easements for leasing for new telecommunications infrastructure.
- Requirements for tower lighting and markings are exclusively regulated by the FAA/FCC.
Rabold said that CityScape has found that Sedona will need at least 18 new towers over the next 10 years to keep up with demand. Red Rock News reported that eight of them be placed on city-owned public land and be at least 35 feet tall. On city-owned land, the city has more say in how the tower will look. The City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission plans to conduct site visits on CityScape-recommended properties that would fit this criteria. Recommended sites will then be presented at a future council meeting.
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