Planning Staff Application Review

Planning Staff Application Review is a responsibility of the local Planning and Zoning Department along with the day-to-day administration of local community land-use planning and zoning code enforcement, and counsel with developers planning construction projects. In many rural counties and towns, the role of the planner may be the duty of the auditor, clerk, or another local government post. Some small jurisdictions might have a single planner serving as the planning staff. More populated urban jurisdictions usually have larger planning staffs where individual planners perform specialized roles.

Federal Jurisdiction and Local Regulations

Controversy surrounds the large-scale implementation of small-cell facilities across the US. This blew-up in November 2016, when Mobilitie, LLC, an infrastructure provider, petitioned the FCC for a declaratory ruling to prohibit excessive charges for access to public rights-of-way for small cell site facilities and fiber-optic transport connections that rely heavily on public rights-of-way to meet the public’s burgeoning demand for wireless broadband telecommunications services. In December 2016, the FCC responded with an invitation for public input on ways the FCC might promote wireless infrastructure by making a declaratory ruling in the matter of “streamlining the deployment of small cell infrastructure by improving wireless facilities siting policies.”¹ On January 31, 2017, former FCC chair Ajit Pai announced the formation of a new FCC advisory committee, the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC), for a period of two years to provide advice and recommendations to the commission on how to accelerate the deployment of high-speed internet access, or broadband, by reducing or removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment.² The BDAC proceeded over the next several years to study details surrounding the claims of Mobilitie and the FCC promulgated a number of Orders to support the wireless industry and clarify laws that had already been on the books. read more…

State Jurisdiction and Local Regulations

Mobile fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems are the next upgrade of wireless technology, offering faster speeds, greater capacity and better reliability.

To deploy this technology, new infrastructure, called small cells, must be used. Small cells generate less power, collect and transmit signals in a short range from one another and require collocating the cells on other infrastructure. Small cell wireless facility deployment requires streamlined federal, state and local permitting, rights of way, application timelines and other siting and application fees, and application review timelines and appeals processes to make it economically feasible for wireless companies to deploy the technology across communities.

More than 30 state legislatures have enacted small cell legislation that streamlines regulations to facilitate the deployment of 5G small cells.

These laws take into consideration the unique circumstances of their state and local environment, but baseline principles can be established and are consistent with wireless industry standards, including:

• Streamlined applications to access public rights of way.
• Caps on costs and fees.
• Streamlined timelines for the consideration and processing of cell siting applications.

Thirteen states have addressed mobile 5G and small cell-related legislation in the 2022 legislative session. New York and Tennessee enacted legislation and Hawaii adopted a resolution.

The National Conference of State Legislatures also publishes links to broadband legislation enacted year to year across the US. Click here for 2022 broadband legislation.

Administrative Approval

Administrative approval was discussed as a milestone in Module 3 Site Acquisition Contracting. Hearings are not common for applications for permitted uses or applications that can be approved upon administrative review by the staff because incentive criteria offered by the local jurisdiction to simplify the process have been satisfied by the facility developer. When land use requires only an administrative review and approval, the jurisdiction has usually acknowledged that the applicant took efforts to minimize the impact of the wireless facility development proposal. It might be that an existing structure is proposed for collocation instead of the construction of a new structure. It may be the result of the applicant keeping the height of a proposed facility structure below a threshold of concern to the jurisdiction or employing stealth technology to mitigate the visual impact of a new structure. Administrative approval may be available by adhering to certain design standards. Always look for administrative approval opportunities and encourage communities to offer them.

Application Acceptance

As stated above, planning departments vary in their administrative handling of the local permit application process but those variations aren’t dramatic. It’s common for the planning staff to make an initial cursory review to verify that all materials required in the application package have been provided. If it is not complete, the application may be rejected and promptly returned to the applicant.

After the cursory review of each application, many planning staffs will conduct a further extensive review of the proposal and the subject property before determining if the proposal is qualified for a hearing date to be set.

Public Hearing Notice Period

When public hearings are required, public notices are necessary to notify the public about the meeting, as discussed above. Certified mail notices with return receipts are delivered to adjacent property owners and, in some jurisdictions, property owners within a specified distance of the subject property. Signs need to be posted on the property near public rights-of-way where the message on the sign is clearly visible to passersby. The notices, mailings, and postings must be accomplished in a minimum number of days, usually five to twenty-­one, prior to the public hearing. This gives interested parties time to inquire about the project, make comments directly to the planning staff, plan to attend the hearing, and prepare comments to deliver during the hearing. For more on public involvement see Module 30 Community Due Diligence.

Planning Staff Due Diligence

The staff review period takes place after a permit application is received from the applicant and deemed complete by the staff. The staff performs due diligence research efforts on behalf of the jurisdiction to evaluate each permit application. Referral comments are sought by staff from agencies throughout the jurisdiction to solicit input and recommendations about the wireless facility project proposal.

The staff also takes inquiries and opinions from the public about the project.