To help protect the historic nature of several neighborhoods, the Jefferson City Council will consider requiring telecommunication companies to get special exception permits to deploy small wireless facilities in historic districts.
The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved several city code amendments Thursday regarding the construction, design and permitting of telecommunication and small wireless facilities. The Public Works and Planning Committee also heard the bill that day but did not vote on the proposed changes, as it did not require action from that committee.
The City Council will review the bill in March.
In 2018, state legislators passed a bill allowing wireless telecommunications companies to place small wireless facilities and antennas in public right-of-way, including on utility poles, light poles and traffic signals. These facilities rely on 5G technology to provide short-range signals and accommodate users' high data needs, City Counselor Ryan Moehlman said.
Under the proposed city bill, companies wanting to construct new or modify telecommunication facilities - including small wireless facilities - on private property or in public right-of-way in single-family neighborhoods or the National Register Historic Overlay District must receive special exception permits.
In August 2018, the City Council established the National Register Historic Overlay District, which encompasses several Jefferson City areas listed on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places. It includes the Missouri State Capitol Historic District, Capitol Avenue Historic District, Moreau Drive Historic District, Lincoln University Hill Top Campus District, Broadway-Dunklin Historic District, Munichburg Commercial Historic District and Hobo Hill Historic District.
After a company applies for a special exception permit, the application would go before the Planning and Zoning Commission for review and the City Council for approval. Both entities would hold public hearings on the permit application.
Along with the special exception permit, telecommunication facilities located in a National Register Historic Overlay District must be a "visually compatible design" for the district and not "overly detract from the historic character" of the district, according to the proposed bill.
"These cellular facilities will serve a special need but we also want them to blend into the background," Jefferson City Planning Manager Eric Barron said.
Small wireless facilities located in public right-of-way must be installed and maintained so it does not materially interfere with the safe operation of traffic control equipment or city-owned communications equipment. It also can't interfere with sight lines or hinder usual travel or public safety on the right-of way, among other design requirements.
"The point is to make sure that people who are looking to deploy their infrastructure in the public rights-of-way are doing so in a manner that is least impactful to the surrounding area and least impactful to the historic and aesthetic qualities that we currently enjoy," Moehlman said. "We have a real precious resource in our historic districts, and we want to protect those to the extent possible."
Downtown Jefferson City would be a "logical location" for small wireless facilities, Moehlman added.
If telecommunication companies want to place small wireless facilities on public right-of-way outside of historic overlay districts and single-family residential neighborhoods, they would obtain a small wireless facility right-of-way permit.
If companies want to place small wireless facilities on private property outside of historic overlay districts and single-family neighborhoods, they would obtain a telecommunication facility permit.
New small wireless telecommunication poles would be no more than 50 feet in height, under the proposed bill.
While the city hasn't received any formal applications under the new state law, Moehlman said, it expects to receive them once a city code is enacted.
Jefferson City and AT&T have been discussing deploying 5G, Moehlman added.
"The comparison between 4G and 5G, they are exponential," he said. "It's going to be kind of a different world for those who can take advantage of 5G service."
The telecommunication facility fees special exception permit application costs $600; while the telecommunication facility fees conditional use permit application costs $500.
The telecommunication facility and small cellular right-of-way permit review costs $215 each.
Under state law, the city must allow telecommunication companies to put their antennas in public rights-of-way, Moehlman said.
"It's important to communicate to the public that this is not necessarily the city's say - this is the state's guidance," Ward 3 Councilman Ken Hussey said. "Our hands are somewhat tied on what control we have."