GENERAL GUIDELINES for PCS SITING
This document is an abstract for the paper, "GENERAL
GUIDELINES for PCS SITING," by Ralph E. Evans P.E. If you have any questions or would like to
obtain the entire document please contact Evans Associates.
The document "General Guidelines for PCS Siting"
establishes technical criteria useful in the citing of antenna structures
necessary to provide Personal Communications Services (PCS). As advanced telecommunications networks become more and more essential to daily life, communities with weak or damaged
systems will find themselves unable to compete with their more advanced
neighbors. On the other hand, neither is it advantageous to allow the endless proliferation of PCS equipment throughout a community. To help solve this problem, "General Guidelines for PCS Siting" offers sixteen suggested guidelines to help municipalities design policies toward the
placement of PCS antennas within their borders.span Although this document deals specifically with the PCS
service, cautious extrapolation of the procedures and conclusions may yield
information on other similar cellular industries (i.e. MMDS, LMDS, and 850
MHz). This study is not, however, intended to be all-encompassing. 1.1 Background In Milwaukee, Washington, Ozaukee, and Waukesha Counties,
the FCC has granted licenses to PCS PrimeCo and Sprint Spectrum to establish a
wireless interconnect network. A third provider is still finalizing its franchise.
As wireline services become increasingly wireless, cellular
communications use is expected to quadruple in the next five years. Recently, community providers have inundated municipalities with requests to locate antennas on the following structures:
· Existing buildings The document details this trend and also provides a summary
of the services provided by PCS providers, as well as seven major categories
under which most public concerns fall. 1.2 Definition of Terms The document provides a brief definition of terms used in
the document that are common in the preparation of new zoning ordinances. 2.0 Discussion of Issues The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 contains
important provisions addressing the placement of towers and other equipment for
the wireless communications industry.
For example, a local community may no longer: · Discriminate between different providers of radio service. The local government does retain the power to determine the
location of the equipment. Therefore, any local ordinances drafted to approve siting request should: 1. Maximize public safety. The full document specifies these federal regulation,
provides six items to be incorporated into a municipal template for siting PCS
antenna supporting structures and addresses eight frequently asked questions
concerning local regulation. For example,
"Do local zoning authorities have any authority to deny a request for
tower siting?" and "Are there any FCC regulations that govern where
towers can and cannot be placed?" 3.0 Guidelines The information from section 2 has been compiled into 18
questions to guide a community into the proper siting of PCS antennas and
associated supporting structures. They
include two types of questions, mandatory and general. Requirements for mandatory questions must be
addressed, orthe site is automatically dismissed. General questions are assigned a point value by the staff reviewing the application, allowing sites of a single search ring to be compared to each other. It is assumed that the community will decide on a point
total in order to "pass" the location. The suggested checklist and each topic’s associated
description which are included with the document help verify compliance with
the general guidelines established in this paper and federal guidelines. Examples include, "Compliance with
OST/IEEE/ANSI/FCC (Federal) Radiofrequency Emission Requirements,"
"P.E. Structural Analysis," and "Visual Impact." The guidelines also suggest a mock-up picture and encourages
co-location of sites among carriers. The document also includes two attachments. First, a PCS Detailed Site Description Form
and, secondly, a sample General Guideline Check-off Sheet. 4.0 Conclusion This document will allow local municipalities to perform due
diligence with respect to public interests while ensuring the creation of a
minimum-impact wireless infrastructure with maximum efficiency through fair and
non-discriminatory parameters.
For more information please contact: Evans Associates
These pages produced and copyrighted by Evans Associates ©, Consultants In Telecommunications Technology, Thiensville, Wisconsin.
· Existing Communications Towers
· Existing Water Towers
· New Communications Towers
· Ban the construction or operation of any of wireless
facilities.
· Regulate providers in matters pre-empted by the Federal
Government.
· Unreasonably delay the approval process.
2. Provide a location in good faith that serves the community, according to the standards of good engineering practice.
3. Minimize visual impact through screening, landscaping, co-location of carriers, or use of existing structures.
210 South Main Street
Thiensville, Wisconsin 53092
(262)242-6000
fax: (262)242-6045
http://www.evansassoc.com