Wireless communication facilities are encouraged to be located in specific areas of the County, such as:

1. (a) agricultural;
2. (b) industrial;
3. (c) institutional, if less than 35.0 m in height in the Urban Service Area and hamlets;
4. (d) commercial, if less than 35.0 m in height in the Urban Service Area and hamlets;
5. (e) multiple dwelling areas, provided they are located as rooftop or sidemounted antenna on buildings which are greater than 12 m in height; or
6. (f) non-residential areas where tower height is unlikely to be an issue.

Where possible, visually unobtrusive antennas are encouraged to be located on existing infrastructure such as signs located on private property, light standards, water towers or other utility infrastructure.

Wireless communication facilities shall avoid locating in or near the following areas:

1. (a) up to 50.0 m from the top of bank of the North Saskatchewan River;
2. (b) up to 30.0 m outside of a high priority environment management area and associated buffers;
3. (c) heritage resources areas; and
4. (d) gateway or town centre areas unless visually unobtrusive.

The co-location of multiple devices on wireless communication facilities is preferred. Where appropriate, new facilities should be built to a standard to accommodate multiple devices. Any exclusivity agreement which limits access to other applications is strongly discouraged.

If co-location is determined to be unfeasible, the clustering of wireless communication facilities is preferred.

The design or appearance of all wireless communications facilities including antennas, antenna mounts, equipment shelters and cable runs, should minimize the visibility of facilities through the use of colour, consistent architectural styles and aesthetic design.

Roof and side-mounted wireless communication facilities are encouraged to minimize the potential impact on a building’s façade or silhouette, and every effort should be made to conceal the facility to limit its visibility with consistent design features, colour and materials of the structure or building.

Ground mounted wireless communication facilities (i.e., monopoles and lattice towers), should be screened by existing structures, buildings, or vegetation. The associated equipment shelters are encouraged to be consistent with the architectural styles and materials of the surrounding property, and where necessary, be screened behind a year-round buffer which includes landscaping.

Guy wires are encouraged to have daytime visual markers to prevent the collision of birds that are active during the day.

Where Transport Canada requires that a wireless communication facility be lit, the following steps are encouraged to minimize the effects on migratory birds:

1. (a) the lighting of equipment structures and any other facilities on the site should be shielded from abutting properties;
2. (b) all lighting should be a minimum number of low intensity white lights; and
3. (c) the strobe interval should be the maximum allowable by Transport Canada.

The County recommends that signs only be placed on a wireless communication facility to:

1. (a) identify the facility;
2. (b) identify the owner; or
3. (c) warn of any safety issues.

Wireless communication facility sites should be established with setbacks to both Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation and County road network standards.

The County encourages the stewardship of its natural resources and as such, encourages protection of high priority environment management areas when siting wireless communication facilities.

Wireless communication facilities should avoid locating in or near sensitive habitat areas. These include:

1. (a) high priority environment management areas; and
2. (b) up to 30.0 m outside of high priority environment management areas. If a wireless communication facility is proposed within these areas, the County shall request that an environmental assessment, or geotechnical report, or both, be completed.

To protect bird flyways, an environmental assessment would also be requested for:

1. (a) a wireless communication facility proposed to be higher than 61.0 m and within 500 m of a high priority environment management area; and
2. (b) any guy wireless communication facility proposed to be within 500 m of a high priority environment management area.

No environmental assessment would be required for non-guy wireless communication facilities proposed to be 61.0 m or less in height and located a minimum of 30.0 m outside of high priority environment management areas.

A Terms of Reference for Environmental Assessment for Wireless Communication Facilities will be provided to each carrier requested to provide an environmental assessment. The carrier will be expected to bear all costs associated with the environmental assessment.

Wireless communication facilities shall be removed within six months of cessation of use.

The County’s procedure for public consultation is intended to provide an opportunity for local community concerns to be addressed when a wireless communication facility is proposed to be in close proximity to a residential area.

All carriers interested in locating a wireless communications facility within the County should first contact all other carriers providing similar services and pursue co-location before meeting with the development officer. These responses should be provided to the County in writing prior to a pre-consultation meeting with the development officer.

A pre-consultation meeting with the carrier(s), the development officer, neighbourhood association representatives should occur prior to submitting an application for a wireless communication facility if it is considered by the development officer to be potentially controversial. This is done to initiate a full discussion of possible alternate locations before an application occurs. The development officer will determine at this stage whether the proposed site is in close proximity to a residential area or high priority environment management area or whether a public consultation process or environmental assessment or both will be requested.

The County will request public consultation for all proposed wireless communication facilities greater than 10.0 m in height for all adjacent landowners or dwellings or both with in a distance of six times the tower height.

If a tower located on the top of a building is proposed to exceed 25% of the height of the building or be greater than 3.5 m in height, public consultation would also be initiated.

The carrier will be requested to pay for all costs of public consultation including mail-outs, newspaper advertisements, property signs, and public meetings.

Public consultation will not be requested for proposed wireless communication facilities or modifications to existing towers if, because of their distance from existing residential areas or low height, they are unlikely to have negative impacts upon area residents or the public at large. The development officer will have the discretion to determine probable impact and modify these criteria on a site-by-site basis.

The development officer will provide the carrier with addresses of affected landowners and community associations for areas requiring public consultation. The carrier will be requested to provide the County with a letter for a direct mail out which will give notification of the location, physical details of the proposed structure, the time and location of the public meeting, and contact name and number of someone employed by the carrier.

A sign not greater than 1.0 m² in size or newspaper advertisement providing information of the public may also be requested on-site at the discretion of the development officer. The sign should be visible from any roadway abutting the subject site.

At the public meeting, the carrier will be requested to take an attendance log and record issues and concerns expressed by the public. These, as well as the responses given by the carrier and how issues will be addressed, will be forwarded to the development officer. The meeting should not be held less than 21 days from the date of mail out.

A letter of concurrence will be forwarded by the development officer to Industry Canada indicating that the carrier has consulted adequately with the County provided:

1. (a) the environmental assessment which was requested at the pre-consultation phase is completed and the results are satisfactory to the development officer; and
2. (b) public consultation was not requested.

If public consultation is initiated, a recommendation of support or non-support based on the results of the consultation process will be provided by the development officer to Council for final decision. This decision will be forwarded by the development officer to Industry Canada.

In addition to the regulations listed above, other regulations apply. These include section 3.6 and the general development regulations of the applicable zone.