2009-42U Wireless Communications Facilities ORDINANCE NO. 2009-42U
AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF MENIFEE, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY
MORATORIUM ON INSTALLATION OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
FACILITIES
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MENIFEE DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council finds as follows:
A. This ordinance is an interim zoning ordinance authorized as an urgency measure
pursuant to Government Code Sections 65858 to protect the public safety, health and welfare
by prohibiting land uses which may be in conflict with a contemplated general plan and zoning
proposal which the Community Development Director, Planning Commission and City Council
intend to consider and study within a reasonable time.
B. There is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare
resulting from the approval of plot plans which entitle wireless communications facilities for the
following reasons:
1. Unregulated installation and/or augmentation of such facilities can result
in undue and/or unnecessary obstruction of sight-lines for cars, pedestrians, the disabled,
bicyclist, or others using or traversing through the public rights of way.
2. Plot plans utilized as permits lack clarity for applicants as well as
enforcement mechanisms.
3. Unregulated installation and/or augmentation of Facilities and result in
needless repeated temporary disruptions of the use of the public rights of way and private
property through multiple, uncoordinated, construction activities.
4. Unregulated installation or augmentation of such Facilities can result in
incompatibilities with existing land uses due to visual blight, jeopardizing residents' quiet
enjoyment of their homes and property, and can also potentially devalue homes and property;
5. Applicants deserve a clearer permitting process.
C. The City Council adopts this moratorium on the installation of any and all wireless
communications facilities and/or the issuance of permits for installation of such facilities, except
those facilities exempted by this Ordinance, in order to provide City staff, the City Council, and
City residents and other interested parties sufficient time to consider a comprehensive
ordinance regulating the installation and maintenance of such facilities on public and private
property.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the ability of a city to adopt a more
comprehensive regulatory ordinance. Sprint v. County of San Diego (Sept. 2008)
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SECTION 2. APPLICABILITY
The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to all wireless communication facilities as
defined in Riverside County Land Use Ordinance No. 345 §19.402(h) ("wireless communication
facilities")
SECTION 3. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM
A. Within all areas situated in the City, including but not limited to all public rights of
way and each and every zone and zoning district, there shall be a moratorium prohibiting the
regulatory authorization of the installation of any and all wireless communication, and/or the
issuance of permits for installation of such facilities, except those described in facilities 4 hereof.
B. Applicant may elect to have City staff continue to accept and process
applications during this moratorium. The moratorium is not intended to affect the acceptance
and/or processing of permit applications for any and all wireless communication facilities by City
staff; it is intended to prohibit only the issuance of permits of such wireless communication
facilities. At the applicant's written request, the City shall continue to process such an
application during the term of the moratorium; however, any new standards for such wireless
communication facilities and the permitting thereof which are adopted during the moratorium
and are effective at the expiration of the moratorium shall nevertheless apply to such an
application. Any time limits or mandatory approval of time frames relative to the processing and
action upon permit applications for any and all wireless communication facilities are tolled during
the extended term of this moratorium.
SECTION 4. EXCEPTIONS
A. The provisions of this Ordinance shall not apply to:
1. Residential Facilities. Privately owned and operated, noncommercial
wireless communication facilities attendant to a residential use or uses, including but not limited
to television reception antennas, satellite dish antennas no greater than 2 meters in diameter
and/or amateur"ham" radio facilities.
2. Government and Emergency Medical Facilities. Existing government
owned and operated wireless communication facilities and/or existing emergency medical care
provider owned and operated wireless communication facilities, or new facilities in the same
location as such existing facilities, which are required to repair, replace or maintain or enhance
such existing facilities, provided such new facilities are used primarily to protect public health
safety and welfare, all as determined by the Community Development Director.
3. Facilities Exempted Under Federal Law. Any antenna facilities exempted
from the Ordinance by federal law.
SECTION 5. CEQA EXEMPTION
The City Council finds that, regarding the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA),
there is not possibility that the adoption of this ordinance may have a significant adverse effect
on the environment (CEQA Guideline 15061(b)(3)).
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SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE:
A. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage. It shall be of no
further force and effect 45 days from its date of adoption unless extended following a noticed
public hearing, as provided in Government Code Section 65858.
B. The City Clerk is authorized and directed to post or publish this Ordinance or a
summary of this Ordinance, before the expiration of fifteen (15) days after its passage.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 20th day of May 2009, by the following
vote::
Ayes:
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Noes: Qrl��
Absent:
Abstain:
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Wallace W. Edgerton, Mayo
Attest:
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Kathy Bennett, City Clerk
Approved as to form:
Elizabeth Marlyn, City Attorney
4845-4944-3075.1 3