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City Leaders in Frederick, Md., Outline Basic 5G Rules

The ordinance, developed during a workshop and public hearing, will give wireless providers and the city guidelines when it comes to small cell antennas in the public right of way. Aesthetic requirements are pending.

(TNS) — Speedier wireless service could be coming to Frederick city neighborhoods following the approval of basic regulations to install new telecommunications equipment in public spots.

The exact look of the equipment is still unknown, as members of the Board of Aldermen are not finished discussing specific aesthetic requirements, along with other details of installment.

The elected officials worked quickly last week through the details of a proposed ordinance that establishes regulations for the installation of the new types of antennas — known as small cells and distributed antenna systems — in public rights of way.

The antennas typically range from boxes attached to existing utility poles, to shorter poles accompanied by structures on the ground similar to mailboxes, and until last Thursday, the city’s code did not contain any guidelines for their installation.

After about an hour and a half of discussion at a workshop on Jan. 16, followed by roughly 30 minutes at a public hearing the following night, the aldermen unanimously passed the basic code regulations that will allow staff members to process applications for the infrastructure.

Assistant City Attorney Rachel Depo said the initial approval was necessary to meet federal requirements that went into effect on Jan. 14.

“Part of the reason we are bringing this forward now is to make sure we are complying with this now effective federal order,” Depo explained to the aldermen last week.

She added that officials in other municipalities across the country without regulations in place also scrambled to pass them before or shortly after the effective date. Alderwoman Kelly Russell said she knew of officials in municipalities who called emergency sessions before Jan. 14. Depo also said other municipalities, including Baltimore city and Ocean City in Maryland, already have these types of equipment installed.

A federal requirement

In September, the Federal Communications Commission passed a ruling to help remove barriers that would prevent the installation of infrastructure necessary to fully transition to 5G wireless service across the nation. That infrastructure comes in the form of what are known as small cells and distributed antenna systems, or DAS, antennas.

According to the ruling, supporting the deployment to fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless networking is critical to keep up with the fast pace of wireless communications services. The ruling said that the antennas that support them are typically no larger than “a small backpack” and will replace the large, 200-foot service towers in existence today. And because of their size and the need to expand service to more areas, the small antennas are set for installation in more spots than the larger towers.

The ruling addresses legal standards of installing the antennas, and establishes guidelines for fee and aesthetic requirements. It also establishes two new shot clocks for government action on applications, which were 60 days for collocation of small cells on existing structures and 90 days for attachment to new structures.

According to the staff report attached to the city’s ordinance, at least three federal lawsuits against the ruling are pending. Members of the Maryland Municipal League have also named preserving local zoning authority and siting of small cellphone towers as its top legislative priority for the current session.

What it means for Frederick

The ordinance the aldermen passed last week included the basics for processing applications from service providers to install small cell antennas in the city’s rights of way.

Further details such as aesthetics, designs and fee requirements, all under the confines of the federal ruling, could come back for review and approval as early as Thursday, Depo said.

The aldermen were careful not to pass too many details without more discussion last week, but they agreed they wanted to have something on the books so staff members could process applications that come in.

City Engineer Tracy Coleman said she has been working with two wireless infrastructure providers — Crown Castle and Mobilitie — to install antennas in various spots throughout the city. She said many propose installation in the Frederick Town Historic District, which the elected officials agreed would need further guidelines for design and aesthetics.

Depo said she anticipates members of the Historic Preservation Commission will want to review the ordinance and weigh in on the guidelines for the historic district.

Kara Norman, executive director of the Downtown Frederick Partnership, also pointed out the importance of establishing design guidelines for the rest of downtown.

“I do think it’s a key part of this legislation as proposed that these projects are reviewed by the HPC, I think that’s critical. But that does not impact all of downtown Frederick,” she said.

She referenced research that was performed in 2016 when a similar request was brought to the city. Partnership officials performed a detailed review of 19 different sites downtown and in surrounding corridors that they believed should be highly considered when installing telecommunications infrastructure. The sites included the Square Corner, the entrance to Baker Park, the entry of the proposed downtown hotel and conference center, and the train station where President Abraham Lincoln historically addressed residents on his way to Gettysburg.

“We’re a place of history that’s important today as much as it was in the past, and I just don’t really want a fridge sitting where Lincoln spoke,” Norman said.

She added that officials are concerned about the potential for things like visual clutter, inconsistency of design scale and the size of the equipment, and reduction of sidewalk capacity.

The aldermen expressed a desire to look further into these types of concerns as they develop more details of the ordinance.

©2019 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.