§ 22-328 — Design standards

Sec. 22-328. - Design standards.

(a) Purpose and intent. Aboveground and underground facilities, communications facilities, utility poles, and associated facilities and equipment shall be designed in such a manner to ensure such facilities and poles are placed in locations that do not interfere with the safe operation of traffic control equipment and movement of the traveling public. These facilities and poles shall be designed to maximize compatibility with the affected area (a five hundred-foot radius of the proposed location) and to minimize any negative visual impact on that area. Pursuant to F.S. § 337.401(7), the following design standards shall apply, unless waived pursuant to section 22-329. (b) General placement requirements within public rights-of-way. (1) Aboveground facilities, communications facilities, utility poles, and associated ground mounted facilities and equipment. Such facilities and equipment shall not create any safety hazard(s) or physical or visual obstruction to vehicular, bicycle, and/or pedestrian traffic. (2) Communications facilities placement within public rights-of-way. Communications facilities shall be placed between the property line and the curb line of all streets and shall not be within the roadway recovery area. Underground cables, where required, shall have consistent alignment parallel with the edge of pavement, a thirty-six-inch depth of cover for the paved portion of roadways, a twenty-four-inch to thirty-inch depth of cover in all areas except the paved portion of roadways, and shall have a two-foot horizontal clearance from other underground utilities and their appurtenances. (3) Grounding rods and pull boxes. The grounding rod may not extend above the top of sidewalk and must be placed in a pull box, and the ground wire between the pole and ground rod must be inside an underground conduit. All pull boxes shall be vehicle load bearing, comply with FDOT Standard specification 635 and be listed on the FDOT Approved Products List. A concrete pad shall be installed around all pull boxes not located in the sidewalk. No new or replacement pull boxes shall be located in pedestrian ramps. (4) Signs. No signs shall be permitted on or attached to communications facilities or utility poles in public rights-of-way, unless otherwise required by federal or state law. Any existing facility or structure that lawfully supports signs may continue to support such signs, as otherwise permitted by city code or state or federal law, as may be amended. (5) Other associated ground mounted facilities and equipment. Ground-mounted equipment for small wireless facilities shall be located within a ten (10) feet radius of the utility pole supporting such facility and, if possible, in areas with existing foliage or other aesthetic features to obscure the view of the ground-mounted equipment. The ground-mounted equipment shall use wrap that is similar to the pole color. If the city has a planned future project to replace facilities or equipment in the subject public rights-of-way, the replacement facilities or equipment proposed in the application or SWFC application shall conform to the city's updated design, material, and color. (6) Separation from driveways and hydrants. Communications facilities and utility poles shall be located at least ten (10) feet from a driveway apron and at least thirty (30) feet from a fire hydrant. (7) New and replacement utility poles; general, city-wide placement and maintenance standards. a. New utility poles, where permitted, shall be placed between the property line and the curb line of all streets and shall not be within the roadway recovery area. The lowest wire on any of such poles, placed in any public rights-of-way open to vehicular, bicycle, and/or pedestrian traffic shall not be less than eighteen (18) feet from the ground and, whenever telephone and electric power wires cross each other, wires shall cross and be maintained in accordance with the National Electrical Code, the National Electrical Safety Code and the "Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Electrical Supply and Communication Lines" established by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Standards of the United States, as may be amended; b. New utility poles, where permitted, shall be made of the similar design, material, and color as other utility poles within the same public right-of-way (within five hundred (500) feet in any direction along that right-of-way). Where no utility poles exist within the aforementioned right-of-way, black enamel/paint-clad metal or concrete poles are required, and such poles are generally preferred throughout the city, as applicable; c. New poles, where permitted, shall adhere to the protection and pruning standards, as set forth in chapter 13 and ANSI standards, for protected and grand tree species, located in the public rights-of-way and/or on private property. A provider shall not prune, remove, or irreversibly damage any protected or grand tree, as defined in chapter 13 of this Code, unless such activity is authorized by a permit issued by the city; and, d. Replacement utility poles shall be of similar design, material, and color of the existing pole being replaced; however, black enamel/paint-clad metal or concrete poles, are preferred. The replacement pole shall be located in approximately the same location as the existing pole. The replacement pole shall continue to serve its primary function. If the city has a planned future project to replace utility poles in the subject public rights-of-way, the replacement poles proposed in the application or SWFC application shall conform to the city's updated design, material, and color. (c) General stealth design requirements within public rights-of-way, city-wide. (1) The small wireless facility, electric meters and disconnect switches may be mounted on the exterior of the pole and shall be concealed with use of shrouds that are similar to the pole color and texture; (2) No exposed wires, cables, conduits, etc. attached to poles; preferred if such are placed internal to pole, but if not possible, then such attachments must be concealed with use of shrouds that are similar to the pole color and texture; (3) Other components, such as back-haul, where housed above-ground, shall be placed within a cabinet, box, or other such container that are concealed with durable materials or paint that are similar to the pole color or includes other imagery in context with the location of equipment (i.e. imagery of vegetation, architectural/geometrical patterns, or equivalent). (d) Location context placement standards. (1) Placement in relation to adjacent uses of property and building facades thereon, city-wide. Where parking and/or loading spaces are not permitted between a building facade and the corresponding property line (i.e. front façade and front property line, side street façade and side street property line) by design standard or district standard set forth in Chapter 27, or such spaces do not exist in those locations on existing properties, new communication facilities and new utility poles shall be placed in-line with the common, interior side lot lines and shall not be placed in-line with the front/principal facade of a residence, place of business, or any other principal use building, as defined in Chapter 27 of this Code. (2) Placement within Ybor City Historic District. The purpose of the district, in part and as further described in sections 27-176 and -178, is to safeguard the heritage of Ybor City by preserving and regulating the district and its landmarks, which reflect elements of our cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history. Unless otherwise authorized by a franchise agreement or for public safety purposes, any new utility pole, small wireless facility (including collocation) shall meet the minimum design standards below. Applications that demonstrate compliance with the minimum design standards shall be approved administratively. Applications seeking a waiver to the minimum design standards shall require approval of a certificate of appropriateness through the Barrio Latino Commission, as set forth in Chapter 27, Article II, Division 4 of this Code. The minimum design standards are as follows: a. Installation of a new pole. 1. Use of a metal fluted pole, not to exceed a 12-inch diameter, and decorative fluted base (TECO Franklin, or design equivalent); 2. No lighting is to be affixed to the pole, unless otherwise approved as part of a certificate of appropriateness; 3. Pole base height shall be less than twenty-four (24) inches from grade; 4. Pole, base, antenna, housings, components, and all attachments thereto shall be finished to the Sherwin Williams Exterior Finishes - Street Pole Signs specification (or equivalent): Primer: B66A00050 - DTM Bonding Primer, 2 Coats: B66B00011 - DTM Acrylic Gloss Acrylic Coating Black; and, 5. The small wireless facility, electric meters, disconnect switches, wires, cables, conduit, and all other appurtenances shall be stealth designed and consistent with the material and color of the Ybor City exterior metal trash receptacle (model SD-42) manufactured by Victor Stanley (or design equivalent). b. Collocation on existing and replacement poles, buildings, or non-pole structures. 1. The small wireless facility, electric meters, disconnect switches, wires, cables, conduit, and all other appurtenances shall be stealth designed and in compliance with subsection (c) above; 2. Where affixed to a building or non-pole structure, application shall demonstrate compliance with a. above and shall require approval of a certificate of appropriateness through the Barrio Latino Commission: i. Design referenced to original architectural characteristics of building or structure; ii. Required to be incorporated or affixed in a manner that will not damage or destroy original architectural features of the building or structure; iii. Utilizes materials that are original or similar to the building or structure, and are appropriate for the stealth reference; iv. Required to be designed in a manner that replicated original historic references of the specific historic district, such as blade signs, other encroachment signs, balcony supports, canopy supports, chimneys, cupolas, architectural ornamentation, cornices, statuary, fencing, and light fixtures. (3) Central Business District and Channel District. Pursuant to F.S. § 337.401(7)(i), a wireless provider shall, in relation to a small wireless facility or utility pole in the rights-of-way, comply with non-discriminatory undergrounding requirements of an authority that prohibit above-ground structures in public rights-of-way. The city has undergone, and continues to undergo, great expense to place utility facilities underground in the Central Business District and Channel District Community Redevelopment Areas, thus the following provisions are intended to enhance traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian safety and minimize aesthetic impacts associated with an excessive number of structures and unnecessarily high structures in the rights-of-way of the pedestrian oriented downtown area planned for higher densities and intensities. a. No new utility poles are allowed in public rights-of-way in the CBD or CD zoning districts, unless otherwise required in the special district requirements for CBD and CD, as set forth in Chapter 27 of this Code, or as waived subject to section 22-329. b. Antennae are allowed to be attached to existing utility poles within the CBD and CD, provided they are located no lower than fifteen (15) feet from the ground as measured vertically from the base of the pole. The communications facility, electric meters, disconnect switches, wires, conduit, and all other appurtenances shall incorporate stealth design consistent with the design standards in subsection (c) above. (4) Placement within a Scenic or Gateway Corridor. Unless otherwise authorized by a franchise agreement or for public safety purposes, no new utility poles shall be placed within a designated Scenic or Gateway Corridor, as described in the Tampa Comprehensive Plan. The purpose and intent of the designations is to protect these corridors into and through the city. The following roadways are designated corridors: a. Bayshore Boulevard, Scenic Corridor (south of Platt Street and north of Gandy Boulevard); and b. Kennedy Boulevard, Gateway Corridor (east of Memorial Highway and west of Nebraska Avenue). The communications facility, electric meters, disconnect switches, wires, conduit, and all other appurtenances shall incorporate stealth design consistent with the design standards in subsection (c) above.

(Ord. No. 2017-150, § 51, 10-26-2017)