15.32.300 - Attachments to City-owned poles.
The terms and conditions for attaching to City-owned poles by entities other than co-owners of the poles shall be as follows:
A. Definitions. The following words, used in this section, have the following meanings:
1. "Pole" means City-owned poles including electrical distribution poles and other poles owned or installed by the City, but excluding facilities for electrical transmission purposes.
2. "Communication space" means that portion of a pole above the minimum ground clearance for communication conductors and below the maximum height allowed by the separation between communication and power conductors required by applicable national, state and local electrical safety codes.
3. "Transmission poles/towers" means structures whose primary purpose is to support electrical transmission conductors, distinguished from distribution conductors by exceeding 34.5 kV.
4. "Special attachment, Class I" means attachments that can be accommodated on existing poles without disruption to current users or use of a communication space and without significant visual impact.
5. "Special attachment, Class II" means attachments:
a. That extend above the electrical facilities, above the top of an existing pole or require the replacement of an existing pole with a taller pole to achieve adequate height for the applicant's purposes; or
b. That have significant visual impacts.
B. The City shall reserve one (1) communication space on City-owned poles for its own use.
C. If additional communication space is available on City-owned poles, after reserving one space for the City and after accounting for the space occupied by existing services already on the poles, the City may permit additional attachments in communication space under the following conditions:
1. The needs of the City are paramount. The City shall be the determinant regarding any question of right to attach, construction compliance or contract interpretation regarding attachment to poles. Permission to make attachments to the City's poles may be withdrawn for violation of applicable codes, for breach of contract, for failure to supply proof of required permits, by governmental directive or for any reason associated with the City's requirements for the use of its poles or public right-of-way. The City may direct the immediate removal of attachments at the owner's expense, if attachments fail to conform to codes or the City's requirements, or if attachments interfere with City operations.
2. All attachments shall be made in accordance with all applicable codes as well as City electrical standards, guidelines and practices.
3. All attachments, including co-lashing, shall be subject to prior approval of the Seattle Information Technology Department, Seattle Department of Transportation and the City Light Department in accordance with the following principles, requirements and procedures:
a. Providing for the safety of the public, City employees, private contractors, and other users of poles is a fundamental principle which must be observed.
b. The primary function of the City's poles is to support the City's electrical lines and equipment.
c. The City shall neither replace existing poles with taller poles nor add crossarms to existing poles to create more communication space on the poles, except as described in subsection 15.32.300.C.4 below.
d. Any new attachments must accommodate any prior agreements between the City and other entities regarding use of space on the poles.
e. The City shall not relinquish the one communication space reserved for its own use on every pole. At the request of the applicant, however, the City shall consider creating additional space for communication uses on the poles by taking such actions as removing secondary rack wiring and substituting triplex wire, moving streetlight fixtures, guy wires and other attachments to the poles and by providing for co-lashing. Any actions undertaken to create more communication space shall be considered make-ready work, and any such costs shall be borne by the applicant.
f. Approval of attachments may include requirements for extra mitigation measures in certain areas, such as residential, critical areas and shoreline zones, greenbelts, parks, historic districts and viewsheds. All such extra measures, including any additional public involvement and/or environmental review, shall be taken in accordance with directives from the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the City Light Department, and all costs associated with such extra measures and review shall be paid by the applicant.
g. All make-ready costs such as costs for any permits, environmental review, adjustment of other equipment on the pole, tree replacement and tree trimming, shall be paid by the applicant prior to making any attachments to the poles.
h. As a condition of securing the City's permission to use its poles for attachment of cable, all applicants shall be required to permit co-lashing to their own cable of up to two other cables, which may be owned and operated by other entities. All cable attachments that initially occupy a space on a City-owned pole shall be required to provide an external or internal support ("messenger") wire that is capable of supporting two other cables in addition to the initial cable installed by the applicant. Owners of cable subsequently co-lashed to the initial cable shall pay the owner of the initial cable a proportionate share of the cost of the messenger wire. All entities co-lashing together shall be required to provide one another with reciprocal indemnity provisions equivalent to those which must be granted to the City by each of them pursuant to Section 15.32.150. Co-lashing shall not be required of any applicant until all other spaces on the pole, other than the City's reserved space, have been utilized. The City Light Department shall issue a Department Policy and Procedure for providing co-lashing space based on costs, operational convenience, cable size, and other criteria which are developed in the course of producing such Department Policy and Procedure.
i. In addition to the indemnification required by Section 15.32.150, the City may require that the applicant provide the City and entities permitted to co-lash with additional indemnification, such as indemnification from a parent company, and/or require that the applicant provide proof of specific insurance provisions acceptable to the City which cover potential exposure of both the applicant and the City.
j. As a further condition of securing the City's permission to use its poles for attachment of cable, all applicants upon request shall be required to provide the City with capacity on the applicant's cable over and above the capacity specifications submitted by the applicant. Such additional capacity may be in the form of dedicated fiber or dedicated space on the same cable being installed by the applicant or in the form of separate cable, as specified by the Seattle Information Technology Department, and shall be dedicated to the City for as long as the cable is attached to the City's poles. The City shall have the right to use that capacity for any governmental purpose and the right to lease that capacity to any public or nonprofit entities. The incremental costs of adding the specified amount of capacity for the City shall be borne by the City.
k. Applications for attachment to City-owned poles shall be submitted to the City Light Department. The City Light Department shall then coordinate that request with the Seattle Department of Transportation and the Seattle Information Technology Department. Approval of all three departments shall be required prior to the issuance of a permit to attach to the poles.
l. All applications for pole attachment shall be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis, provided that where space is limited, attachment permits shall be given first to public entities, second to entities which are common carriers, third to entities which request attachment to six poles or less for their own private communication needs, and fourth to others.
m. If no space can be created on the poles requested, the applicant may seek an exception to any of the requirements set forth in this section by submitting a written request to a three person review committee comprised of one representative each from the Seattle Information Technology Department, the Seattle Department of Transportation, and the City Light Department. The committee shall review the request with reference to considerations which may warrant making an exception including, but not limited to reduced environmental effects, the lack of alternatives for achieving equivalent service available to the applicant, the lack of alternative routing which can be made available and the feasibility of undergrounding all or part of the cable. After engaging in a review of the application, the committee shall forward a recommendation to the Mayor and City Council. Exceptions will not be recommended where the City Light Department believes the safety will be compromised by the granting of an exception. Any exceptions to the requirements of this Section 15.32.300 must be approved by ordinance.
n. All entities that are provided attachments to City-owned poles, other than Class II attachments, including attachments by means of co-lashing, shall pay a rental fee for each such attachment at a rate established by ordinance. All income from such pole rental rates shall be paid into the Light Fund.
4. Provisions for special attachments
a. Class II attachments shall be limited to situations where: (i) make-ready costs are paid by the provider; (ii) pole/equipment, installation, operation, and maintenance costs are paid by the provider; and (iii) visual impacts of antennas and other attachments are reduced to a degree acceptable to the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer.
b. Class II attachment requests are subject to public notice and comment. Approval of attachments may include requirements for extra mitigation measures in certain areas, such as residential, critical areas and shoreline zones, greenbelts, parks, historic districts and view-sheds. All such extra measures, including any additional public involvement and/or environmental review, shall be taken in accordance with directives from the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the City Light Department, and all costs associated with such extra measures and review shall be paid by the applicant. Where a request meets the following criteria in Seattle, the applicant shall apply to the Department of Planning and Development and pay for an attachment siting review and recommendation consistent with the application, fee, notice, timeline and criteria for an administrative conditional use permit. The recommendation of the Department of Planning and Development shall be advisory to the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer:
Zone | Street Type | Zoning Height Limit (ft) | Pole Height Requested (ft)
NR, L-1, NC-1 | Nonar- terial | <40 | <60
NR, L-1, NC-1 | Arterial | <40 | >60
L-2, L-3, L-4, NC-2 | Either | <40 | >60
NC-3, C, I, MI | Either | <40 | >60
c. Where the request is for a location outside Seattle, the applicant shall comply with all applicable requirements of the local jurisdiction where the property is located.
d. Class II attachments shall be permitted substantially in the form of the site agreements authorized by Ordinance 118737, [4] together with special terms and conditions within the site agreement.
e. Class II rental rates shall be established at fair market value as determined by the City Light Department and set forth in the special terms and conditions within the site agreement. All income from such Class II rental rates shall be paid into the Light Fund.
(Ord. 126509, § 9, 2022 [zone name change]; Ord. 124920, § 26, 2015; Ord. 124919, § 54, 2015; Ord. 124167, § 11, 2013; Ord. 121420, § 6, 2004; Ord. 121276, § 16, 2003; Ord. 120181, § 117, 2000; Ord. 119395, § 1, 1999; Ord. 118409, § 81, 1996; Ord. 118397, § 102, 1996; Ord. 117569, §§ 88, 89, 1995.)
