STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3147 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. COLTON, BENEDETTO, RIVERA, ROSENTHAL -- Multi- Sponsored by -- M. of A. GLICK, WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments AN ACT to enact the "wireless facility siting act"; to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the placement, construction and modifi- cation of wireless services facilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. Municipal control over the siting of 2 wireless services facilities is an important component of municipal home 3 rule. The legislature recognizes the federal, state and local interests 4 of providing for proper and convenient wireless services to the public. 5 As such, the legislature needs to balance the interests of providing 6 quality wireless communication services with local concerns on the inap- 7 propriate siting of telecommunications towers. This act provides for a 8 process of municipal review for applications to site, construct and 9 modify wireless services facilities. Such process must incorporate the 10 needs and desires of the local community, with regard to the aesthetic 11 ramifications of such siting. It is the intent of the legislature in 12 adopting the "wireless facility siting act" to implement enabling legis- 13 lation which specifically sets forth a uniform statewide process for 14 municipal review of applications for the placement, construction and 15 modification of wireless services facilities in all municipalities that 16 do not have local laws to regulate the placement of such towers. Each 17 municipality shall be able to enact approval processes that are more 18 strict than those established by this act. 19 § 2. Short title. This act shall be known as and may be cited as the 20 "wireless facility siting act". 21 § 3. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new article 13-F 22 to read as follows: 23 ARTICLE 13-F EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06513-01-5
A. 3147 2 1 WIRELESS FACILITY SITING ACT 2 Section 310. Definitions. 3 311. Permit requirements. 4 312. Minimum state-wide procedure for municipal review of permit 5 requests. 6 313. Standards for review and application requirements for a 7 wireless facility. 8 314. Co-location standards. 9 315. Permit approval; non-conforming facilities. 10 316. Applicability. 11 § 310. Definitions. The following terms shall have the meanings set 12 forth in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: 13 1. "Ancillary equipment" means all equipment necessary for the secure 14 and successful operation of a wireless facility including but not limit- 15 ed to, support structures, transmitting, receiving and combining equip- 16 ment, equipment shelters, transmission cables, and backup power sources. 17 Ancillary equipment shall not include residential, industrial or commer- 18 cial buildings but shall include any such equipment placed on residen- 19 tial, industrial or commercial buildings. 20 2. "Building inspector" means the municipal official charged with 21 issuing building permits and/or enforcing the zoning law of such munici- 22 pality or other individual designated by the legislative body to issue 23 permits for wireless facilities. 24 3. "Historic area" means an area wholly or partially within, or wire- 25 less facility having its foundation within one thousand feet of, any 26 historic building, structure, facility, site or district, that is listed 27 on the national register of historic places, or that has been proposed 28 by the New York state board on historic preservation for a recommenda- 29 tion to the state historic preservation officer for nomination for 30 inclusion in the national register, that is listed on the state register 31 of historic places, or has been designated as a historic place or land- 32 mark by the municipality. 33 4. "Municipal board" or "board" means the municipal board authorized 34 to review applications for wireless facilities. In the event a munici- 35 pality has not designated a board, references in this article to the 36 municipal board shall be deemed to refer to the legislative body of such 37 municipality. 38 5. "Municipal zoning law" means a municipality's zoning local law or 39 ordinance. 40 6. "Municipality" means any city, town or village. 41 7. "Permit" means the authorization by the building inspector pursuant 42 to this article to construct a wireless facility. 43 8. "Person" means any individual, corporation, limited liability 44 company, joint venture, public benefit corporation, partnership, limited 45 liability partnership or association. 46 9. "Scenic area" means an area wholly or partially within, or a wire- 47 less facility having its foundation within one thousand feet of, any 48 publicly owned or operated parkland, recreation area or designated open 49 space, including any wireless facility having its foundation within one 50 thousand feet of the centerline of any scenic byway as defined in arti- 51 cle twelve-C of the highway law or as designated by the municipality. 52 10. "Technical review" means review of a permit application by an 53 independent expert in telecommunications siting. 54 11. "Technically and commercially reasonable" means in accordance with 55 general industry practice in the provision of wireless services pertain- 56 ing to cost and service coverage.
A. 3147 3 1 12. "Telecommunications tower" means any freestanding tower, monopole 2 or similar structure used for the provision of wireless services includ- 3 ing ancillary telecommunications equipment required to integrate such 4 facility into an existing or proposed wireless network. 5 13. "Wireless facility" means only the part or parts of any facility 6 used in connection with the provision of wireless services including, 7 but not limited to, antennas, ancillary equipment and telecommunications 8 towers. 9 14. "Wireless services" means all commercial mobile services, as that 10 term is defined in section 332(d) of title 47, United States Code, as 11 amended from time to time, including, but not limited to, all broadband 12 personal communications services, wireless radio telephone services, 13 geographic area specialized and enhanced specialized mobile radio 14 services, and incumbent-wide area specialized mobile radio licensees, 15 which offer real time, two-way voice or data service that is intercon- 16 nected with the public switched telephone network or otherwise provides 17 access to communications services. 18 § 311. Permit requirements. No person shall commence the construction 19 or modification of a wireless facility without first obtaining a munic- 20 ipal permit. 21 § 312. Minimum state-wide procedure for municipal review of permit 22 requests. 1. (a) Upon receipt of a completed application for permis- 23 sion to construct, place or modify a wireless facility, the municipal 24 board shall conduct a public hearing within ninety days of such applica- 25 tion. A written decision shall be rendered within sixty-two days of such 26 public hearing. The time within which the municipal board must render 27 its written decision may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant 28 and the board. 29 (b) Each applicant shall provide written notice to all owners and 30 residents of property located within one thousand feet of the proposed 31 wireless facility within ten days of filing an application pursuant to 32 paragraph (a) of this subdivision, and again not more than thirty days 33 before any scheduled public hearing. 34 2. (a) An application fee may be imposed by a municipality upon an 35 applicant for the placement, construction or modification of a wireless 36 facility that shall not exceed the normal and customary fee for a build- 37 ing permit application in such municipality for projects of such scope 38 and nature. 39 (b) Upon request of the board, an applicant may be required to estab- 40 lish an escrow account for the payment of the actual, reasonable and 41 customary costs incurred by the municipality for an independent techni- 42 cal review of each aspect of the application. 43 § 313. Standards for review and application requirements for a wire- 44 less facility. 1. Permit approval may be granted if the applicant 45 demonstrates compliance with the following standards for the review, 46 pays all applicable fees and costs, and submits the required documents. 47 2. (a) The application shall include, at a minimum, information, which 48 shall include a map, that identifies the location of all existing wire- 49 less facilities together with all facilities for which an application 50 has been filed within twenty miles of where such facilities are to be 51 located. On such map the facilities identified must note the owner and 52 operator of such facilities. 53 (b) The application shall contain information that establishes that 54 there is a specific need for the proposed wireless facility including, 55 but not limited to, evidence that the existing wireless facilities do
A. 3147 4 1 not provide adequate coverage and do not have the viability to provide 2 adequate coverage by adjusting the facilities at existing sites. 3 (c) The information submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall 4 include data on the effects upon the public health of the radio waves 5 emitted by the proposed wireless facility. 6 3. The application shall demonstrate that operation of the wireless 7 facility complies with all applicable regulations of the Federal Commu- 8 nications Commission. If new, more restrictive standards are adopted by 9 such agency, the facility shall, in a manner consistent with such stan- 10 dards, be brought into compliance, or continued operations may be 11 restricted by the municipality. 12 4. The wireless facility shall be designed and finished in a manner 13 which minimizes the visual impact on surrounding properties in accord- 14 ance with generally accepted practices, while providing the level of 15 service requested by the applicant. Minimization of visual impact in an 16 historic or scenic area shall include reasonable efforts that take into 17 account the topography and surroundings of the wireless facility. 18 5. No telecommunications tower shall be located within one thousand 19 five hundred feet of any elementary or secondary school. 20 6. The wireless facility shall be designed, constructed, maintained 21 and operated in a manner that ensures the security of the facility and 22 protects against unauthorized access. 23 7. Wireless facilities shall not be illuminated by artificial means 24 and shall not display obstruction marking and/or lighting unless such 25 marking and/or lighting is specifically required by the Federal Aviation 26 Administration or other federal or state authority for a particular 27 wireless facility; provided, however, when incorporated into the design, 28 light fixtures used to illuminate ball fields, parking lots, or other 29 ground areas or ground structures may be attached to wireless facili- 30 ties. 31 8. The applicant shall preserve existing on-site vegetation to the 32 maximum extent practicable. The base of the facility and any accessory 33 structures shall be landscaped. 34 9. (a) Any contract with an owner of property upon which a wireless 35 facility is to be placed, constructed or modified shall include a 36 provision requiring the owner of the wireless facility to remove such 37 facility in the event the facility has not been in use for a period of 38 at least twelve months. The terms of such provision shall be filed with 39 the municipality where the proposed wireless facility is to be 40 located. The permit may be revoked upon a finding that the required 41 contract language has been removed. 42 (b) The municipality may require that, in the event the wireless 43 facility is not used by the applicant, other co-locators, their succes- 44 sors and/or assigns for a period of one year or more, such facility 45 shall be removed by its then-current owner. In the event the wireless 46 facility is not so removed, the municipality shall give written notice 47 to the owner of such facility (i) stating that the wireless facility is 48 considered abandoned, and (ii) setting a time, date and place for a 49 public hearing. Such public hearing shall be on not less than thirty 50 days notice to such owner. Upon a finding that the wireless facility 51 has been abandoned, the municipality shall deliver written notice to the 52 applicant indicating the reasons for its finding, and directing that the 53 wireless facility be removed within one hundred twenty days, weather 54 permitting. In the event that the wireless facility is not so removed, 55 the municipality may commence an action in supreme court against the 56 owner of such facility seeking an order requiring the removal. The
A. 3147 5 1 prevailing party in such enforcement action shall be entitled to recover 2 from the other reasonable attorneys fees, as determined by the court. 3 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 4 subdivision, a municipality may adopt a local law to require the posting 5 of a bond or other security in order to finance dismantling of an aban- 6 doned wireless facility. 7 § 314. Co-location standards. 1. Where an application proposes 8 construction of a wireless facility designed to support only one provid- 9 er, the applicant shall demonstrate that co-locating with another wire- 10 less facility instead of construction of the proposed wireless facility 11 is not technically and commercially reasonable. 12 2. The board may require the applicant for a wireless facility to make 13 a reasonable attempt to co-locate with another wireless facility that 14 can adequately serve the needs of the applicant. 15 3. If the board requires the applicant to attempt to co-locate a wire- 16 less facility with an existing wireless facility, the applicant shall 17 provide the board with a statement indicating that the applicant has 18 either: 19 (a) agreed to co-locate the wireless facility with an existing wire- 20 less facility, and which statement identifies the location of the facil- 21 ity on which the applicant will be co-located; or 22 (b) attempted to co-locate the wireless facility with an existing 23 wireless facility; such statement should identify the location of the 24 facilities which the applicant attempted to co-locate on wireless facil- 25 ities which the applicant has reviewed, and list the reasons why each 26 such attempt to co-locate a wireless facility was unsuccessful. 27 4. The board may deny an application if it determines that such appli- 28 cant can co-locate its proposed facility at another site. 29 § 315. Permit approval; non-conforming facilities. 1. Upon finding 30 that a proposed wireless facility complies with the provisions of 31 sections three hundred thirteen and three hundred fourteen of this arti- 32 cle, the board shall issue a permit. Appeals from board actions pursu- 33 ant to the provisions of this article shall be governed by article 34 seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. 35 2. (a) Where the wireless facility does not meet the specifications 36 outlined in this article, the municipal board shall not issue the permit 37 pursuant to this article. 38 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivi- 39 sion, upon a showing that construction of a wireless facility meeting 40 the requirements of this article is not technically and commercially 41 reasonable, application may be made pursuant to the provisions of any 42 municipal zoning law or other local law, ordinance, rule or regulation 43 adopted pursuant to the provisions of article five-A of the general city 44 law, the statute of local governments or municipal home rule law govern- 45 ing the placement, construction or modification of wireless facilities; 46 provided, however that an area or use variance shall be granted for a 47 wireless facility upon a showing that: 48 (i) the wireless facility is a public necessity in that it is required 49 to render the safe and adequate level of service required by the appli- 50 cant; and 51 (ii) the placement, construction or modification of the wireless 52 facility is necessary in order for the applicant to render the required 53 level of service in a manner that is technically and commercially 54 reasonable. 55 § 316. Applicability. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 56 contrary, the provisions of this article shall govern the placement,
A. 3147 6 1 construction and modification of all wireless facilities in a munici- 2 pality; whether such placement, construction or modification shall be 3 upon state, county, municipality or privately owned lands or rights of 4 way provided, however, no provision of this article shall be deemed to 5 prohibit any municipality from enacting and implementing a local law 6 which is consistent with the minimum requirements of this article, and 7 imposes stricter or more restrictive standards on the siting of wireless 8 facilities than those enacted in this article. 9 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section 10 three of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day 11 after it shall have become a law and shall apply to all applications for 12 building permits for wireless facilities submitted on or after the 13 effective date of such section.