A telecommunication tower is a structure primarily built to hold antennas. It can be different types of towers like self-supporting lattice, guy, or monopole towers. This term includes various kinds of towers like those for wireless services, radio and TV transmission, microwaves, cell phones, and more.
The purpose of the Telecommunication Ordinance (Article XIII.1 of the Urbana Zoning Ordinance) is to establish general guidelines for the siting of wireless communications, radio and television towers, and antennas. The goals of this ordinance are to:
- Protect residential areas and land uses from potential adverse impacts of towers and antennas.
- Encourage the location of towers in non-residential areas.
- Minimize the total number of towers throughout the community.
- Strongly encourage the joint use of new and existing tower sites as a primary option rather than construction of additional single-use towers.
- Encourage users of towers and antennas to locate them, to the extent possible, in areas where the adverse impact on the community is minimal.
- Encourage users of towers and antennas to configure them in a way that minimizes the adverse visual impact of the towers and antennas through careful design, siting, landscape screening, and innovative camouflaging techniques.
- Enhance the ability of the providers of telecommunications services to provide such services to the community quickly, effectively, and efficiently.
- Consider the public health and safety with respect to communication towers.
- Avoid potential damage to adjacent properties from tower failure through engineering and careful siting of tower structures. In furtherance of these goals, the City of Urbana shall give due consideration to the City of Urbana’s Comprehensive Plan, zoning map, existing land uses, and environmentally sensitive areas in approving sites for the location of towers and antennas.
APPLICATION
The Telecommunication Zoning Review application is available on the CitizenServe portal, which is an online program that allows applicants to submit applications and pay application fees online.
A digital pdf of the Telecommunication Zoning Review application is available below. You can save an application to your computer and fill in the information requested. You can either submit the application (including the application fee) in person, mail it to our office (City of Urbana | Planning Division, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801), or email it to Planning [at] UrbanaIL.gov (Planning[at]UrbanaIL[dot]gov).
Note: If additional space is needed, please provide answer(s) on separate sheet of paper.
FEES
Application
The application fee must accompany the application when submitted for processing. For the current fee, please refer to the most recent version of the City’s Schedule of Fees - Excluding Liquor License Fees.
Legal Ad
The Applicant is responsible for paying the cost for a legal ad in the News-Gazette, if required. The News-Gazette will bill the applicant directly.
ASSISTANCE
It is strongly recommended and sometimes required to have a phone conversation or meeting with Planning staff (depending on the type of application) prior to an application being submitted. This is an opportunity to find out what regulations and requirements are expected to be met and followed. This includes what application(s) you will be required to apply and get approval for. City staff will inform you what the process and time frame will be for getting application(s) for your intended plans reviewed and hopefully approved.
If, when you are filling out a Planning | Zoning application, you have questions or require assistance, please contact the Planning Division staff by email at Planning [at] urbanail.gov (Planning[at]UrbanaIL[dot]gov) or by calling 217.384.2440.