San Francisco MTA Takes Proactive Approach to Small Cell Zoning

July 23, 2014

By J. Sharpe Smith–

July 24, 2014–Responding to increased requests from carriers to deploy small cells, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has adopted a new zoning policy, setting out application and review processes and fees for wireless companies to install antennae and equipment on SFMTA poles.

Masry

“The new policy lays the groundwork for the city to work with carriers on the design of small cells and to ensure that we have an opportunity to have high-quality broadband deployment and influence the design of the cells,” Omar Masry, wireless planner, City and County of San Francisco, told AGL Small Cell Link.

The Policy for Placement of Wireless Facilities on SFMTA Owned and Managed Real Estate Assets includes a master license agreement for placement of pole-mounted wireless. The impetus for the new policy, which establishes contract requirements and review procedures and standards for wireless equipment installation, was a poorly designed set of small cells presented by a carrier for approval.

“A design was submitted for nine small-cells sites that did not appear to be in keeping with the residential nature of the neighborhood,” Masry said. “Essentially, they looked like macrosites on small towers in that they had large panel antennas, large bulky equipment cabinets attached to the outside of the poll.”

The new policy’s standardized license agreement for installation of telecommunications equipment on SFMTA poles was negotiated with wireless industry representatives. It is the cornerstone of Masry’s plan to work more closely with carriers.

“We want to work with the carriers to help them get the infrastructure they need and also ensure that the small cell designs are scale and neighborhood appropriate,” Masry said. The new policy cannot codify which designs will work. San Francisco has a diverse collection of neighborhoods and what works in Haight-Ashbury may not work in Nob Hill.

SFMTA owns more than 10,000 poles that support the overhead traction lines that provide power to trolleys and light rail vehicles, and some that support streetlight fixtures. The agency could easily get behind the curve as small cells roll out, and disagreements over design would bog down the process.

“The city wants to be involved earlier in the design phase, so it asked the carriers to come to the city’s planning department in advance of preparing formal submittals to get their designs pre-approved,” Masry said. “I have reached out to the industry manufacturers on my own, asked about their small cell designs and am raising those designs with the carriers for their consideration. We want to have influence earlier in the permitting process.”

No More ‘Chicken Wire’

San Francisco is often portrayed as a difficult zoning environment for cell towers — small and macro. In fact, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai tells a story about frustrated entrepreneurs in San Francisco who improve their wireless coverage using antennas made from chicken wire in lieu of going through the zoning system, which they consider too slow. But Masry said that paradigm has changed. He has worked to streamline the planning and historic preservation review process, approve new sites, transfer entitlements to new carriers without new public hearings and work more collaboratively with carriers.

“Even if carriers don’t feel like they had our support years ago, there has been a change and we are working with carriers and having success getting projects approved,” Masry said.

The zoning process has been facilitated by carriers that are paying more attention to design and are providing third-party verification of coverage gaps. For its part, the city is taking the FCC’s shot clock seriously. In the last year, the city has approved 30 macrosites, compared with 18 macrosites in 2010 and 14 macrosites in 2011.

In downtown areas, public hearings are not required. But instead, historic preservation review must often be performed. “We are seeing more carriers go to us with a well-designed site, knowing they won’t go to public hearings,” Masry said.

The Department of Health conducts a comprehensive RF monitoring program whenever a site is built or modified and then every two years thereafter. Additionally, a public health staff member reviews every RF report and discusses it with the neighbors.

“When residents have asked carriers to do RF testing, generally, we have been impressed that the carriers have stepped up and had that testing done, which has informed the conversation with myself, the community groups and the policy makers,” Masry said.

Whenever a macrosite is decommissioned, which happened to a number of sites when Sprint bought Nextel, Masry offers to skip the zoning hearing process for carriers or WISPs that take over that site, file for a modification, swap out the antennae and collaborate with the city on the design.

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J. Sharpe Smith is the editor, AGL Link and AGL Small Cell Link, and is a contributor to AGL magazine