11/28/2023
Sammy Romo
City of Culver City
D
epartment of Public Works
9770 Culver Bvld
C
ulver City, CA 90232
Via electronic delivery
RE: Crown C astle application for installation of a Small Wireless Facility within the publi c w a ys of the Culver City;
Crown Castle ID# CA002_CLC_CULVE R_023 - 11622 Port Rd Dear Mr. Romo,
Crown Ca
stle Fiber LLC (“Crown Castle”) is submitting the accompanying complete application to install One Small Wireless Facility in the public right -of-way (“ROW”). Please be advised the Federal Communications Commission ( “FCC”) has adopted Rules that impact how the City must process this application. In addition, state law also limits your regulation of Crown Castle’s access to the public rights of way.
Crown Castle’s Deployment
Crown Cast
le provides telecommunications services to various customers, including wireless carriers. It does so via telecommunications networks installed in the public rights of way that integrate elements , including fiber optic cables as well as personal wireless services facilities, such as antennas and related equipment. The specific equipment sought to be installed by Crown Castle in this case is set forth in the accompanying permit application and meets the definition of Small Wireless Facility provided in the Code of Federal Regulation. 1
Pursuant to t
he laws of California, Crown Castle has been granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity (“CPCN”) by the California Public Utility Commission. As a result, Crown Castle must be granted access to the public rights of way in the same manner and on the same terms applicable to other certificated telecommunications providers and utilities. 2 1 See 47 CFR § 1.6002(l).
2 See §253 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Applicable Federal Regulations
Federal l
aw and the FCC’s rules implementing the law require that permit applications for the installation of Small Wireless Facilities be processed to a final decision by this local authority without undue delay.
The applicab le federal timeframe (the “Shot Clock period”) to make a decision commences with the submission of an application. 3 Applications proposing the installation of Small Wireless Facilities on a preexisting structure “ for the purpose of transmitting and/or receiving radio frequency signals for communications purposes ”4 are collocations, for which the applicable Shot Clock period to make a decision on is 90 days.5
A loca
l authority must not merely take some action but must fully resolve an application within the applicable timeframe. This means the City must issue all permits required for construction to commence within the applicable Shot Clock period, absent permitted tolling. 6 Pursuant to FCC regulations, an application is deemed complete 10 days after the date of submission unless the authority provides written notice to the applicant that its application is incomplete. 7 If a local authority contends an application is incomplete (thereby tolling the Shot Clock period), within 10 days of submission, it must provide written notice specifying any items it claims are missing to make the application complete. Moreover, for each item alleged to be missing, a local authority must specify the code provision, ordinance, application instruction, or otherwise publicly -stated procedure requiring submission of the information. 8 If a
local authority properly complies with the above requirements regarding incompleteness, the Shot Clock period is tolled. 9 Once the Applicant submits the requested supplemental information, the Shot Clock period resets to 90 days and the local authority then has 10 days to identify which previously - requested items remain missing, if any. 10 However, the local authority cannot at that time request new information outside the scope of its original notice and “once the 10-day period passes, the period of review of the application may not thereafter be tolled for incompleteness.” 11 Further, the Shot Clock period
does not reset upon subsequent resubmissions.
Lastly
, federal regulations place restrictions on the fees and costs state and local authorities may lawfully charge for communications infrastructure deployments. Fees for ROW access and “fees for the use of 3 In the Matter of Acceleration of Broadband Deployment by Improving Wireless Facilities Siting Policies, etc. Report and Order, FCC 14-153, WT Docket No. 13-238, ¶ 258 (FCC Oct. 17, 2014) (the “Wireless Infr astructure Order”). 4 Wireless Infrastructure Order, at ¶ 178.
5 In the Matter of Accelerating Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment, FCC 18-133, WT Docket No. 17-79, ¶¶ 105, 140 (FCC Sept. 27, 2018) (“FCC Order 18-133”). 6 See FCC Order 18-133 at ¶¶ 132-134, 144. See also, New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC v. Town of Stoddard, 2012 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 19453 *13-15 (D.N.H. Feb. 16, 2012) (finding a Shot Clock violation where a local government granted a rehearing on an application after the initial application review process had concluded and the Shot Clock had expired). 7 See 47 CFR § 1.6003, et seq.
8 Id.
9 Id.
10 Id.
11 Id.
government property in the ROW, such as light poles, traffic lights, utility poles, and other similar property suitable for hosting Small Wireless Facilities, as well as application or review fees and similar fees imposed by a state or local government as part of their regulation of the deployment of Small Wireless Facilities inside and outside the ROW, violate Sections 253 or 332(c)(7) unless ... (1) the fees are a reasonable approximation of the state or local government’s costs , (2) only objectively reas onable costs are factored into those fees, and (3) the fees are no higher than the fees charged to similarly -situated competitors in similar situations. ”
12 Pursua
nt to federal regulations, the following fees are presumptively reasonable under Section 253 or Section 332(c)(7) of the Telecommunications Act:
(a) $500 for non-recurring fees, including a single up-front application that includes up to five Small Wireless Facilities, with an additional $100 for each Small Wireless Facility beyond five, or (b) $1,000 for non-recurring fees for new structures (non-collocations) intended to support one or more Small Wireless Facilities; and
(c) $270 per Small Wireless Facility per year for all recurring fees, including any possible ROW access fee or fee for attachment to municipally-owned structures in the ROW.13 Crown Castle expressly reserves the right to challenge any f ee in excess o f the abov e safe harbor limits and which otherwise f ails to conform to applicable laws and regulations.
Crown Castle’s Applications
The Application Crown Castle submits with this letter proposes collocation and is therefore subject to the FCC 90-day Shot Clock period. As such, the Shot Clock period for the Application is scheduled to expire on February 27th, 2024. If the City contends that the Application is incomplete, it must issue a valid notice of incompleteness within 10 days of submittal. If no valid notice is issued, the Application will be deemed complete on December 9th, 2023 and the 90-day Shot Clock period will not toll, but co ntinue to run until its expiration date on February 27th, 2024.
Crown Castle is committed to working with the City on this project. Please let us know how we can best assist the City in meeting its processing requirements in advance of the above deadlines. All written requests for additional information regarding may be sent to the following Crown Castle representative:
Brad Ladua – Network Permitting Specialist – [email protected] 12 FCC 18-133 at ¶ 50.
13 FCC 18-133 at ¶¶ 78-80.
We appreciate y our attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
CROWN CASTLE FIBER LLC
Brad Ladua
Crown Castle
909.202.3448
[email protected]