2019 Tennessee Code
Title 13 - Public Planning and Housing
Chapter 24 - Zoning Classifications
Part 4 - Competitive Wireless Broadband Investment, Deployment, and Safety Act of 2018
§ 13-24-407. Uniform local authority fees for deployment of small wireless facilities -- Exceptions.
(a) The following are the maximum fees and rates that may be charged to an applicant by a local authority for deployment of a small wireless facility:
(1) The maximum application fee is one hundred dollars ($100) each for the first five (5) small wireless facilities and fifty dollars ($50.00) each for additional small wireless facilities included in a single application. A local authority may also require an additional fee of two hundred dollars ($200) on the first application an applicant files following April 24, 2018 to offset the local authority's initial costs of preparing to comply with this part. Beginning on January 1, 2020, and at each five-year interval thereafter, the maximum application fees established in this section must increase in an amount of ten percent (10%), rounded to the nearest dollar; and
(2) The maximum annual rate for colocation of a small wireless facility on a local authority-owned PSS is one hundred dollars ($100).
(b) In addition to the maximum fees and rates described in subsection (a), a local authority shall not require applicants:
(1) To pay fees or reimburse costs for the services or assistance provided to the authority by a consultant or third party retained by the authority relative to deployment of small wireless facilities; or
(2) To file additional applications or permits for regular maintenance, replacement of, or repairs made to an applicant's own facilities. In no event shall replacement of a PSS constitute regular maintenance.
(c) This section does not prohibit an authority from requiring generally applicable work or traffic permits, or from collecting the same applicable fees for such permits, for deployment of a small wireless facility or new PSS as long as the work or traffic permits are issued and associated fees are charged on the same basis as other construction activity in a ROW.
(d) This section does not prohibit an authority from retaining any consultant or third party when the fees and costs for the consultant or third party are paid by the authority, using the authority's own funds, rather than requiring applicants to reimburse or pay for the consultants or third parties.
(e)
(1) Except for the application fees, permit fees, and colocation rates set out in this section, no local authority shall require additional rates or fees of any kind, including, but not limited to, rental fees, access fees, or site license fees for the initial deployment or the continuing presence of a small wireless facility.
(2) No local authority shall require approval, or any applications, fees, or rates, for:
(A) Routine maintenance of a small wireless facility, which maintenance does not require the installation of a new PSS or the replacement of a PSS;
(B) The replacement of a small wireless facility with another small wireless facility that is the same size or smaller than the size conditions set out in the definition of “small wireless facility” in § 13-24-402; or
(C) The installation, placement, maintenance, operation, or replacement of a micro wireless facility that is suspended on cables that are strung between existing PSSs, in compliance with the National Electrical Safety Code as set out in § 68-101-104.
(3) No local authority shall require execution of any access agreement or site license agreement as a condition of deployment of a small wireless facility in a ROW.
(4) A local authority shall not directly or indirectly require an applicant to perform services for the authority or provide goods to the authority such as in-kind contributions to the authority, including, but not limited to, reserving fiber, conduit, or pole space for the authority in exchange for deployment of small wireless facilities. The prohibition in this subdivision (e)(4) does not preclude the approval of an application to colocate a small cell in which the applicant chooses, in its sole discretion, a design that accommodates other functions or attributes of benefit to the authority.
