Bay City planning commission approves OmniFiber utility cabinets at eight locations with conditions

Bay City Planning Commission Chair Douglas Reis on Aug. 20 approved permits allowing OmniFiber to install eight outdoor fiber-optic utility cabinets at locations across the city, subject to conditions on placement, public notice and as-built documentation.

The commission approved site plan review cases SPR 25-13 through SPR 25-20 — covering 515 Sixteenth St.; 215 Eighteenth St.; 1121 Fitzhugh St.; 1050 Cass Ave.; 506 Fremont St.; 403 Wilson St.; 999 Jenison St.; and 618 Harrison St. — after staff and the applicant described the cabinets and commissioners discussed proximity to trees, driveways and fire hydrants.

The vote followed a staff recommendation that the applicant’s “fiber optic, 432-port outdoor cabinet” design complies with sections of the city code governing utility cabinets. The commission’s approval includes the following conditions: the cabinets must be at least 10 feet from trees, at least 15 feet from fire hydrants, and comply with all departmental reviews during permitting; applicants must notify property owners by first-class mail at least 14 days before installation if properties are on the same street or a cross street and within 100 feet of the proposed location, provide copies of those notices to planning staff within three days, deliver accurate as-built drawings to the city on completion (drawn at a scale no smaller than 1 inch per 110 feet and including contact information), and indemnify the city for any injury resulting from inaccurate as-builts.

Justin Stadler, OmniFiber construction manager, described the cabinets as standardized hardware for each site and said the company will supply geolocation coordinates and FDH identifiers for the cabinets. “My name is Justin Stadler. I’m the construction manager for OmniFiber,” Stadler told commissioners. He said the cabinets are “all basically the same” and described them in the meeting record as roughly 1.5 feet deep and 2 feet wide; commissioners asked about height and one remarked that the cabinets had been noted as 48 inches tall in materials. Stadler also said the project team can adjust exact placement on site to meet the city’s distance requirements when permits are issued.

Planning staff and commissioners raised several placement and safety checks that will be handled at permitting. Staff noted an earlier electric-department comment was rescinded for one site and that the water department asked for standard calls to utility locators (MISS DIG) near a 6-inch water main. Commissioners specifically required a blanket condition for fire-hydrant clearance across all cases after photographs suggested at least one planned location might be within 15 feet of a hydrant.

One nearby homeowner, Madison Melhose of 205 Eighteenth St., asked about the exact position of the cabinet proposed at 215 Eighteenth St.; staff pulled up the image for her during the public-comment period and confirmed the planned cabinet is on the same side of the street and just east of an alley access. Staff also said cabinets typically will be placed on pedestals and associated with an address and that their geolocation data can be accurate to within about 11 inches.

After the commission read the full list of required findings, a motion to approve the permits with the stated conditions was made and passed. The record does not show individual roll-call votes; the chair called for ayes and declared the motion passed.

The permits approved Aug. 20 authorize installation subject to final engineering and permitting reviews; any final placement that fails to meet the stated conditions would be resolved through the permitting process and staff review.