Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission members on Oct. 2, 2025 received a study-session presentation on city review of wireless communication facilities, including macro sites and small cells, applicable federal and state preemptions, time limits for review ("shot clocks") and design approaches the city is using to limit visual impacts.

City planner Cody Gleason, who led the presentation, told commissioners that while the zoning code regulates wireless facilities on private property, several state and federal orders narrow the city's authority. He described the federal framework dating to the Communications Act of 1934 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and summarized key Federal Communications Commission actions that constrain what local governments can consider during review. "Ultimately, all that means is a cell tower," Gleason said when defining a wireless communication facility.

Gleason explained distinctions staff uses in the code: macro sites (larger tower infrastructure) versus small cells (lower-profile equipment that adds capacity locally), and facilities placed within the right-of-way versus those on private property. He said the city has more direct design leverage over private-property installations, where stealth design and ordinance standards can be required, while right-of-way installations have been limited by a 2017 state law that treats carriers in ways that reduce local discretion.

Federal and administrative rules discussed by staff include the 2009 FCC declaratory ruling establishing shot clocks for review of wireless applications (90 days for collocations and 150 days for new macro sites), subsequent rulings focused on small cells and substantial-collocation changes, and later orders (cited in the presentation as 2014 and 2018 items) that further narrowed what local governments may evaluate and limited fees for small-cell reviews. Gleason noted local review must respect those timelines and thresholds: where a proposed change is a "substantial change" (generally an increase over 10% or 20 feet in height/width) the city may require site-plan review; smaller changes can go straight to building permits.

Gleason described Peoria's approach to encourage better visual outcomes: incentivize stealth design and lower heights through a principally permitted route, while treating non-stealth designs or taller proposals as conditional uses that require additional review. "If we can get through them through a process quicker, by having a design that better integrates with the community, ultimately, that's what we want to do," Gleason said. The code uses ratio-based setbacks so taller installations must be set back farther from property lines.

Staff reviewed common siting locations — ball-field lighting at high schools, power-line corridors, shopping-center service yards and some religious sites — and showed examples of successful and poor stealth design. Commissioners asked about health, construction safety, public-safety coverage and the city's ability to steer placement. On health and radio-frequency emissions, Gleason said federal rules preempt local review: "We simply cannot" evaluate facilities on possible health effects, he told the commission.

On public-right-of-way installations, staff described the city's experience since a 2017 state law reduced the city's regulatory control of small cells in the right of way. Staff noted they continue to seek cooperative solutions with carriers where possible (for example, siting a small cell at a less intrusive corner rather than in front of an individual house) but said many ROW installations go directly to building-permit review. Commissioners raised concerns about neighborhood character and asked whether the city should or could limit facility placement on city-owned properties; staff said a 2018 FCC order means accepting facilities on any city site could open the door to carriers locating on other city-owned property, and staff said the city has generally avoided permitting facilities on city-owned buildings to preserve discretion.

Gleason also summarized procedural consequences of missing federal shot clocks or otherwise acting outside the defined review limits: an application can be deemed approved or be subject to expedited judicial review. That legal exposure motivates staff to work cooperatively with providers early in the process. Dan Nissen, a city staffer referenced by Gleason, coordinates reviews for city-owned properties to avoid unintentionally opening city sites to multiple carrier requests.

Commissioners thanked staff for the detailed overview and asked staff to post the presentation slides and materials online as a public resource. The discussion was a study session only; no formal municipal action on wireless policy or ordinances occurred at the Oct. 2 meeting.