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Council introduces draft telecom ordinance aiming to clarify tower safety and waiver procedures
Summary
Council introduced an ordinance amending telecommunications rules to provide a structured engineering waiver process for monopoles and to reduce ad hoc council waivers; staff said the draft is designed to align with federal preemption on RF matters while allowing local regulation of tower-fall and safety concerns.
The Livingston Parish Council introduced a draft ordinance Thursday to amend Chapter 130 (telecommunications) and to clarify how the parish will regulate the siting and safety of telecommunications towers.
The proposed ordinance would codify engineering requirements for tower design, set conditions under which a waiver to the “tower-fall” setback can be granted, and provide an administrative path intended to reduce the need for case‑by‑case council waivers. Planning staff and counsel said federal law preempts local regulation of RF (radiofrequency) emissions and forbids discriminatory treatment of carriers, but local governments retain authority over land-use, safety, and setbacks.
The draft specifies that tower-fall setbacks (the area a tower could reach if it collapsed) can be reduced only where (1) adjacent properties are not residential or commercial such that the reduction would take property out of commerce and (2) the applicant furnishes detailed engineering certification and written waivers from affected adjacent property owners accepting the risk. The planner explained the approach is designed to replace informal council action with a transparent set of criteria and to ensure the parish has a documented, defensible record if it approves a reduced setback.
Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about engineering standards and whether the ordinance would conflict with federal regulations. Staff said the draft uses established engineering return-period standards for structural design and noted the ordinance intentionally avoids any regulation or claim about RF exposure, which is governed by federal law.
The council set a public hearing on the ordinance for Sept. 11 and asked staff to circulate the draft to stakeholders and to post the engineering criteria referenced in the text.
