County staff begin draft rewrite of 2003 telecom ordinance, seek direction on fee structure and small wireless rules

Santa Fe County Community Development staff on Jan. 14 presented initial work on a modernized county ordinance to regulate placement of telecommunications infrastructure in county right-of-way and on county property and sought guidance on a fee framework.

Lede: The county's 2003 ordinance does not fully reflect modern telecommunications technology or the state and federal changes since then, staff told commissioners. The proposed rewrite would allow nonexclusive use agreements for fiber and wireless facilities, require permits and maintenance, require insurance and indemnity, and include removal remedies for unauthorized use. Staff asked the board to provide policy direction on the structure and level of fees: application and linear-foot charges, a percentage-of-gross-revenue model, or a hybrid approach.

Nut graf: Staff highlighted that small wireless facilities (small antennas and related equipment) are treated specially under state law; the draft would align county rules with state constraints while retaining the county's authority to manage right-of-way impacts and obtain fair compensation where allowed. Staff recommended considering a combined approach: a construction-year linear-foot fee and an ongoing annual percentage-of-revenue fee thereafter (Bernalillo County was cited as having a similar structure).

Details discussed - Scope: The ordinance would apply to cables, conduits, poles, towers, small wireless nodes and other infrastructure located within public roads, streets, alleys and on county-owned facilities. - Permitting and conditions: Applicants must complete permitting, provide project details and as-built documentation, follow dig-once policies, perform work in an unobtrusive and safe manner, maintain facilities and provide insurance and indemnity to the county. - Fee options: Staff is researching three models: (1) one-time application fee; (2) annual fee based on linear feet of right-of-way used; (3) annual fee based on a percent of provider gross revenue attributable to county services; staff suggested a hybrid (linear-foot construction-year fee plus revenue percentage thereafter) and asked the commission whether to aim at higher or lower fee levels. - Enforcement: The draft contemplates code-enforcement penalties, removal of unauthorized facilities and the county's ability to recover costs.

Why it matters: Commissioners raised policy points about encouraging deployment to underserved areas, protecting public-safety communications and requiring service-quality/customer-service expectations from providers. Commissioner feedback emphasized making permitting faster and simpler while using fees and targeted incentives to encourage builds that serve lower-income or hard-to-reach neighborhoods.

Next steps: Staff will continue fee research, draft a revised ordinance and return with a proposed title-and-summary for publication and a public hearing schedule. The draft will address small wireless provisions required by state statute and include clearer fee and enforcement language.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to return with concrete fee examples (per-linear-foot dollar amounts and revenue percentages), maps of priority underserved areas for incentive design, and comparisons with other New Mexico jurisdictions.