Boulder planning board recommends council adopt small‑cell wireless code update

The City of Boulder Planning Board voted 6-0 on April 1 to recommend that City Council adopt an ordinance amending portions of the Boulder Revised Code to update standards for wireless communications facilities and small‑cell deployments.

Staff presented the ordinance as a technical cleanup and alignment with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rulings, and with recent and pending state actions. City Planner Jeff Solomonson told the board the package is intended to clarify fees, application routing, design standards for small cells in the public right of way, and the city’s definitions of which deployments qualify as “small cell.”

Why it matters: the changes would (1) set clearer application procedures and fee language consistent with FCC fee limits and “shot clock” timeframes for review, (2) incorporate federal guidance on concealment, size and when equipment changes constitute a “substantial change,” and (3) direct small‑cell right‑of‑way applicants to a unified administrative review pathway. Supporters said the updates will help Boulder process future applications following the city’s recent streetlight transfer from Excel Energy to the city — a change staff said could increase interest from wireless providers in placing equipment on city poles.

Staff presentation and legal context Jeff Solomonson, city planner in Planning and Development Services, described a series of FCC rulings (2018, 2019, 2020) that established a federal “shot clock” for reviewing collocation applications and clarified what counts as a substantial change, concealment rules and an excavation/deployment allowance. Solomonson said the ordinance would amend Title 4, Chapter 20 (fees);…