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• BACKGROUND Moratorium. In June, 1996 the city enacted a moratorium on communications antennas and towers due to the tremendous number of inquiries from commercial telecommunications businesses about where they could locate antennas within the city. These businesses are aggressively seeking out locations on public facilities, typically water towers, where they can locate antennas high enough to avoid interterence from other activities. These requests are considered "commercial towers and antennas". The moratorium expires on December 31, 1996. Locations in Falcon Hei hts. In Falcon Heights, the staff directs these communication inquiries to the St. Paul Water Utility and the U of M because the companies are looking for water tower locations. Thy St. Paul Water Utility owns a water tower on the State Fair property and also at Dudley just off of Cleveland Avenue on the southern border of the city. The St. Paul Water Utilit will consider leasing space to these communications companies. In addition to these water towers, the University of Minnesota is located on high ground, has the tallest water tower and also several tall buildings on the St. Paul (Falcon Heights) campus. DRAFT ORDINANCE Draft ordinance . Despite the fact that most communications companies will want to locate antennas on existing water towers outside the city's land use jurisdiction, it is timely to update the city's ordinance. It is also important to kee it simple. The draft ordinance reflects the following criteria: p 1 • All antennas must be located on a man-made structure, cannot be free-standing and cannot exceed 20 feet in height. - maximum height of 20 feet above a principal or accessory structure (the structure must not be constructed for the purpose of supporting the antenna) no free-standing towers or antennas subject to aesthetic requirements regarding color, no signs and no lighting 2