The public hearing on Trinity’s proposed telecommunications ordinance remains in recess until the June 15 meeting. The recess was called because the City Council did not receive a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Board, nor were there any citizen comments during the public hearing.

A special called meeting of the Planning and Zoning Board on May 11 failed to produce the quorum needed for the Board to consider the ordinance. However, the Council opened the public hearing on the telecommunications ordinance at the May 18 meeting because it had been advertised according to law.

On May 25, the Planning Board voted to recommend the ordinance.

The need to amend the ordinance was prompted by an incomplete application for a tower from American Towers Inc.

The city contacted the Center for Municipal Solutions, who suggested the new 30-page ordinance and is reviewing the current application.

L.S. “Rusty” Monroe with CMS said that Trinity’s current regulations are “woefully inadequate given what’s coming,” a reference to the area’s growing use of cell phones and wireless networks.

“One thing we will guarantee is that this will put (Trinity) in control,” he said.

However, Monroe added that the city would need to tweak the ordinance in places to tailor it to their specific needs.

“It is a model and it doesn’t fit everyone,” he told those at the May 11 meeting. “The right decisions are the ones you take. You don’t have to give a carrier everything they want, but you do have to treat all applicants the same.”

A special use permit would be required to construct and operate a tower or facility. The city reserves the right to inspect the placement, construction and maintenance of towers of facilities.

The ordinance includes strict setbacks or fall zones. Towers or facilities must be set back from abutting parcels, rights-of-way and street lines by a distance equal to the height of the tower or facility plus 10 percent, or the existing setback required by that zoning district, whichever is greater.

No habitable development will be allowed within the fall zone.

The ordinance also allows the city to determine what a tower looks like, requires that the holder of the special use permit maintain adequate liability insurance and outlines who pays for tower or facility removal.

The public hearing will resume during the next regular Council meeting, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 15.

American Towers Inc. may be required to reapply if the new ordinance is passed.