Update small wireless right of way access fee to align with the safe harbor rate set by the Federal Communications Commission (amend Ordinances 187887, 189545, 189942, 189856, 185790 and 185717)

The City of Portland ordains: Section 1. The Council finds: The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) has been working with users of the City’s right-of-way (ROW) to create a new ROW Code as a pathway to eliminate the City’s need to individually negotiate and administer franchise agreements with each utility that uses, owns, and operates facilities in the ROW. As part of the process of the ROW Code effort, BPS staff have been meeting with wireless companies who own and operate small wireless facility sites in the City to address the topic of small wireless facility fees for access to the ROW, which wireless companies pay annually to the City. On September 1, 2023, BPS held a workshop with the small wireless companies that have assets in the ROW. Based on the discussions in that workshop, BPS staff agreed that the City would temporarily decrease its current ROW access and use fee for small wireless facility sites from $1,408 per site per year to $313. This reduced rate is based on a safe harbor rate set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)in the FCC’s 2019 Order No. 621 of $270 per small wireless facility site, per year, plus 3% per year from 2019 for inflation. This safe harbor rate will remain in effect until the City can perform an independent cost study to determine the City’s cost of providing access to the ROW for small wireless facilities. BPS staff are preparing a request for proposal (RFP) and scope of work for the small wireless facilities cost study to hire a third-party consultant to perform the work and analysis. Upon the completion of the consultant’s cost study for small wireless facilities and the issuing of a final report, BPS staff will return to City Council to update the small wireless facilities ROW access fee to the fee amount in the consultant’s report. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs: The small wireless facility site fee will be $313 per site, and the following ordinances and sections that apply to small wireless facility fees are amended to reflect this rate: Ordinance No. 187887 (ExteNet Systems, Inc.); Ordinance No. 189545 (New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC – now operated by AT&T Wireless); Ordinance No. 189942 (Crown Castle Fiber, LLC); Ordinance No. 189856 (Cellco Partnership, dba Verizon Wireless); Ordinance No. 185790 (T-Mobile West Corp); and Ordinance No. 185717 (Sprint Spectrum L.P. – now operated by T-Mobile). The small wireless ROW access fee will be adjusted 3% annually as an inflation escalator based on the current franchise and ordinance requirements. The small wireless ROW access fee will be amended after the completion of the independent small wireless fee study by the third-party consultant and the issuance of the consultant’s final report. All other terms and conditions of the franchises listed in Section A above will remain the same and unchanged.