Expect to see numerous wireless towers going up in Douglas County rights of way after a new state law becomes effective Oct. 1.

Douglas County Public Works Director Keith Browning said the law that the Kansas Legislature passed last spring requires local governments to treat wireless companies as other utilities in respect to right-of-way use and put no obstacle in their way that would put them in a competitive disadvantage to other utilities.

That prompted new county regulations on the placement of wireless towers and support infrastructure in county rights of way. The Douglas County Commission approved the new regulations to county code last week. The new regulations make the approval of wireless towers in rights of way a matter of staff review and eliminate the need for companies to secure a conditional use permit for such a use, Browning said.

The new state law does allow the county to adopt regulations to provide for reasonable public health and safety and welfare concerns, Browning said. With that the county regulations require towers be built out of a road’s “clear zone,” or the “unobstructed, traversable” area on which a motorist can stop safely or recover control after leaving the roadway.

The county regulations also limit the size of wireless towers in rights of way to 65 feet in height and 3 feet in width, Browning said. The county can’t deny a permit because a pole is too close to a home or any other aesthetic reason, he said.

“Regulations have to be competitively neutral,” he said. “We looked at the biggest power pole that could be used in the right of way.”

That doesn’t mean homeowners were doomed to have unwanted 65-foot towers built on their doorsteps, Browning said.

“We will work with companies,” he said. “They typically don’t want to make people mad.”

Browning said he expected to see applications when the law becomes effective. The county had two inquiries from companies to build towers at the start of the year, he said. They didn’t progress when the companies were told they would have to go through the county’s conditional use permit process, he said.

The county can’t require utilities to pay franchise fees, and the regulations are not meant to be a revenue source for the county, Browning said. Rather they’re viewed as a way to ensure public safety while allowing providers to increase wireless connectivity in the rural parts of the county, he said.

“It’s an effort to provide around the county, so I expect them to be built pretty uniformly in the county,” he said. “I think it is part of a national push to provide wireless connectivity in rural areas. I think this law is a part of that.”