AN ACT CONCERNING THE APPROVAL AND SITING OF CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER APPLICATIONS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 16-50x of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, except as provided in section 16-243 and this section, the council shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the location and type of facilities and over the location and type of modifications of facilities subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section. When evaluating an application for a [telecommunication] telecommunications tower within a particular municipality, the council shall consider any location preferences or criteria (1) provided to the council pursuant to section 16-50gg, or (2) that may exist in the zoning regulations of said municipality as of the submission date of the application to the council. When evaluating an application for a telecommunications tower to be sited not more than two hundred fifty yards from a residential dwelling, place of worship, school or day care center, the council shall not approve or certify such application unless: (A) Such applicant has the approval of the planning and zoning commission of the municipality where such telecommunications tower is proposed to be located, or (B) the municipality where such telecommunications tower is proposed to be located, by vote of its legislative body, yielded the approval authority described in subparagraph (A) of this subsection to the council for such application. In ruling on applications for certificates or petitions for a declaratory ruling for facilities and on requests for shared use of facilities, the council shall give such consideration to other state laws and municipal regulations as it shall deem appropriate. Whenever the council certifies a facility pursuant to this chapter, such certification shall satisfy and be in lieu of all certifications, approvals and other requirements of state and municipal agencies in regard to any questions of public need, convenience and necessity for such facility.

(b) Whenever the council has certified a facility pursuant to this chapter, any person joining in the application for such certification shall be empowered to exercise its powers of eminent domain, granted by the general statutes or any special act, to acquire property for such facility for the benefit of all persons receiving such certificates.

(c) Whenever the council has certified a facility pursuant to this chapter and the applicant for such certificate thereafter initiates condemnation proceedings to acquire property for such facility, and it shall appear to the court or judge before whom such proceedings are pending that the public interest will be prejudiced by delay, said court or judge may direct that said applicant be permitted to enter immediately upon the property to be taken and devote it temporarily to the public use specified in the application instituting such proceeding upon the deposit with said court of a sum to be fixed by said court or judge, upon notice to the parties of not less than ten days, and such sum when fixed and paid shall be applied to the payment of any assessment of damages which may be made, with interest thereon from the date of such entry upon said property, and the remainder, if any, returned to said applicant. If such application is dismissed, no assessment of damages is made, or the proceedings are abandoned by said applicant, said court or judge shall direct that the money so deposited, so far as it may be necessary, shall be applied to the payment of any damages that the owner of said property or other parties in interest may have sustained by such entry upon and use of such property, including reasonable attorneys', engineers' and appraisers' fees and other reasonable expenses incurred by such owner or other parties in interest in connection with such proceedings, and the costs and expenses of such proceedings. Such damages shall be ascertained by said court or judge or a committee to be appointed for that purpose, and if the sum so deposited shall be insufficient to pay such damages and all costs and expenses so assessed, judgment shall be entered against said applicant for the deficiency to be enforced and collected in the same manner as a judgment in the Superior Court, and the possession of such property shall be restored to the owner or owners thereof.

(d) Any town, city or borough zoning commission and inland wetland agency may regulate and restrict the proposed location of a facility, as defined in subdivisions (3) and (4) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i. Such local bodies may make all orders necessary to the exercise of such power to regulate and restrict, which orders shall be in writing and recorded in the records of their respective communities, and written notice of any order shall be given to each party affected thereby. Such a local body shall make any such order (1) not more than sixty-five days after an application has been filed with the council for the siting of a facility described in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, or (2) not more than thirty days after an application has been filed with the council for the siting of a facility described in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i. Each such order shall be subject to the right of appeal within thirty days after the giving of such notice by any municipality required to be served with a copy of the application under subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 16-50l or by any party aggrieved to the council, which shall have jurisdiction, in the course of any proceeding on an application for a certificate or otherwise, to affirm, modify or revoke such order or make any order in substitution thereof by a vote of six members of the council.