§ 138-63. Rent.

Pursuant to Section 253(c) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Town deems it appropriate to reserve the right to assess, impose and collect rent from an MCS provider occupying and using the publicly owned and/or maintained rights-of-way and other Town-owned and/or maintained property, and to assess, impose and collect rent from a franchisee or other MCS provider for the private, profit-making use of the public property and rights-of-way in the Town.

A. 

Nondiscriminatory and competitively neutral imposition. As regards service providers of like or similar kinds or nature, the Town shall at all times assure that the imposition of rent is on a nondiscriminatory and competitively neutral manner.

B. 

Basis for determining rent. The amount of the rent shall be based upon and shall not exceed the fair market value of the Town's property and public rights-of-way, or that portion of the Town's property and public rights-of-way used and occupied by the MCS provider, as determined by the Town's assessor, or another qualified individual as may be designated by the Town.

C. 

Comparability. The assessment shall be based upon either the fair market value of like or similar property adjacent to the Town's property or public rights-of-way that are used and occupied by that portion of the MCS provider's system serving that portion of the Town, or the average fair market value of commercially zoned property within the Town as determined by ascertaining the average or mean value for the preceding three years, whichever is less.

D. 

Noncash payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, the Town may negotiate with an MCS provider for the in-kind provision of services or other valuable consideration in lieu of all or a portion of the amount that would otherwise be required to be paid as cash. However, the Town is not obligated to grant this option to any MCS provider, so long as it applies this authority in a manner among like or similar service providers that is nondiscriminatory and competitively neutral with respect to the value received by the Town.