That Pesky CreateFeatureClass tool strikes again, this code will copy fields from one feature class to another so you don't need to use a template!

field_copy.py

def _add_field(input_table, field):
    import arcpy
    if getattr(field, 'isNullable', True):
        nullable = 'NULLABLE'
    else:
        nullable = 'NON_NULLABLE'

    # there is a bug in 10.2.1 and lower (sum is 13) that prevents us from adding non_nullable fields, so we have
    # to protect against that bug.
    if nullable == 'NON_NULLABLE' and sum([int(i) for i in GetArcpyVersion().split('.') ]) <= 13:
        nullable = 'NULLABLE'
    arcpy.AddField_management(input_table,
                                      field.name,
                                      field.type,
                                      field.precision,
                                      field.scale,
                                      field.length,
                                      field.aliasName,
                                      nullable,
                                      'NON_REQUIRED',
                                      field.domain)

def _remove_special_fields(field_list, layer_describe):
    if getattr(layer_describe, 'hasOID', False) and layer_describe.OIDFieldName in field_list:
        field_list.remove(layer_describe.OIDFieldName)
    if getattr(layer_describe, 'hasGlobalID',
               False) and layer_describe.globalIDFieldName in field_list:
        field_list.remove(layer_describe.globalIDFieldName)
    if hasattr(layer_describe, 'areaFieldName') and layer_describe.areaFieldName in field_list:
        field_list.remove(layer_describe.areaFieldName)
    if hasattr(layer_describe, 'lengthFieldName') and layer_describe.lengthFieldName in field_list:
        field_list.remove(layer_describe.lengthFieldName)
    if hasattr(layer_describe, 'shapeFieldName') and layer_describe.shapeFieldName in field_list:
        field_list.remove(layer_describe.shapeFieldName)
    return field_list


def sync_feature_class_columns(source_layer, destination_layer):
    import arcpy
    import eaglepy
    source_layer_describe = arcpy.Describe(source_layer)
    destination_layer_describe = arcpy.Describe(destination_layer)

    source_field_names = [f.name for f in source_layer_describe.fields]
    destination_field_names = [f.name for f in destination_layer_describe.fields]

    fields_to_sync = [f for f in source_field_names if f not in destination_field_names]

    ## Remove special columns
    fields_to_sync = _remove_special_fields(fields_to_sync, source_layer_describe)
    fields_to_sync = _remove_special_fields(fields_to_sync, destination_layer_describe)

    ##Loop over each column and add it to the destination_layer, setting the proper type.
    for field in source_layer_describe.fields:
        if field.name not in fields_to_sync:
            continue
        _add_field(destination_layer, field)

    return