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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6463 Staff AnalysisMarch 19, 1998 ITEM NO.: 11 NAME• LOCATION• CWNER/APpLICAN : PROPOSAL• ORDINANCE DESIGN STANDARDS: 1. Site Location• FILE NO.: Z-6463 Alltel Tower Use Permit 601 Jones Street Southern Office Systems/Alltel A tower use permit is requested to allow for construction of a wireless communication facility with support structure (150 foot tall tower) on this I-2 zoned property. The site is located south of 6th Street, 2 lots east of Jones Street. 2. C M atibility with Neighborhood: The tower site is zoned I-2 Light Industrial. The properties adjacent to the north, south and west are also zoned I-2: The properties to the east are zoned R- 3 and are occupied by single family residences. There is an existing 75 foot tall tower and an equipment shelter on the property. The new tower will be moved slightly farther away from the residential property. The continued use of this site for a wireless communication facility should be compatible with the neighborhood. The Capitol Hill and Capitol View/Stifft Station Neighborhood Associations were notified of the Tower Use Permit application. 3. On -Site Drives and Parkin : The site is accessed by a driveway off of the alley. There is adequate space available on the site to accommodate the technician who will occasionally visit the site. 4. Screening and Buffers: Section 36-593(c) establishes the Landscaping and Screening requirements for wireless communications facilities and reads as follows: March 19, 1998 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 11 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6463 1. New WCF With Support Structures and Attached WCF with new building construction shall be landscaped in accordance with Chapter 15 and shall comply with the buffer requirements of Chapter 36 of this code. 2. Existing mature tree growth and natural landform on the site shall be preserved to the extent feasible; provided, however, that vegetation that causes interference with the antennas or inhibits access to the Equipment Facility may be trimmed. 3. Existing vegetation on a WCF site may be used in lieu of required landscaping where approved by the Planning Commission. 5. Public Works Comments: 1. Improve alley and pave to 20 feet wide. 2. All alley and driveways shall be concrete aprons per City Ordinances. 6. utility and Fire Department Comments: Water: No objection. Wastewater: Sewer service not required, sewer main located in alley. Fire Department: No Comments. CATA: Bus route located on 7th Street, 1/2 block to the south. 7. Staff Anal sis• A 75 foot tall wireless communication facility with support structure (cellular tower) is located on the I- 2 zoned property at 601 Jones Street. ALLTEL Cellular proposes to remove this structure and replace it with a 150 foot tall tower. Alltel states that the height of the tower must be increased for the following reasons: a) Due to the height of the existing structure, it does not provide proper hand-off. The reason is the height of the site is significantly lower than the other towers in the area which causes calls to be dragged or dropped. b) Because of the shorter height of the tower, customers experience background noise and static. 2 March 19, 1998 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 11 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6463 c) If the tower height is not increased, an additional tower would need to be constructed in the area. Chapter 36, Article XII of the Code of Ordinances establishes development standards for wireless communications facilities. If the proposed facility conformed to all standards, it could be approved through a staff level review process. This proposed facility does not conform to the setback standards for WCF with support structures abutting residential property. Section 36-593(b)(3) states: WCF with Support Structures which abuts residential property on any side shall be set back a distance at least the height of the tower measured from the base of the tower to the property line of the residential lot. The proposed tower has a setback of 49 feet from the residential lot to the east, 168 feet from the residential lot to the north and 154 feet from the residential lot across Jones Street to the west. A variance is requested to allow the reduced setback from the residential lot to the east. Since the proposed facility does not meet the development standards, it was necessary to file a tower use permit application. Staff believes the request to be reasonable. The site is currently occupied by an existing 75 foot tall tower. The proposed new tower will be moved slightly to the west, away from the residential property. The new tower will be designed to allow collocation of other WCF providers. The property is zoned industrial, as are the properties to the north, west and south. There is one outstanding issue which must be resolved and staff's support for this item hinges upon the applicant's response. Applicants proposing a new WCF with support structure must demonstrate that they have made a reasonable good faith attempt to find a collocation site acceptable to engineering standards and that none was technically or practically feasible. A 250 foot tall cellular tower is located on the south side of I-630, approximately 1,200 feet south of this proposed site. Staff feels that the applicant should demonstrate that collocation on the 250 foot tall tower is neither technically nor practically feasible. The 250 foot tall tower was approved by the Board of 3 March 19, 1998 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 11 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6463 Adjustment in 1994 and collocation capability was not required. 8. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the requested tower use permit to allow a wireless communication facility with a 150 foot tall support structure to be erected on the I-2 zoned property at 601 Jones Street subject to compliance with the following conditions: 1. Compliance with Public Works Comments 2. Compliance with the Development Standards for WCF established in Section 36-593. 3. The structure shall be constructed to be capable of collocation of other WCF. 4. The applicant shall demonstrate that collocation on the 250 foot tall tower located on the south side of I-630 (9th and Thayer) is not technically or practically feasible. Staff recommends approval of a variance to allow a reduced setback of 49 feet from the residential lot to the east. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (FEBRUARY 26, 1998) Dave Taylor, Maggie Howell and Keith Buchman were present representing the applicant. Staff presented the item. Public Works Staff discussed the requirement to improve the alley since it is used to provide access to the site. In response to a question from staff, the applicants stated that the proposed structure would accommodate ALLTEL and 2 other WCF providers. Staff informed the applicant that information must be provided to show that the 250 foot tall tower located south of I-630 was not technically or practically feasible for collocation by Alltel. The applicant stated that the 250 toot tall tower was not structurally designed to accommodate another user and documentation would be provided to prove that point. The Committee determined there were no other issues and forwarded the item to the full Commission for final resolution. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 19, 1998) Maggie Howell, Alissa Coffield, and Amir Shahegh were present representing the application. There were no objectors present. Staff presented the proposal and 4 March 19, 1998 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 11 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6463 recommendation noting that the only exception to meeting the requirements in the ordinance was the setback distance to the residential zoning on the east side. Maggie Howell presented why the new tower was needed to resolve service deficiencies along I-630 and in the Hillcrest area. She mentioned that they have attempted to resolve the problem by other means such as boosting the power levels, adjusting the angle of the antenna, or changing to different antennas. None of these methods resolved the problems. They also attempted co -location on the Southwestern Bell (SWB) tower which is approximately 1,200 feet to the south. This is not possible because that tower is not designed for co -location, she stated. Commissioner Hawn commented that the recent WCF Ordinance gives them the right to build the 150 foot tower requested. The fact that this tower will support two additional users may help the problem of Southwestern Bell's 250 foot tower when they decide to change that. Commissioner Nunnley asked if the ordinance requires a 25 foot separation between antenna arrays. Deputy City Attorney Giles responded that this is not in the ordinance and they left it up to industry standards which require a 20 foot separation. Chairman Lichty asked if Alltel anticipated having to raise the height of any of the other towers shown on the maps in Ms. Howell's presentation. Mr. Shahegh, an Alltel RF design engineer, responded by saying no since this is the only short tower in this area. Commissioner Adcock asked if there is ongoing dialogue between companies regarding future plans. She stated that there is information available that Southwestern Bell is looking at changing their tower in the area. She asked if there is any likelihood that we might come up with one tower for both users. Ms. Coff field responded that there is regular dialog and that if Southwestern Bell contacts them about co -location, they will be more than willing to allow them to co -locate on this new tower. A motion was made to approve the application as submitted with staff recommendations and conditions. The motion was approved by a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. 5