Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
14 <br />Craig Benedict said that the intent to have a master plan has been advertised over the years <br />and the property owners have had the ability to fill out an application to be part of the plan. This is the <br />first phase. and other property owners will be accepted in the next phase.. There have been no <br />exclusions in the applicants. <br />Commissioner Yuhasz said that the ordinance is not being changed. He read the second <br />bullet point on page 355. "Any tower less than 150 feet in height on which the owner of such facility <br />permits the County to co-locate its wireless facilities on a structure, etc., as determined at the sole <br />discretion of the County; those towers do not have to go through the balloon test." Therefore, any <br />private site that is designated on this map does not have to go through the balloon test. <br />PUBLIC COMMENT: <br />Tony Blake said that he is President of the White Cross Fire Department and there is a hole <br />with cell tower coverage and they support this on their site. He said that some of the 911 calls come <br />in on cell phones and it is important to have coverage in this area. <br />Matthew Danielson said that staff directed him to one of the cell sites and he is a cell tower <br />developer. His company wants to develop a tower in the southeast portion of the County. He said <br />that he is willing to go down on the height of the tower if it means not going through the public hearing <br />process. <br />Amy Scott is a rural property owner in Cedar Grove and based on the map, there is a large <br />gap in coverage in this area. She said that she understands that the only way she can proceed <br />forward is to bring maps of the property and ask to be formally added to the plan. She would like to <br />be added to the master telecommunications plan. She said that she has ten acres of land and she <br />has no cell phone coverage in this area. She also has no DSL or cable in this area. <br />Patrick Mulkey lives on Stanford Road. He said that he does not own a cell phone. He <br />commended the staff on the plan of how to deal with County-owned property and communicating to <br />the neighbors. He said that there is no notice posted on the property and this was excluded in the <br />requirements. He said that by creating the criteria followed by the County, it is pushing the business <br />community away from the County site. He would like to see these criteria apply to anything under 150 <br />feet. He lives next to OWASA and they do not communicate with the neighborhood. He thinks that it <br />is important that neighbors communicate with each neighbor. <br />With reference to the Planning Board discussing this item, Planning Board member Pete <br />Hallenbeck said that the intent of this is great but the details need to be worked out. <br />Frank Clifton said that the staff intent is to get the Board to authorize moving forward with the <br />publicly owned sites. Any private owner that wants to enlist their property that complies with the <br />zoning regulations could be added to the list of willing participants. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that, in an effort to move this along, this is an appropriate thing to <br />be visited during Phase II of the UDO. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to: <br />1. Receive the proposal for the Master Telecommunications Plan (MTP) map contained in <br />the agenda abstract. <br />2. Conduct the public hearing and accept public comments on the subject of the proposed <br />MTP map. <br />