P ORD-2002-030 Telecommunications Tower Ordinance Amendments

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Tom King - August262002.doc Page 2 Section D is higher technical standards and a new fee structure, which will help the County bring on consultants to assist in the application process. Section E is periodic inspections for major and minor problems once or twice a year. This was not in the ordinance before. This is to make sure that the structural integrity of the tower is still there and that any special use standards are still being upheld. Section F is the Master Telecommunications Plan. There will be a piacehoider in the ordinance for this when it is adopted. Section G is a requirement to submit a picture of the balloon test to staff and to notify residents of this test. This also includes some separation requirements, but there will be some exceptions. Section H is a fee schedule change for both applications and inspections. Building inspection fees will be $20 per linear foot for new towers. Zoning review fees are $10,000 for a class A process and $8,500 for a class B process. The majority of the monies will go to a consultant to help review the application. He said that this is a time consuming process and the fees are indicative of the time spent to review the applications. He said that after discussion of these items for about two years, the idea is to bring these items to the Planning Board at their September 41" meeting and then bring it back to the Board of County Commissioners on September 171i. Under this new ordinance, the process will start in January of next year. Between the adoption of this ordinance and the first submittal of applications, we need to adopt the Master Telecommunications Plan. This plan includes making available public and quasi - public properties for use to locate towers (i.e., fire stations, voluntary ag districts, etc.). This needs to be adopted before the first set of applications. Craig Benedict pointed out an error on the gold sheet in the motion. The date in the motion should be September I r and not September 201h. Questions from Board of County Commissioners Commissioner Carey asked about Section G and if there were any other issues besides visual that warrants this provision. Craig Benedict described the difference between the general and specific standards. This section is putting more standards in the general category so that all towers will have to comply with the general standards. Commissioner Carey asked about the rationale for no more applications until after the meeting at the beginning of the year. Craig Benedict explained that the meeting would identify who needs new towers within the year. This would identify potential co- location opportunities because the industry providers would be meeting together. There wilt be some emergency situations that are not identified at the meeting. Commissioner Carey asked about the exceptions to the 1/2 -mile separation. Craig Benedict said that a tower could exist that is only able to hold one user. if someone wants to put another tower right beside this one, then they will have to explain why the tower could not be replaced with one that could accommodate more users. If the tower has four users and they can show that that is the area they need to service, then the tower would be allowed. Commissioner Brown is concerned that the public may see that the presentation accommodates the cell tower industry. She noted that in fact the Board of County Commissioners is concerned about the towers and how they affect the public. She wants clarification on the stealth towers, particularly the one on 140 at RTP that looks like a pine tree at the top. She asked if there was a more elaborate idea about when the stealth towers are part of the terrain and do not look more ridiculous than the normal ones. Craig Benedict said that they would encourage multi - purpose sites and co- location sites. Anytime these sites have a public purpose the County can set what the tower will look like. The more cell users there are the lower the towers. Some towers could blend in with existing structures such as a silo. Some stealth towers could be shorter than some pine trees. The staff is also looking at attaching new telecommunications equipment to the electric power transmission lines. Commissioner Brown said that she was glad to see the part about the new payment schedule and is interested about the consultants and what type it would be. She asked if the consultant would