P ORD-2002-030 Telecommunications Tower Ordinance Amendments

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Tom King - August262002.doc 100 Renee Price asked about balloon tests and the time of day it is done and the color of the balloon and if they could add guidelines to address this issue. Craig Benedict said that the ordinance specifies a red balloon but does not address time of day. Renee Price asked about the notification process because she is concerned about electromagnetic fields and co- locating towers near schools and she wants this to be considered. Craig Benedict said that they could provide information about this issue to the public that addresses all electromagnetic concerns, etc. He said that recent information is that there is more electromagnetic radiation in your house than what emulates from these towers. Renee Price asked about the health concerns of the residents versus the Planning Department's health information and if there is a conflict. Craig Benedict said that there was general nationwide information about the health risks associated with towers of this type and that the general health risks are waged against the criteria within the ordinance and the provision of providing telecommunication facilities in a neighborhood are the primary concerns of promoting new towers. Renee Price asked about the end of moratorium and Craig Benedict said that it ends on September 601. On September 1T'', if the Board of County Commissioners approves the new ordinance, there could be some applications that have been submitted between that time. The new ordinance requires that these applications that have not been acted upon would fall under the new ordinance. Renee Price asked about the reviews within the ordinance and if existing towers would be subject to review and Craig Benedict said no. These reviews are for new towers only. Renee Price asked if these existing towers can be added to the reviews and he said that the Board of County Commissioners would have to make that determination. Ted Treibel made reference to tower inspections on page 13, item 'b' and said that he does not think you get a valid inspection from the ground and that the wording needs to be changed. He said that you need to check up closely and not only from the ground. Craig Benedict noted this. Jay Bryan asked if a strobe light could be prohibited under certain circumstances. Craig Benedict said that at less than 200 feet you could possibly prohibit them but a lot of these items are under FAA. Public Comment Gary Pennington, who was representing Verizon Wireless, distributed a hand out with four issues. He stated that Verizon has over 30 million customers and is committed to providing quality service. Regarding general issues about the industry, he said that we are becoming a wireless society. In order to implement this, it is going to be necessary to build the infrastructure to support this use. Presently, over 115 million people are using wireless communications in the United States today. He said that every day over 100,000 calls are made to 911 using wireless phones. Regarding the ordinance, he asked that the County work with the industry and not make it so overly difficult that the growth of the technology is suppressed. He thinks that the ordinance is well written, but he gave some written comments. He said that the industry likes objective criteria so that they know what to expect with the application process. In some instances, the cost to prepare an application could range between $30,000- 50,000. He requested that one body hear the tower applications — the Board of Adjustment - which has more experience in hearing such matters as these. He said that it was always his preference to be before a non - partisan board so that a technical application is heard by a technical board. He made reference to the limitations on the hearing dates and asked that the application process not be limited to only twice a year. Another point is co- location and he said that he would like to see a separate part of the ordinance that deals explicitly with the co- location process. He said that Verizon does encourage co- location. He said that the reality is that in order to provide the coverage needed for this technology, new towers will need to be built. Liz Hill with American Tower commented on the application fee and she stated that this is ten times over any other project. She said that since the bulk of the application fee is for the consultant, it might work to put the $9,000 into an escrow fund for the consultant to draw off of. Then if it does not take $9,000 the industry would not have to pay the full amount. Her other concerns were with tower ownership and tower maintenance. She asked if the periodic review would apply to all towers in 5