P ORD-2002-030 Telecommunications Tower Ordinance Amendments

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SEP -04-2002 02:17PM FROG PENNINGTON AND LOTT +18039291075 T -379 P.008 /008 F -403 s` 78 4. VISUALLY INTRUSIVE REQUIREMENTS. Section 6.18.4.b. Page 9. This is an additional requirement. This new standard dictates that towers be located in heavily treed areas to the extent possible. This is fine as long as the search area contains a wooded tract with a willing property owner that has access to a public right of way. There will be locations in certain settings where there will be no surrounding wooded vegetation to provide a natural cover. This is a given. Some of these areas will be industrial or commercial settings where it makes sense to have a communications tower. Be aware of'this fact. Not all towers can be hidden in the trees. The second sentence of this section is most troubling. This sentence, regardless of vegetation, requires the applicant to prove that the proposed communications tower will not be visually intrusive to surrounding properties in the area. This Is an Impossible standard. This is such a subjective standard that there is no way an applicant can ever be successful in a hearing to the extent there is opposition. First, what Is the definition of "visually intrusive "? If this means that the communications- tower is not visible, then the Ordinance is on its face In violation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Verizon Wireless cannot provide effective wireless coverage and capacity with communications towers that are not visible from- adjacent and surrounding properties. This is a physical impossibility, and the Ordinance will have the effect of prohibiting the provision of wireless communications services in violation of federal law. The better way to approach this issue Is to require objective standards which can be evaluated and met. Vernon Wireless cannot build invisible communications towers, but it can use good sound judgment In the selection of a site and the placement of the communications tower on the site such that it is least visible and has the least visual Impact on surrounding properties. Such objective standards include the following types of things: as Limiting the height of the proposed communications tower. b. Limiting the type of communications tower that can be used. C. Regulating the distance and separation requirements of the communications tower from an adjacent property line or from a residential use. d. Regulating the distance and separation requirement of the communications tower from a public right of way.