Agenda - 09-03-1996 - VIII-G - Laserfiche WebLink

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26 Orange County Planning Board June 14, 1996 Page 2 section 6.18 after the word "greater," as being unnecessary and contrary to'the section's intent. (2) BellSouth strongly recommends that the zoning ordinances clarify that a leased site for a telecommunications tower does not trigger the requirements of the County's subdivision ordinances, so long as the lease does not create a separate, delineated parcel that survives its use as a telecommunication tower site. None of BellSouth's sites require a lease of one or two acres of land and none require an improved right-of-way or easement of at least 50 feet in width. Most BellSouth sites are on very small leased parcels of approximately 40 x 60 feet and require access only for construction and occasional maintenance and inspection (and, eventually, removal). The leases terminate whenever a tower is removed and does not allow the leased site to be used for any other purpose. Neither the property owner or BellSouth intends to create a parcel for potential residential or any other use. Therefore, the subdivision requirements are not necessary and should be expressly noted to be inapplicable. (3) Proposed section 8.8.17a.1(g) would increase the area in which property owners must be notified of the public hearing from 500 to 1,000 feet of the parcel on which the structure site is to be located. As discussed during prior meetings, most PCS towers initially constructed to provide basic coverage are less than 200 feet tall. Any towers needed to provide additional capacity in the future will most likely be shorter, as noted in Section 7 of the Response to November 27, 1995 Public Hearing Comments. Towers less than 200 feet tall, as a general rule, either cannot be seen at all, or at least are not noticeable, from a distance greater than 500-600 feet if there are any trees at all between the observer and the structure. As you know, BellSouth often conducts informal meetings with area property owners prior to the formal public hearings in order to answer questions, address concerns, and provide information at an early stage in the siting process. Occasionally, these public meetings result in BellSouth modifying its original plans for a site. Our experience at these meetings has been that, once the location of the site is identified, residents living more than 100-150 yar&from the structure often leave,because it is so far away from them. Moreover, boom BellSouth attempts to locate its structures on large parcels of undeveloped land whenever poss:'ble, notifying every property owner within 1000 feet of the property line .of the panel is not only unnecessary, but also difficult. For all of these reasons, BellSouth proposes alternative language requiring notification of all owners of property within 3 or 4 times the tower height from the base of the structure.