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8 <br /> NORTHEN, BLUE, ROOKS, THIBAUT, ANDERSON & WOODS, L.L.P, <br /> A LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP �/�r I L_'{� <br /> ATTORNEYS AT LAW ��`"�/��^�" <br /> 100 EUROPA DRIVE A-t6 -(4 <br /> SUITE 550 Iuryn1 /' ` <br /> JOHN A. NORTHEN CHAPEL HILL,NORTH CAROLINA 27514 "�l1 MAILING ADDRESS: <br /> J. WILLIAM BLUE, JR. P. 0. BOX 2208 <br /> DAVID M. ROOKS, III CHAPEL HILL, NC 27515-2205 <br /> CHARLES H. THIBAUT <br /> CHARLES T.L. ANDERSON September 14, 1994 <br /> JO ANN RAGAZZO WOODS <br /> TELEPHONE (919) 968-4441 <br /> CAROL J. HOLCOMB <br /> JAMES C. STANFORD TELEFAX(919) 942-6603 <br /> CHERYL Y. CAPRON <br /> GREGORY HERMAN-GIDDENS <br /> Hon. Moses Carey, Chairman <br /> Orange County Commissioners <br /> 200 S. Cameron Street <br /> Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br /> Dear Moses: <br /> I write on behalf of Dial Call, Inc. to request a meeting with the appropriate county <br /> officials to discuss more effective ways of denting with applications to construct cellular and <br /> digital relay towers. <br /> The zoning ordinance currently makes towers Class B Special Uses requiring a special <br /> use permit from the Board of Adjustment. The Board of Adjustment is governed by the <br /> extraordinary majority requirement of the statute such that it can only issue special use <br /> permits upon the affirmative vote of four of the Board's five members. As a result, any <br /> given application is unusually susceptible to denial in the face of even minimal levels of <br /> neighborhood opposition. This is compounded by the concern voiced by some members of <br /> the Board that there has been an unnecessary proliferation of towers in recent years. <br /> • <br /> The Planning Department is attempting to address the proliferation problem with a <br /> text amendment now making its way through the process which would require tower <br /> 'operators to share towers with other cellular and digital relay systems. This proposal is <br /> h1 C_ far I .1.. t think it will resolve the problem roll recently <br /> elpful as 141 QJ it goes, but I do 11V1 ll'lllli� 1L W111 LVJCIYV the problem. Dial v..a• vn.� <br /> had an application turned down by the Board despite the fact that it had documented its <br /> unsuccessful efforts to share space on nearby towers and had announced its willingness to <br /> accept a condition of its special use permit requiring it to share the tower with other users. <br /> This decision was reversed on appeal to Superior Court and the County is appealing this <br /> result to the Court of Appeals. <br /> If the citizens of Orange County want reliable cellular telephone and digital relay <br /> services, and I believe they do, we are going to have to accept a certain number of relay <br /> towers, shared or otherwise, in and around urban areas and along the major transportation <br /> corridors. The apparent randomness of decisions by the Board of Adjustment makes meeting <br /> the public demand for these services extraordinarily difficult. <br /> I believe the County would be better served if, in addition to requiring tower sharing, <br /> we were to make cellular and digital relay towers uses of right in certain key areas in order <br /> to assure minimal levels of service. Failing some sort of change in existing policy to <br />