BOA minutes 061013 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Approved 7/8/2013 OC Board of Adjustment – 6/10/2013 Page 6 of 92 room for AT&T’s antenna and for three additional carriers so when other carriers, (i.e. Verizon, Alltel), 1 if they want to come and provide coverage in this area, they can enter into a lease agreement with 2 American Tower and attach their antennas to the tower as well. 3 4 Samantha Cabe: Your map showing there is no coverage; there could be different carrier’s coverage 5 there, just not AT&T coverage? 6 7 Karen Kemerait: There could be but since there is not another tower located in the area, I think it is 8 unlikely there would be good coverage for any other carrier in the area, however, I have not studied 9 the other carrier’s coverage but I suspect the likelihood is that other carriers are going to come 10 approach American Tower to ask to locate their antennas on the tower as well. As we were talking 11 about, there had been an Alltel tower located in the location where American Tower’s tower will be 12 located. For a special use permit application we talked about the 100 foot by 100 foot parcel that will 13 be leased by American Tower and located on Mr. Fagan’s property which is an ideal location for the 14 tower. It is a very large parcel of land, 56 acres, undeveloped and heavily wooded. And one of the 15 reasons it is such a good location is the wooded area will make it so the tower will not be visible from 16 that location or barely visible or just the top of the tower visible from other locations. The property is 17 in agricultural residential and the tower will be located 900 feet from New Sharon Church Road and 18 219 feet from the closest property line which is Mr. Fagan’s property line and his residence is located 19 on that nearby property. I also mentioned there would be room for three additional carriers in addition 20 to AT&T and the antennas as required by the Orange County Ordinance are going to be flush 21 mounted to the tower and flush mounted means they will be up against the tower so they will be much 22 less visible than the antennas that protrude from the side of the tower. Under Attachment 7, we have 23 photographs of the balloon test that was conducted and that will show the areas where the towers will 24 not be visible whatsoever and in the few locations where the top of the tower will be visible. The top 25 of the tower will be visible from a few locations on Bill Poole Road and along New Sharon Church 26 Road but from all other locations it will not be visible. We have shown in our application that we have 27 met all the technical requirements and the specific requirements of the Ordinance for 28 Telecommunications Towers. In addition, the county’s consultant, CMS has provided its 29 recommendation report stating that CMS’ opinion is that we have in fact met all those technical 30 requirements. Moving on to the Special Use General Standards. We have provided quite a bit of 31 information or application materials showing that we have met all the general requirements as well. I 32 would like to put this into the evidence as well. The Findings of Fact from the planning staff has also 33 stated they have received sufficient evidence from the applicant meeting the general standards and 34 at this point they have received no evidence that would establish grounds for a negative finding of 35 fact. We have shown that the tower use will maintain or promote the public health, safety and 36 general welfare. We have provided information that the addition of the antennas will comply with all 37 federal laws and with the FCC rules and regulations. As I have mentioned previously, the 38 background information will promote the public health and safety by providing access to emergency 39 and 911 services. Also, I talked about economic development that too will promote the public health 40 and general welfare of the county. I also provided quite a bit of information on the application about 41 how the use will maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property. As I mentioned, the tower will 42 not be visible from most locations and only the top of the tower will be visible from a couple of 43 locations. The tower will not be a nuisance or an environmental hazard. This will be an unmanned 44 facility and will generate, once it is constructed; only two or four vehicle trips per month which means 45 there will be no increase in traffic in the area. The tower will not be lit, it will be only 199 feet and FAA 46 requirements state that towers above 200 feet will have to be lit so this tower will not be lit. The tower 47 will also not have any noise or glare so therefore there is no element of nuisance or environmental 48 hazard. We also provided a property impact analysis report prepared by David Smith. Mr. Smith is a 49 North Carolina certified real estate appraiser and he performed the research and analysis as 50 contained in the report and his conclusion is that the proposed tower will maintain or enhance the 51 value of contiguous property. Finally, we have information in the application materials that the tower 52 will be in harmony in the area in which it is located and will be in compliance with the ordinance and 53