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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP201300007 Approval - County 2013-02-25 (2) Albemarle County Planning Commission May 21,2013 The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a regular meeting and public hearing on Tuesday,May 21,2013, at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. Members attending were Ed Smith, Bruce Dotson, Don Franco,Thomas Loach,Russell(Mac)Lafferty,Vice Chair, and Calvin Morris, Chair. Absent was Richard Randolph. Julia Monteith, AICP, Senior Land Use Planner for the University of Virginia was absent. Other officials present were Scott Clark, Senior Planner; David Benish, Chief of Planning; Sarah Baldwin, Senior Planner; Chris Perez, Senior Planner; Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission; and Greg Kamptner, Deputy County Attorney. Call to Order and Establish Quorum: Mr.Morris,Chair,called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.and established a quorum. Public Hearing: SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace Property Tier III Personal Wireless Service Facility PROPOSED: Request for installation of a 118 foot tall monopole with 3 antennas and associated ground equipment with fencing within a 1,600 sq.ft.leasing areas as well as construction of a new access road to the site. ZONING CATEGORY/GENERAL USAGE: RA, Rural Areas- agricultural, forestal, and fishery uses; residential density (0.5 unit/acre in development lots); EC Entrance Corridor — Overlay to protect properties of historic, architectural or cultural significance from visual impacts of development along routes of tourist access; FH Flood Hazard—Overlay to provide safety and protection from flooding. Southern Albemarle Rural Historic District; and Scenic By-ways Overlay. SECTION: 10.2.2.48 Tier III personal wireless facilities COMPREHENSIVE PLAN LAND USE/DENSITY:Rural Areas in Rural Area 2 -preserve and protect agricultural, forestal,open space,and natural,historic and scenic resources/density(0.5 unit/acre in development lots) ENTRANCE CORRIDOR:YES LOCATION:3382 Stony Point Road TAX MAP/PARCEL:04700-00-00-03000 MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT:Rivanna (Sarah Baldwin) Sarah Baldwin presented a PowerPoint presentation and summarized the staff report,as described above. This property is zoned Rural Areas and contains an existing dwelling unit with several outbuildings and is located on a wooded parcel. The surrounding area contains single family residential with both wooded and open areas. This is a request for installation of a 118 foot tall monopole with 3 antennas and associated ground equipment with fencing within a 1,600 square foot lease area with the construction of a new access road to the site. The applicant is requesting a waiver of the reference tree requirement since the reference tree is a 98 foot White Oak and the tower will be approximately 20 feet taller. Staff is supporting the waiver as the lot is wooded and the surrounding topography mitigates the view. With the recent ordinance changes a 10-foot tower above the reference tree is allowed by right. Staff attended a balloon test on April 9th. The tower is visible on site. The applicant did provide some photo simulations. She pointed out on a slide one of the areas on Stony Point where the balloon was briefly visible. It is very difficult to see. Again,the applicant did provide a photo simulation of that same general area. Staff found the following factors favorable: 1. The proposal will provide improved 3G and 4G wireless service to the surrounding area. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 1 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING 2. The Architectural Review Board staff has recommended approval of the proposed monopole and associated ground equipment stating that the location is expected to sufficiently minimize its visibility such that no negative impact on the Entrance Corridor is anticipated. 3. The proposal meets all the requirements of 5.1.40(with a waiver that is supported by staff). Factors unfavorable to this request include: 1. None identified. Staff recommends approval of this Tier III personal wireless services facility with a condition as well as the requested modification based upon the analysis provided herein. Mr.Morris invited questions for staff. He asked how many motions were being requested. Ms. Baldwin replied two motions were needed for the modification of the reference tree requirements and for the special use permit. Mr. Lafferty noted for future applications it would be good to see the difference between 10 feet and 20 feet in the coverage. He asked if the neighbors have been contacted on this. Ms.Baldwin replied yes,the neighbors have been contacted. Mr.Lafferty said he assumed there were no adverse comments. Mr.Morris pointed out that was not quite correct. Ms. Baldwin replied that she did not know that it was so much adverse as they did hear from one adjacent neighbor across the street,which she believed comments were sent out to the Planning Commission on. Mr.Morris noted that the comments were sent in a very timely manner. There being no further questions,he opened the public hearing and invited the applicant to address the Commission. Preston Lloyd,attorney with Williams Mullens,represented AT&T and the property owners,Mr. and Mrs.Pace. At the outset they held the typical balloon test at the property and did that in connection with staff. After they received notice that there was an adjoining neighbor who had some concerns, which was circulated to the Planning Commission, regretfully they did not have time to get them to a subsequent balloon test. They did extend that invitation, but understand it was short notice. So it is certainly understandable that it did not accommodate their schedule. However, Mr. Morris was able to attend that. They look forward to hopefully addressing some of the concerns that the neighbor addressed in their correspondence to the Commission. He presented a PowerPoint presentation to explain the proposal,as follows. • This request requires the Tier III review because it adjoins the Scenic Byway of Route 20 and not because of the Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District. As staff mentioned the property is approximately 117 acres. The proposed site is located reasonably far into the property about 250'to 300' in from the right-of- way. That area is heavily forested area as shown on the slide. The forestation follows a hillside so that there is actually some rolling topography, which is difficult to make out from this particular view. The topography adds to very effectively screen the proposed facility when traveling in a car down Route 20. • They took a number of pictures and had staff in the car when they did both balloon tests. The first balloon test was done before the leaves had come out on the trees. In the pictures staff presented,even when there were no leaves on the trees, it was still a very effective mitigator of those visual impacts. The site plan shows the proposed location 302.9' away from the property line along Stony Point Road and the monopole 20'above the reference tree for a total tower height of 118'. • Mr. Lloyd noted the ordinance originally was the result of the work of this body and the Board in developing the Albemarle County's Wireless Policy in 2000. He thought it was interesting to note on the very first page of that the most important principle for siting personal wireless service facilities in Albemarle County is visibility, which is the primary consideration when determining whether a location is appropriate for a wireless facility. The ordinance standards for design of these facilities prescribe to help mitigate the visual impacts. They have been designed to be monopoles with flush mounted antenna at the ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 2 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING top, do not have arrays that extend far beyond the pole, have a limited size of diameter of the pole, and must be sited an appropriate distance from certain critical areas such as a Scenic Byway in this case. The ordinance really reflects the work that was done in that policy initially. However, he returns again to that primary consideration for the Commission, which is to determine whether or not this proposed site effectively mitigates any adverse visual impacts of the proposed facility. • Being a visual person Mr. Lloyd said he was going to take a step through the various sites since the map helps get a better feel from where each picture was taken. Heading south on Route 20 if they begin north of the property and look up briefly for a split second at the house that is one down from the proposed property one can barely make it out through the trees. Continuing down if you then turn around in your car and look back up at the property from the other direction, again while there are no leaves on the trees, it is visible but it blends in with the surroundings. The standard is not invisibility, but whether the visual impacts have been mitigated. That is an important distinction. Even though the tower was visible it may still be an appropriate site because those visual impacts have been effectively mitigated. • Again, moving further down Route 20 at its intersection with Fosters Branch Road one can see there is no visibility over the ridge. This gives a nice sense of the rolling nature of the topography in this area. Taking a look at the County's GIS Website at the approximate distance from the proposed facility to a few residences it seemed to have more of an open nature to them and not as much close in wooded natural features adjacent to them. While they don't have photo simulations from these residences he thinks from the distances they can get a sense that even if the tower is visible that it will be mitigated by the distance from the proposed facility. In these cases the residences are 2,300 feet,over one-half mile,and about 3,000 feet from the proposed facility,which are rough approximations using the County's website. • As with the last one, he would note the propagation comparisons of this facility. He pointed out the location of both the existing and proposed wireless facility. At the apex of the bend in the road by giving it that extra 20' it has a very effective coverage area. As seen in the slide it really makes for continuous screen coverage up Route 20 filling in a major hole with the addition of just one tower facility.They think this is a good site selection. As always they have worked hard to find a site that mitigates those visual impacts. He welcomed any questions. Mr.Morris invited questions for the applicant. Mr. Smith questioned on the map when it says outdoor best signal level indoors. Mr. Lloyd replied the green is signal sufficient to give consistent coverage within a building and the yellow out of doors but not indoors. Mr. Smith asked how about sitting in a car. Mr. Lloyd replied that is typically something they provide. However, they did not have that available on this particular slide. If it is sufficient for indoor coverage it will certainly be sufficient for within a vehicle. However,if it is outdoor coverage it may not be quite strong enough to give you consistent coverage in the car. So green is what they look for to provide the consistency of coverage in terms of radio strength. Mr. Dotson said like the previous application this is for 20' above the tree line. In reading this it looks like this is just a single antenna not the second one below the top one. He was curious why the difference. If they wanted to add a second one would that mean they would have to come back and get that approved again? Mr.Lloyd replied the ordinance does provide for a collocation,which is a less intense process. This is a special use permit, which requires approval by the Board. A collocation would not. It has been much more streamlined in the ordinance so that would still be a possibility down the road and the County would be involved in reviewing that. However,it would not receive the same level of scrutiny as a special use permit. Mr.Dotson said that it strikes him for efficiency they would want to request it now. Mr. Morris asked the applicant to put the schematic as to the coverage back up. Driving this road at least two to three times per week he pointed out moving to the north from the proposed location on up to the Stony Point School they virtually do not have any current reception in a car. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 3 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING Mr.Lloyd asked to reserve five minutes for rebuttal. Mr.Morris invited public comment. Ronald L. Kerber, an adjacent property owner, noted in the email sent to the Commission that there was one typo, which was an extra word"the". He submitted a corrected copy. He won't repeat what he wrote,but would repeat some highlights. • For adjacent property owners and household residents that they place no tower closer than 500' and ideally 1,000' from a residence. In this case he suggested they keep the tower height only 25' above the nominal tree height. He wanted to question the 98'reference tree.They just went through a process in this very area with the Hollymead Transmission project and the reference tree height that was nominal for that project was 80'. That is a lot different than 98'. He suggests the Commission be very careful when they accept these reference tree numbers of what is the right height for a reference tree for a tower. The second point, which was not in the written comments, is this tower will be very visible from his main entrance. As he comes out his main entrance he looks right up there and will see the tower every time he comes out. • There is no one that can tell you that the long term danger of low level RF radiation will not harm the human body. This is an area that he is an expert in. Also, he can say that no one can measure these frequencies at low levels and be sure where that energy is. He could give an example where that happened to him when he was doing work in a laboratory in New Mexico. He was shielding all the apparatus for RF energy and he was very careful and turned off the room lights and they did not go off. As an expert he did not know where low levels of radiation were because the radiation was actually illuminating fluorescent lights. • Finally, he could say that distance is your friend. So putting antennae a long distance from people and property lines is a good thing. They should not err on being close to people or property lines. He would never put my children in a house so close to an antenna as this is proposed. He thinks it is too dangerous. He was asking them three things: to consider lowering the height above the trees; keep it away from property lines and residences; and make the tower look like tree.They should require the tower look like a tree in the normal requirements in Albemarle County. Mr.Morris invited questions for the applicant. Mr. Lafferty said he appreciates his credentials, but as he understands it they have no choice from the federal government about the dangers of these towers. They have to approve them if they are not bad. Mr. Kerber replied that he was not saying don't approve it. He was saying keep it away from property lines and residences. Mr. Lafferty said he fully understands that. He guessed they could find out how many kilowatts they are putting in the towers and figure out what the radiation was at some distance. They are charged to not consider that just so he would know. He appreciates his point and understands that. However,he did not believe they can do that. Mr. Kamptner said they can certainly consider sighting issues. They are precluded by federal law from considering radio frequency radiation and emissions in radiation in particular if the facility complies with the FCC standards. Mr.Kerber noted what he told the Commission was a fact. Mr.Lafferty replied that he understands that. Mr.Morris invited other public comment. Jane Clark, a neighbor, said she was here with her husband, William Clark. Their house was estimated to be one- half a mile from the site. However,what was not mentioned is they are on an elevation of about 600'. She believed it will be visible from every window in their house. They were not notified of any of this until Mr. Kerber, who is their next door neighbor, told them about it. They have not seen a balloon test and how it will affect their view. Their house is in the Southwest Mountain Rural Historic District. It has a beautiful view,which is why they moved ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 4 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING there. To have one of these towers obtrusively sticking up 20' above the tree line between her house and the Blue Ridge Mountains is really heartbreaking. There being no further public comment, Mr. Morris invited the applicant to take advantage of the five minute rebuttal. Mr.Lloyd asked to address a few points that Mr.Kerber mentioned. Unfortunately,because of the nature of the site if they were to move the location of the facility backward what would actually happen is that they would end up with a facility in a meadow. It would be incompatible with the design standards described by the County. While it may grant some individuals some ease in terms of their concerns about RF signal,which he knows is not germane to this body's decision, from a sighting perspective that would unfortunately not comply with the policy and the regulations prescribed by the ordinance. Secondly,in terms of trying to design a facility that mimics an existing tree that is not typical County policy. That is not a good four season option. When you design a facility that attempts to mimic a tree it increased the cost and the maintenance but it does not dramatically improve the visibility impacts. It may be appropriate in very rare circumstances. He knows the County has approved at least one. He would have some pause in saying this is one of the sites that would be appropriate for the simple reason that it actually resembles very closely the surrounding area. As they look through the bald trees here it looks like a tall tree truck. That is why the County regulations were designed in the manner they were. A tree top tower, as the policy says, is considered camouflaged for the purposes of attempting to mitigate adverse visual impacts. They think this is a positive site. Again, it is not invisible and there may be certain properties that are able to pick it out from a great distance. However,this was AT&T's attempt to find a site that did meet all of the requirements of the policy while providing better coverage and more reliable coverage for the Route 20 Corridor,which has been a priority as many Commissioners and Board of Supervisors members have heard from their constituents. There being no questions, Mr. Morris closed the public hearing to bring the matter back to the Commission for discussion and action. Mr. Morris pointed out in driving and taking a look at the balloon test he paid particular attention to the multi-pole utility poles in the area. He finds them far more obstructive than cell phone towers. However,that is his opinion. Mr. Loach said it was important to recognize that in the county it has been a weight in measurements. The easiest thing to do is to go and look in the back of Fashion Square Mall and see the tower.That is the trade off we've made to not have those types of towers versus utilizing these monopoles, which he thinks is a far more suitable solution. He appreciates the comments about the health and safety,but as they heard it is not something they can measure. If, in fact, the tower would be as he said sited next to somebody's house unfortunately he thinks the onerous then becomes on the person who is going to live there to do the investigation of whether they want to be exposed to the RF versus the income they generate from the tower. So those are the things they have been dealing with. He thinks they have done the best they can under the circumstances. They also have to weigh the situation that the increased coverage to reach 911 would be helpful in emergency situations. When weighing these things he always comes out on the side of the tower. He supports the tower request realizing and living with the information they have given us. Mr. Lafferty said there is some analogy to the noise in the rural areas in disturbing neighbors that have not been there. However, he also sees that it may increase the property value because they will have cell phone service and intemet service on the property. Therefore,he was in favor of the request. Mr.Dotson noted unlike the previous application where the invisibility was emphasized and there appeared to be no problems with neighbors they have had a couple of neighbors here. Unlike the previous application the 20' was justified by putting two tiers of antennae. He asked the question here and apparently there is only a desire for one tier. So where at only 10' above the tree line,as the ordinance provides,that would be just that much less visible to the neighbors.They have not heard an argument at all as to justifying a space for a second antenna. Apparently they are quite willing to come back if that ever happens and ask for a second approval. He was kind of mulling the idea of what is the justification for 20' instead of 10'. Ms. Baldwin said to respond to his question that with the ordinance changes they could put two more antennae arrays on the monopole by right now,which would just require a building permit under the new ordinance. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 5 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING Mr.Benish noted it was adopted on May 8. Mr. Dotson said on the previous application, though, they allowed for two antennae because it was requested. Apparently there was some anticipation of need for that. Here that has not been explained. He thanked Ms. Baldwin for updating him on the ordinance. Mr. Lafferty said that he was quite upset about the lady who said that she could see it from every window in her house. That would be disturbing. He remembered the Commission turned down an antenna at Ivy because it was visible from the neighbor's house. Therefore,it is a trade off that is hard to do. Mr.Morris said he fully understands that. However,it is interesting though when he went out to look at the balloon test it was in the middle of trees. He was not trying to push the thing,but he did not see how it could be visible. However, he was not looking out her window. He could not deny or anything else. But, it is in the middle of the trees. It is very woody where it is. Mr. Loach pointed out he always use the model on I-64 as he is going over the mountain. Right across from the VDOT Memorial if they look there are four towers. However, you really have to look. Again, he thinks for the County this has been the best solution. Mr. Smith said the one in Ivy was about 250 feet away and the neighbor had to look up to see it. Motion: Mr. Smith moved and Mr. Loach seconded to recommend approval of the modification to Section 5.1.40(d)(6): Modification of requirement that facility extend no more than 10 feet above the reference tree, to permit it to extend 20 feet above the reference tree, for SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace Property Tier III Personal Wireless Service Facility as outlined in the staff report. The motion passed by a vote of 5:1.(Dotson nay) Motion: Mr. Smith moved and Mr. Loach seconded to recommend approval of the SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace Property Tier III PWSF with the conditions as outlined in the staff report. CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL: 1. Development and use shall be in general accord with what is described in the applicant's request and site plans,entitled"CV372,Parcel 47-30"with a final zoning drawing submittal date of 05/06/13 (hereafter "Conceptual Plan"),as determined by the Director of Planning and Zoning Administrator. To be in general accord with the Conceptual Plan,development and use shall reflect the following major elements within the development essential to the design of the development,as shown on the Conceptual Plan: a. Height Minor modifications to the plan which do not conflict with the elements above may be made to ensure compliance with the Zoning Ordinance. 2. Entrance design and location must be approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation before construction of the access road for this use may commence. The motion passed by a vote of 5:1. (Dotson nay) Mr. Morris said SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace Property Tier III Personal Wireless Service Facility and modification would be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation for approval with conditions on June 12,2013. (Recorded and transcribed by Sharon C.Taylor,Clerk to Planning Commission&Planning Boards) ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 6 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING Attachment to May 21,2013 Planning Commission Minutes from Ronald L. Kerber Testimony for Public Hearing at the Albemarle County Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday,May 21,2013. On: SP201300007 Cingular Wireless/Pace Property Tier III Personal Wireless Service Facility Tax Map Parcel: 04700000003000 Ladies and Gentlemen: I appear before you both as an adjacent neighbor across the road from the proposed tower and as an expert witness. My qualifications as an expert witness are attached. First let me say that Teresa and Monte Pace are lifelong residents of the area and are viewed by all as good neighbors and citizens and we want to support them. As we speak,our area is being bombarded with"technology improvements"for the"general good"that are significantly devaluing our property. The Hollymead transmission line expansion project is going through the area and adding a huge eyesore to the views. Now this project will add more view shed clutter plus be a safety risk. I remind the Commission that this property is in the Southwest Mountains Historic District. I make the following requests: 1)For adjacent property owners and household resident protection and safety that the tower be placed no closer to any property line or residence than 500 feet(ideally 1000 feet). If the tower is placed any closer to property lines it will definitely negatively impact neighboring property values and restrict potential use of neighboring property. 2)The tower height be limited to 105 feet(which is still 25 feet above the nominal tree top line). 3)The tower be designed to look like a tree to blend into the environment. The rational for these recommendations are as follows: I have conducted microwave research for lasers and plasmas and published the results in archive journals.I was responsible for Whirlpool Corporation's global microwave oven business. And I was responsible for all of the Department of Defense basic and applied research including radio frequency effects on people and things. 1)I tell you today that no one can say for certain that the long term impacts of low levels of radio frequency energy are not potentially harmful to the human body. 2)I can also state without reservation that the electromagnetic energy distribution around antennas at their operating frequencies and harmonic frequencies is very hard to measure and monitor at low levels. 3)Finally I can tell you that the electromagnetic fields of these antennas drop off rapidly with distance. So distance is your friend. I am not here to stop economic progress.We all know that cell phones and"wifi"have huge impacts on our society both from a convenience and economic point of view. However,we have adopted these technologies without really understanding the long term impacts of this low level radiation on our bodies. I am only saying that some smart policies could mitigate the potential negative cell tower impact on us. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 7 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING Ronald L Kerber Page 2 Testimony for Public Hearing at the Albemarle County Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday,May 21,2013. I suggest that Albemarle County adopt the following two constraints as a minimum policy for all cell tower placements: 1)Limit cell towers to be no closer than 1000 feet from a property line or home. 2)Require all cell towers to look like trees. Ideally a more aggressive policy would place cell towers in our area on remote mountain tops with structures that look like trees. I realize that with this recommendation each tower would need an access road but 1 still strongly believe that it would be worth it. Given the safety and aesthetic information that I provided above,I request the following conditions be placed on the tower in question in this hearing: 1)For the safety of adjacent property owners and protection of their property values,that the no tower be placed closer to any property line or residence than 500 feet(ideally 1000 feet). And to preserve the aesthetics of the Southwest Mountains Historic district: 2)The tower height be limited to 105 feet(which is still 25 feet above the nominal tree top line). 3)The tower be designed to look like a tree to blend into the environment and view shed. Respectfully submitted, Ronald L. Kerber Ronald L.Kerber,Expert Witness Qualifications: 1)Ph.D.in Engineering Science(applied physics)from the California Institute of Technology 2)Professor of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean of Engineering at Michigan State University 3)Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Technology 4)Chief engineer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation 5)Chief Technical Officer of Whirlpool Corporation 6)Senior Fellow on the Department of Defense Science Board 7)Professional Engineer the State of Michigan Return to PC actions letter ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—MAY 21,2013 8 DRAFT PARTIAL MINUTES—SP-2013-00007 Cingular Wireless/Pace SUBMITTED TO BOS—JUNE 12 MEETING