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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZTA201300001 Review Comments 2013-04-29Phone (434) 296 -5832 Lrf2C;l1�ZA COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 -4596 MEMORANDUM TO: File FROM: William D. Fritz, Chief of Current Development DATE: April 29, 2013 RE: ZTA201300002 Wireless Phase I Fax(434)972 -4126 The Albemarle County Planning Commission, at its meeting on April 9, 2013, by a vote of 6:0, recommended approval by staff with one correction. ZTA- 2013 -00001 Wireless Phase I — Recommendation The Planning Commission recommended approval of ZTA- 2013 -00001 Wireless Phase I with one correction on page 8 about the height of the monopole to be 10' by- right. View staff report and attachments View PC minutes Return to agenda ATTACHMENT A Summary of Roundtable Comments PSWF Roundtable discussion of June 7, 2012 On June 7, 2012 a roundtable discussion was held with members of the wireless industry. Below is a summary of the comments received at that meeting. General Comments: Make more of the review administrative. Verify switching out equipment on old towers (ones approved by Special Use Permit prior to the Tier concept or non - conforming sites) is by -right and covered by Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas. Insure ability to replace old wood pole or aging steel pole with new steel pole with just a building permit. Annual use statement — remove requirement and replace with a provision that user information at a site will be provided by the operators of the site upon request by Zoning Administrator. Wireless facilities should be exempt from Critical Slopes Requirements and WPO regulations. Definition of what constitutes a substantial change should be what is contained in the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas. No limit to the number of arrays at any site. Architectural Review Board should no longer review applications because visual impact is already part of the review process. Tiered Concept Comments: Administratively reviewed and approved building permit for collocation on existing structures including existing towers. The permit application should show: - Antenna size and mounting design. (Some comment was received that the antenna should be flush mounted however this was not a consensus comment. Other comments were received that alternative mounting designs should be permitted for by -right additions. The comment was made that antenna should be permitted to be attached as described in the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas.) - Dimensions. - Ground equipment size, location, height, lease area. ATTACHMENT A New construction (under 80 feet tall in residential districts and 100 feet in all other districts) - Get rid of reference tree concept - Set a height limit of 100 feet except in residential where height limit is 80 feet - No avoidance areas — Get rid of avoidance areas. - Remove requirement of showing all trees (show areas with trees not the specific location of each tree) and limit tree designation to the area of impact. Where trees are to be removed allow notation of area where trees are to be removed instead of requiring each tree to be identified. - Foundation and tower design needs to be adequate for additional equipment - Do away with tower diameter limitations - Remove ground equipment size limitations - Visual impacts • Visibility itself is not adverse • Should be objective criteria • It is not whether can you see it, it is what is the impact - Staff review — PC review only if denied by staff (some support for BOS review of denial and not PC review) New construction (over 80 feet tall in residential districts and over 100 feet in all other districts) - Review should not be a Special Use Permit Review. - If the review is a Special Use Permit the review period should be less than what occurs for other types of Special Use Permits. - Conditions, if any, should allow flexibility for future use of the facility Balloon Test requirements for new construction. - Keep —helps with photo simulation - Determine when or if a test is required (this determination should be done during a preapplication meeting) - Notice of test is optional and case by case - Determine who takes the photos and from where. The existing language in the ordinance is vague and require photos to be taken from private property not under the control of the applicant. Design Comments: Do away with the Fall Zone easement requirements — perhaps have a consent letter. Allow setback reduction with: - Consent letter or, - Engineering certification of structural integrity of the tower. ATTACHMENT A Change flush mount requirements (including lighting rod) - Use the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas standard - Allow the industry to determine what is most appropriate given the coverage needs and site location. - Remove surface area requirements - Remove any color requirement limitations Unresolved Topics: - What does "existing facility" mean in the context of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012? - How many extensions can be done in the context of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012? Return to exec summary Proposal to Albemarle County Options for the Revision of the Albemarle County Wireless Policy and Ordinance November 14, 2011 Albemarle County staff has asked Kreines & Kreines, Inc. to provide the potential cost of undertaking any or all of several options relating to the Albemarle County Wireless Policy and Ordinance (which is based on the Policy). I have expanded the staff's four options into five options and provided a brief outline of each option and the potential costs. 1. Review Existing Wireless Policy and Ordinance. (This needs to be done before the County considers updating the County's Policy and Ordinance to address changes in technology, court decisions and FCC rulings) Review the Wireless Policy on a conceptual basis: • Situation on the ground. • Location, siting and design. • Visibility. • Mitigations. • Regulation (Tier One, Tier Two and Tier Three). Perform a line -by -line review of the Ordinance: • Chapter 18, Section 3. • Chapter 18, Section 5. • Supplementary Regulations. • Other sections that may apply (e.g., Section 31, Administration and Enforcement and Section 32, Site Plan. Review examples of how the policy and ordinance are being applied today, e.g.: • SP 2011 -07. • SP 2011 -08. • Review several other cases to get a broad sample. Prepare report to the County on the review of the above. Product: Report on Review of Existing Wireless Policy and Ordinance. Cost for this Task: $8,000. This cost includes one draft of the report and no meetings in Albemarle County. 2. How Changes in Wireless Will Impact the Regulation of Deployment by the County Describe how technology is changing deployment, e.g.: • 4G, which is a term of art masquerading as a hard and fast definition of capability, based primarily on speed. • LTE, a more definable term requiring many more cell sites, most of them smaller than towers. • Backhaul, the primary reason why networks are congested. • Spectrum shortage and why more spectrum will mean more cell sites. Describe the court decisions that are influencing the regulating of deployment and why, e.g.: • Fairfax County, Virginia. • Anacortes, Washington. • Cranston, Rhode Island. • Weisenberg Township, New Jersey. Describe the FCC notices, programs and policy initiatives that may impact regulation of deployment and why, e.g.: • Shot clock. • National Broadband Plan. Definitions (e.g., wireless internet services are not personal wireless services). 2 • Attempt to allow entry into rights -of -way without a local discretionary process. Describe how changes in wireless will impact regulation of deployment: Generally, the decreasing importance of studying alternative sites and the rising importance of the Comprehensive Plan. Specifically, describe how Albemarle County's policy should change and list those sections the County Code that need to be revised on the basis of technology, court cases and the recent FCC rulings. Prepare report to the County on the above. Product: Report to County how changes in wireless will impact the regulation of deployment by the County. Cost for this Task: $9,000. This cost includes one draft of the report and no meetings in Albemarle County. 3. Changes in Desire of the Community for Regulation of Wireless Facilities There are two ways of assessing Community "desires ": • Meetings, workshops, roundtables, charrettes, etc. • Literature review of recent (last two to three years) of statements by stakeholders. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. proposes the second approach, since assessing live groups would be expensive and unfocused. Many people will talk about topics that would not be productive in learning how the community wants to revise the County's regulations. Many people will want to talk about the possibility that radio frequency radiation causes cancer, or about banning wireless antennas totally or about providing service from satellites. While these are important topics, they won't provide any assistance to the County in determining how to review its regulations. Content analysis of materials sent to Kreines & Kreines, Inc. by Albemarle County will be much more effective and less expensive. Identify stakeholders, e.g.: • Carriers and their representatives. • Business groups, e.g., Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. 3 Environmental groups, e.g., PEC. Public -at- large, e.g., citizens impacted by individual proposals. Review existing positions, depending upon material sent by Albemarle County to Kreines & Kreines, Inc., such as: • Carriers' representations at recent meetings. • Public statements, e.g., Timothy Hulbert's Op -Ed piece in the 10/16/11 issue of the Daily Progress. Positions offered at recent meetings by groups or individual parties. Prepare report that describes: • Positions of those who do not believe the existing Policy and Ordinance provide balance. • Positions of those who believe that Policy and Ordinance are out of date or don t go far enough or need to be reviewed on the basis of specific issues, such as structural strength or generators, etc. Product: Report to County changes in desire of the community for regulation of wireless facilities. Cost for this Task: $9,000. This cost includes one draft report and no meetings in Albemarle County. 4. How Can the Tier Review System Better Reflect Changes from Tasks 1, 2 and 3 Above What was the basis for Tier One? These are examples: • Smaller cell sites. Less visible cell sites. Minor modifications rather than wholesale expansions or extensions. What was the basis for Tier Two? Any new construction that doesn t involve a tall tower. What was the basis for Tier Three? Tall towers. 4 Will needs and acceptance of various tier types be changing? Because of technology: yes, because smaller cell sites are now the trend. Because of court cases: maybe. Because of FCC rulings: maybe. Will community desires be: More satisfied with Tier One facilities? More or less interested in encouraging (or redefining) Tier Two facilities? Less concerned with height and bulk and therefore permissive of Tier Three? How would redesigned Tiers treat: • Co- location? • Utility pole mounts? • Faux trees? Prepare a report to the County that recommends: Redesign of the Tier system, or alternatively ... Rescinding the Tier system. Product: Report to County to Possible Recommendations for Changes in the Tier System. Cost for this Task: $8,000. This cost includes one draft of the report and no meetings in Albemarle County. 5. Revision of Wireless Policy and Ordinance. (Process for Achieving Recommendations from Tasks 1, 2, 3 and 4) Preparing the four reports from Tasks 1, 2, 3 and 4 will not change Albemarle County's Wireless Policy and Ordinance. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. will need data. The reports need to be read, reacted to and supplemented from various points of view. Adoption of precise language will require public hearings before the Albemarle County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. This task explains how that will be done by Kreines & Kreines, Inc., in partnership with Albemarle County staff. 5 First, there should be a significant effort in data gathering by the County and providing the following types of data to Kreines & Kreines, Inc.: Past individual project files including site plans, RF propagation plots, narratives, etc. • Photographs of existing sites. • Submitted statements, studies and opinion papers. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. reports will be made available to the public on the Internet in Word format by the Albemarle County Information Technology staff: • All interested parties may download, edit and post their own versions or comments on the website made available by the Albemarle County Information Technology staff. There will be no final version of any report because they are not the focus of this effort. This is a version of the Wikipedia style of editing. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. will prepare reports serially (one after another) for submission to County staff. If all reports in Tasks 1 through 4 are prepared: • The Task 2 report may cast a different light on Task One reviews. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. is not going to revise the reports but readers should have the opportunity to offer their opinions and perspectives. • The Task 3 report may cast a different light on the Task Two Findings. After reading three reports, each reader may have his /her point of view and the opportunity to express those points of view. • The Task 4 report may alter the Task 3 conclusions. • The Task 5 report will reflect an integration and synthesis of the previous reports. County staff, on the basis of reading reports, and Wiki reactions to them will direct Kreines & Kreines, Inc. to prepare specific language to revise the following: • The Wireless Policy. • The Albemarle County Code. Ted Kreines, AICP will introduce proposed revisions to the Wireless Policy and the County Code to the Albemarle County Planning Commission. • This is the process for revising the zoning ordinance as set out in the Albemarle County Code, Chapter 2, Section 406.F. Ted Kreines, AICP would meet with staff once prior to the Albemarle County Planning Commission Meeting. Ted Kreines, AICP would meet with staff the day after the Albemarle County Planning Commission Meeting. Following the first meeting before the Planning Commission and continuing to adoption by the Board of Supervisors, the process would be an Albemarle County staff function. Ted Kreines, AICP, would be available for conference calls, draft revisions or trips as additional tasks for an additional cost. Kreines & Kreines, Inc. will prepare revisions of the Wireless Policy and Zoning Ordinance for first meeting of Albemarle County Planning Commission. Product: Presentation of first draft of revisions to Albemarle County Wireless Policy and Zoning Ordinance to the Albemarle county Planning Commission. Cost for this Task: $15,000. This cost includes one draft of the proposed revised Wireless Policy and Ordinance and one trip to Albemarle County for presentation to Planning Commission and meetings with County staff. Cost for all Tasks If all five tasks were contracted for, the total cost would be reduced to $48,000. 7