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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.1 BOCC Staff Report 04.16.2001REQUEST: APPLICANT: LOCATION: SITE DATA: WATER: SEWER: Board of County Commissioners 04/16/01 PROJECT INFORMATION AND STAFF COMMENTS Special Use Permit for a Telecommunication Facility AT&T Wireless Services 2829 County Road 117, Glenwood Springs, CO. Legal description, a leased parcel within Section 28, Township 6 South, and Range 89 West of Garfield County in the State of Colorado. A cellular telephone fucility consisting of a 150-foot monopole, a 100' X 100' enclosed equipment area at the base of the tower, a prefabricated fiberbond equipment shelter and supporting concrete slabs. Uomauned fucility. Uomauned facility. EXISTING ZONING: AIR/RD ADJACENT ZONING: AIR/RD L RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN This proposal is located in Study Area I of the Comprehensive Plan. II. INTRODUCTION I DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL AT&T Wireless has approached the planning department for permission to construct au 150-foot monopole some four miles west of Carbondale. Support facilities being a base transmitting station (BTS), radio-receiving equipment set on concrete pads (blueprints and narrative are attached). Access to this unmauned site will be from County Road 117. Due to the remote location of this site the applicant has not yet decided whether to heli-lift the equipment on-site or truck it onto the site. After the site is built activity is generally limited to one maintenance visit a month. SBA had a telecommunications tower recently approved in this vicinity and collocation was suggested. However, because of the terrain problems to the south of the site SBA is delaying development of the site. ill GARFIELD COUNTY ZONING RESOLUTION There are two section of the Zoning Code that this proposal must be weighed against before the recommendation of approval or denial can be made. Section 5.03, number 3 of the Garfield County Zoning Resolution dealing with Conditional and Special Uses states: Design of the use is organized to minimize impacts on and from adjacent uses of land through installation of screen fences or landscape materials on the periphery of the lot and by location of intensively utilized areas, access nninfr;,< liahtina nnrl <;!ianr;,< in (!1Jrh n mnnnPr n_fi! fn nrnfprf P.'i:fnhH.<i:hPd ntdohhnrhnnrJ 1\.10/.., 1 vv !l!;;;lt;SS ,::,1;;;1 Vll,;!;;;S uas Ult:iU LU Ut:i Vt:ilY u1u1uug11 111 UlVH lJ.lVl,,i:lU5auvu V.l '-'a..L.L.11,,.1.U County Zoning Regulations and trying to develop their proposal to conform to those regulations. However, due to engineering requirements coupled with the Zoning Regulation of Garfield County all sites closer to the major thoroughfare had significant screening problems. Based on that, Voice Stream opted to move the site further away from mainstream traffic hoping the skyline silhouette wouldn't be a major problem. The AT&T site is located approximately four miles west of Carbondale atop a hill at approximately 7,620 ft in elevation. Based on the distance of the telecommunication tower to the nearest paved roadway the ground equipment will simply fade into the background. The monopole itself becomes quite difficult to screen because of its height but Voice Stream is trying to make this site as inconspicuous as possible by moving the site as far away from the major population centers as possible and then having no lights on the tower. Furtherin the same Section, 5.03.13 Broadcasting Studio and/or Communication Facility: Such broadcasting studios and/or communication facilities shall be approved by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where appropriate (A84-78; 97-60). In addition, the following standards will be used in the review application for a communication facility: I. All facilities shall comply with frequency emission requirements of the FCC and any facility in compliance cannot be denied. 2. The co-location of telecommunication facilities on one site is encouraged and the denial of a landowner/lessor of the co-location of a site shall be based on technical reasons, not competitive interests. It is the County's policy to minimize the number of communication facilities by the encouragement of co-locating such facilities. 3. A freestanding telecommunication facility, including antennas, shall not exceed the maximum structure height in the applicable zone district unless an exception is approved by the Board based on the applicant demonstrating the following: (a) Use of existing land forms, vegetation and structures to aid in screening the facility from view or blending in with the surrounding built natural environment (b) Design, material and colors of antenna and their support structures shall be compatible with the surrounding environment, and monopole support structures shall taper from the base to the tip. (c) It is consistent with existing communication facilities on the same site. AT&T Wireless Service gets its right to operate this facility from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), which assigns frequencies and sets emission standards. Unchecked, uncorrected frequency or emission violation can result in suspension or revocation of their operating license. Garfield County encourages collocation of wireless telecommunication facilities and the recently approved SBA site is approximately two miles to the southeast and is uulikely to be built. Item" c" is not applicable to this review. IV. REFERRAL AGENCY COMMENTS The following agencies have been contacted for their concerns and comments: 1. City of Glenwood Springs, Janet Buck (No comment) 2. Glenwood Springs Airport, Jessica McMillan (No comment) 3. Carbondale Planning Department, Mark Chain (No comment) FCC assigned frequencies for these airport facilities range from 118.85 MHz to 123.8 ~KU~ 'T''f..,.... ,.. ...... ~n--o">,,.,.1 .f'..,,.,..,,,,....,,...., +,... .. i-ho ,,.,....,1;,.,....,i-1ro hon-.,.,..,...., 1 h r!l-17 '.lnrl ') 1 nl-1'7 \ UlVllWUUU ~v1111!5,:, <UlU WV .l\.lll\;;; dllJ!UlL u;:,i.,.. .l"'"'·o .LVLLJ.L, j_ .LU'U..Ll '-'VUiU .. J ~~" .1..1.u.u_,, 120.4, 121.9 and 123.8 MHz, respectively.) V. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends Denial of this communication facility by the Planning Conunission. In the past the Planning Department has recommended denial of all telecommunications sites that create skyline silhonettes. April 16, 2001 Ms Becky Glover SDS Wireless 11449 W. Burgundy Suite 301 Littleton, CO. 80127 (iar1zeta c.._:ounty Building & Planning Department RE: Glenwood Springs Airport Site -ATT Wireless Services Dear Ms. Glover: The County Commissioners approved the Glenwood Springs Airport Site during their April 16, 2001 meeting with the following five conditions of approval: 1. All representations by the applicant whether written, stated verbally or implied will be ·conditions of approval. 2. The cellular telecommunication tower will be designed as an artificial tree not to exceed one hundred feet in height. 3. Collocation if possible will be allowed and encouraged. 4. The applicant will comply with FAA part 77 regnlations and completion of FAA 7460-1 "Notice of Proposed Constroction or Alteration." 5. lf the tower becomes dormant for more than six contiguous months the cell tower will be removed at either the landowners expense or the tower owners expense. The resolution for this Special Use Permit will go before the Board on May 7lli, 200 I for signature. Cordially, GARFIELD COUNTY ·PLANNING DEPARTMENT April 13, 2001 Mr. John Martin, Chairman Garfield County Board of Commissioners 109 Eighth Street, Suite 300 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 RE: Special Use Application for a cellular telephone facility at 2829 C.R. 117 Dear John, Thanks for providing the opportunity to review and comment on the proposed cell tower application on the Bershenyi property. The City's Airport Commission has reviewed the application in the context oflocal aviation operations and safety. Their comments indicated that the proposal will not conflict with aviation use and/or safety for planes landing or taking off from Glenwood Springs Airport. The applicants should be required to demonstrate compliance with FAA Part 77 regulations and completion of FAA Form 7460-1 "Notice of Proposed Construction or Alteration". In reviewing the application from a land use perspective, and for the requisite compliance with Section 5.03 of the Garfield County Zoning Resolution, City staff has concerns over the application as proposed. The proposed tower will be visible from significant portions of South Glenwood Springs. It's proposed location on a prominent ridgeline will make the tower highly obtrusive visually to City and County residents alike with its silhouette. The application does not appear to have addressed the criteria addressed in the Zoning Resolution. No effort has been made to use existing land forms or vegetation to screen the facility or blend the facilityin with the surrounding landscape. By virtue of its size and location, this criteria is arguably impossible to satisfy. The design and color are insufficient to mitigate the extreme height of the tower. The City of Glenwood Springs respectfully requests that the Board of County Commissioners deny the application. response. Sincerely, ~~~ Andrew McGregor Community Development Director Copy: Mark Bean, Director, Garfield County Building and Planning KOOIIl nanwg SDS Wireless 11449 W. Burgundy Ave Ste. 301 Littleton, CO 80127 October 26, 2000 Garfield County Greg Butler Senior Planner 109 8th St., Suite 303 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 Dear Mr. Butler: Please accept this letter as an official letter of intent and application from AT&T Wireless Services, Denver, CO to propose a commercial radio service (CMRS) facility. The property owners name and address are John and Carol Bersheny~ 2829 County Road 117, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601. The proposed CMRS facility is requested to be located at the top of the mountain oflegal description reference in site plan (see SU-1 ). The zoning for this property is Open Space. The facility does comply with the radio frequency emission requirements of the Federal Communications Commission. The height of the monopole on the site plan has been listed for a 80'. This CMRS facility will be ,if allowed, used as a co-location tower and I would like to request a height of up to 150'. If permitted, an updated site plan with this indication will be provided. Use of land forms and vegetation will be used to aid in screening the facility from view. Design, materials and color of antennas and their support structures shall be compatible with the surrounding environment. Photo simulations have been included in this packet for your review. Please call if you have any questions or concerns. I can be reached at 303-638- 7075. Sincerely, Robin Hartzog Site Acquisition/Zoning Agent 7 z (,.)) 9 et ~'' ··O-::> '? 8 I I --__ ._... ... ~---m_... _ _,o~~~-,·--_.,._,.,~~-.,._.._.,_~-~·-- / h' At-I f 1/1'{(,/J,f_ /{:;;_?-{ ~-1,-,C/,,~~,_(' Cr,,~ lp ~~(? ut-l/.j-r.Liv'-Ji; !4T .::( 17/Jr~e ·p /r c_J~ ,,......, e;_,,,_,,' C CL t ,'cf!.-__ /c)'(, 7-:e -I f?!l'Cq_ "14'< 7-i:i • ~1~f.><"<~ [/cf ~ /_5_d j 0 +{;_ ~ J1z C);<J•r-{g . A(/{ ~-p-iufv~:J 7v ?J0 o. f c: Ue~~;L+--tf:ry L 2J '~ 8u < JJ/ J ~ g, u-c ~ l t, e,.,.rf. 'VL): J fc q.,___ c~<? . L JO/_,, 0 If/-0 U' 0 c:-f7/huz ·A/(( /11ef J vL c~+-· rf{!,_ ftc6Jr 1t «,,;. J. '1-· r d'( ,2 J;J I . I fr" . 'J~ C<P< "-~4f!A' /,Jt,7,. £ ~ Memorandum To: Becky Glover 720/ 922-0398 CC: From: Garfield County Planning Department Date: 03/19/2001 Re: The Glenwood Springs Airport Site Dear Becky: I wish the above-mentioned Special Use Permit could have been heard by the Board of County Commissioners this morning, unfortunately that was not to be ... t~\l~ .. gone ahead and re-scheduled this item, again before the Board of County Commissioners on /l'!ijJg~, 200 I at 10:30 AM. Because this is a public hearing you will have to re-mail and re-notify i!:\~#liW(~e to the last correspondence generated by this office, all you will have to do is modify tb~!lii\eI}••i·.··· ~:111~11~1 that the mailing and published notification must happen not more than 30 days before J:b.~JlWlfthlj!illld not less than 15 days before the hearing; the day of the hearing does not count as one ~j.i!'~~\j'~ys. The very last day these notices can be mailed and the publication is April I" (no joke) i.Q!\!#~ii5-day window. The very first day the mailings can go out and the publication run in the i(~\ji~p@er of general circulation is March 16th, 200 I. ¥'b:~:~ safe, you ntight consider doing the mailings and publication during the week of March 26th and 30th.