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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZONING BOARD OF APPEALS - 09/18/1996 - JOINT MEETING WITH PLAN COMM/CELLULAR ONE ELK GROVE VILLAGE Joint Plan Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals Plan Commission Minutes September 18, 1996 8:00 P.M. Council Chambers Present: F. Geinosky, Chairman P. Ayers C. Henrici J. Meyers D. Paliganoff K. Zizzo Absent: R. GUzzardi C. Prochno Staff: S. Niehaus, Administrative Assistant S. Trudan, Building Inspector Supervisor Petitioners: L. Dobkin, Altheimen & Gray B. Casey, Cellular One A. Warthon, Cellular One Item A: Cellular One Special Use Permit Requests Chairman Geinosky opened the Plan Commission public hearing at 8:05 P.M. Niehaus explained that the notification sign at Meacham and Vermont had been improperly posted on the wrong side of the street. Upon discussing the matter with the Village Attorney it was deemed appropriate to proceed with the public hearing due to the fact that the sign was substantially in compliance with the posting requirements. Commissioner Meyers moved and Commissioner Paliganoff seconded a motion to nominate Commissioner Ayers as Acting Secretary. Upon voting, (All AYES, Guzzardi, Prochno ABSENT) the motion carried unanimously. Acting Secretary Ayers swore in the petitioners. Dobkin stated that Cellular One was requesting permission to install and construct five (5) cellular communications facilities in Elk Grove at the following locations: - 400 E. Devon (Elk Grove VFW Hall) - 2299 S. Busse Road (Sanfilippo & Sons) - 333 Plum Grove Road (Fox Run West) - Vermont and Meacham (Fox Run East) - 22 Arlington Heights Road (Harris Bank) Dobkin stated that Cellular One had been in operation for eleven years. Cellular One serves approximately 1.2 million customers in the six county region including 8, 000 registered users in Elk Grove. Dobkin stated that Cellular One's service is provided through Macro and Micro cells positioned in a grid pattern throughout the area. The five(5) proposed locations are to be included in the Elk Grove grid and will allow Cellular One to provide better service to its customers. Dobkin stated that each location would utilize a pair of 18 inch monopole antennas that are capable of both receiving and sending communication (Dobkin presented a model antenna to the Plan Commission) . Each antenna will operate at an FCC approved frequency similar to that of UHF television frequencies. The antennas will not cause any interference to neighborhood appliances and will not pose any health risks to those residing in the vicinity of the antennas. The antennas emit no heat, noise, glare, or odor and do not require any form of environmental review. Each location will also include a 52 inch x 51 inch x 30 inch equipment cabinet used for operating the antennas. The equipment cabinets are unmanned and will not create any traffic difficulties. Dobkin explained the arrangements for the placement of the antennas at each location as follows: 400 E. Devon- Installation of 18 inch monopole antennas on top of existing 20 foot sign on Devon Avenue. Equipment cabinet to be placed at base of VFW sign. 2299 Busse Road- Installation of 18 inch monopole antennas on top of a 8 foot pole mounts attached to existing 14 foot sign for a total height of 22 feet. Equipment cabinets (2) to be placed at base of sign. 333 Plum Grove Road- installation of 18 inch monopole antennas on top of existing 22 foot sign on Plum Grove Road. Equipment cabinet to be placed at rear of maintenance building. Vermont & Meacham- Installation of 18 foot monopole antennas on top of new 30 foot, brown, galvanized pole on Meacham Road. Equipment cabinet placed at base of pole and heavily landscaped. 22 Arlington Heights Road- Installation of 18 inch antennas on top of replacement light pole in Park-N-Shop parking lot. Equipment cabinets to be placed in enclosed structure adjacent to Harris Bank. Commissioner Paliganoff asked the petitioners to explain why some antennas were at 30 feet while others were substantially lower. Dobkin stated that each location is engineered differently based on the topography and line of sight at each location. Therefore, some locations such as the ones on Meacham and Arlington Heights Road needed taller facilities based on the other structures and the amount of traffic in the area. Commissioner Paliganoff questioned as to the purposes that the 5 new antennas served. Dobkin stated that the purpose of the proposed antennas was to facilitate the increased number of Cellular One customers and limit the amount of congestion on the existing cell sites. Commissioner Ayers questioned what type of landscaping would be used to screen the equipment cabinets and expressed specific concern over the Devon Avenue site. Dobkin stated that each cabinet is generally screened by 4 to 6 foot evergreen or pine trees. upon further discussion, it was the consensus of the Committee to request that the petitioner adequately screen each cabinet so that visibility of the structure would be minimal. Commissioner Ayers questioned as to how Cellular One's technicians would service the equipment at Meacham and Vermont, specifically where they would park their vehicles. Dobkin stated that the standard service visit generally takes place once a month and requires minimal time and equipment. If necessary, the Cellular One technicians could park at the Golf Course and take a cart to the site if it was not safe to park on Meacham Road. Commissioner Ayers questioned if Cellular One would replace any existing landscaping removed by the installation of poles or equipment on Meacham. Dobkin stated that Cellular One would do so. Commissioner Zizzo questioned as to the replacement pole at 22 Arlington Heights Road. Dobkin stated that no additional poles would be installed and that it would be the same style as the other poles in the parking lot. Commissioner Zizzo questioned if Cellular One had any projections on the future number of Elk Grove customers. Cellular One had no projections. Commissioner Zizzo questioned if the proposed locations were the best ones for their grid system. Dobkin stated that the locations were the best ones according to Cellular One's engineers and were chosen to maximize the service in Elk Grove. Commissioner Zizzo questioned if Cellular One would change locations if a better one was available. Dobkin stated that Cellular One would probably not relocate due to the time and expenses involved in developing the proposed locations. Commissioner Paliganoff questioned as to the length of the leases. Dobkin stated that their leases were generally 5 to 20 years with options. Commissioner Meyers stated that he was aware of similar operations across the country that utilized smaller equipment cabinets then the ones being proposed by Cellular One and requested Cellular One to consider this in developing future sites. Commissioner Henrici questioned as to how the cables would be mounted at the proposed location. Dobkin stated that all cable would be affixed to each structure in a color similar to the structure and then run underground to the equipment cabinets. At the locations where there are new poles the cables will go inside the poles. Chairman Geinosky questioned how the sites would be protected from vandalism. Dobkin stated that they had never experienced any problems with vandals. In addition, each equipment cabinet had an alarm system which would indicate if a break-in occurred. Chairman Geinosky questioned how old micro cell technology was. Dobkin stated that it was in operation for 2 years and that over 200 sites were up and running in the Chicago region. Chairman Geinosky questioned Cellular One's ability to co-locate with other companies. Dobkin stated that Cellular One's technology would allow them to co-locate but it rarely happens due to the differences in each company's grid systems. Chairman Geinosky questioned what would happen to the equipment if Cellular One relocated. Dobkin stated that their lease agreements required them to remove the equipment. Chairman Geinosky opened up the public hearing for comments from the audience at 9:25. There were no comments. Chairman Geinsoky closed the public hearing. Chairman Geinosky reconvened a public meeting of the Plan Commission at 9:45 p.m. following the Zoning Board of Appeals portion of the agenda. Upon further discussion of Cellular One's request, Commissioner Ayers moved and Commissioner Meyers seconded a motion to recommend approval of all five(5) of the requested special use permits subject to the following conditions: - installation of landscaping around each equipment cabinet to minimize visibility; - use of same color cabling for exterior antenna cabling on existing signs; and - agreement to remove equipment at each location where operations are no longer conducted. Upon voting (Geinosky, Ayers, Paliganoff, Meyers, Zizzo AYES, Henrici, ABSTAIN, Guzzardi, Prochno ABSENT) , the motion carried. Commissioner Ayers moved and Commissioner Meyers seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Chairman Geinosky closed the meeting at 10:00 p.m. Respe ully submitted, Scott R. Niehaus Administrative Assistant SRN/el 9-24-96 C: Chairman and Members of Plan Commission, President and Board of Trustees, Village Clerk, Village Manager, Assistant Village Manager, Administrative Assistant, Administrative Intern, Director of Engineering/Community Development, Director of Public Works, Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief (2) , Assistant Fire Chief, Village Attorney, Chairman and Members of Zoning Board of Appeals.