HomeMy WebLinkAbout062-89 Ordinance
RECORD OF ORDINANCES
Dayton Legal Blank Co. Form No. 30043
Ordinance No. nn6_2___~_?m_n Passedn_ _____ __19_
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION
1184 (SPECIAL PERMITS) TO ADD
SECTION 1184.07 TO THE CODIFIED
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN,
OHIO
WHEREAS, the media raised concerns about the effect on property values of
towers in residential areas; and,
WHEREAS, cellular towers are higher than the maximum heights allowed in
any residential district in Dublin; and,
WHEREAS, cellular telephone towers are generally non-aesthetic in appear-
ance; and,
WHEREAS, cellular telephone towers are erected close to residential
dwellings; and,
WHEREAS, the Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission has reviewed a proposed
ordinance and made its recommendation on ; and,
WHEREAS, the Land Use Subcommittee has reviewed the proposed ordinance and
made its recommendation to the City Council on ; and,
HWEREAS, the Service Subcommittee has reviewed the proposed ordinance and
made its recommendation to the City Council on ; and,
. WHEREAS, the Cellular One Telehpone Company wishes to locate a cell site
.fiI.._g in Avery Park; and,
o
.J
~ WHEREAS, Perry Township has had a 150' monopole cellular telephone tower
~ .~ installed on Snouffer Road; and,
C1)CC::
... 0
CI) ._
~. WHEREAS, Dublin's Special Permit (Chapter 1184.06) regulations which
c:
~ ~ govern satellite dish antennae are not suited to the regulation of
~ "0 cellular telephone towers; and,
'"
Cl) ....
cc:: C"l
~e ~ WHEREAS, cellular telephone providers expect to implement a three-phase
g ~ ~ cellulat telephone system that will include at least one tower location
.-- 0
"E "€ in Dublin; and,
c> a> 0
Vl ._
.~ .... .s::.
= ~ 0 WHEREAS, cellular telephone communication is an expanding industry with
~ 8 ~ the potential of many more subscribers needing more capacity to use the
.~ E service concurrently; and,
c- -,')
.., ..
n
] ~ WHEREAS, Cincinnati has adopted an amendment to its zoning code to require
~_.~ a conditional use permit for installation of cellular telephone towers
._. c '4-0
~ ~ 0 in several residential districts.
v aJ ..:II'
>-0 1:;;
~ "0 . \oJ NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Dublin, State
.J:l 6 of Ohio, 6 of the elected members concurring:
Section 1. That Section 1184.07, attached hereto as "Exhibit A", shall
be added to the Codified Ordinances of the City of Dublin.
Section 2. That this Ordinance shall take effect and be in force from
and after the earliest period permitted by law.
Passed this 11th day of July , 1989.
Attest:
./ ~
__€A~~ Y/!
lerk of Councll
Sponsor: Planning Department
EXHIBIT "A"
3
1184.07 Communication Towers for ~ommunication Distribution Systems
Purpose
Regulation of towers used in radio, satellite dish, telephone and microwave or other
wave length communication transmission receiving and relay is intended to preserve
the opportunity for continued and improved services from these utilities and
consumer oriented public services; to preserve the quality of life in residential
areas close to these installations; to protect the health and safety of citizens
from the possible adverse impacts of emissions from the advanced technologies in
use; to protect the visual quality and natural beauty of the community as a whole;
and to provide guidelines for zoning compliance to protect the general welfare,
health and safety of Dublin's residents in the absence of tower regulations for
utilities by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. It is the intent of this
regulation that the towers used for television and radio, cellular telephone systems
and dish antennae be erected in locations consistent with the purpose and spirit
of the zoning regulations.
Definitions
Communication Tower: shall be defined as a structure greater than 35 feet in height
that is intended for transmitting, receiving or relaying television, radio, telephone
or other communications.
Communication Distribution System shall be defined to include broadcast antennae for
cellular telephone, AM and FM radio, microwave and television systems.
Permit Process
A Certificate of Zoning Compliance shall be issued to the owner of the property by
; the Planning Director or his designee after approval of a Special Permit by the
Planning and Zoning Commission for a tower 35 feet or more in height above grade
for use in a Communication Distribution System and for any support buildings.
Towers less than 35 feet in height shall be approved by the approval process
outlined in the Zoning Ordinance by building permit and Planning and Zoning
review. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall approve, disapprove or approve
with conditions a Special Permit, based on a site plan to be submitted by the
applicant and owner of record of the property, according to the rules and regula-
tions of the Planning and Zoning Commission. In making its decision, upholding
the purpose of this section, the Commission will consider that the proposed tower
and attendant installation:
l. Be permitted only in the RI, LI, GI, OLR zoning district, or in a planned
district where this is a specifical1y enumerated use.
2. Be located so that all reasonable alternatives for tower placement have been
clearly and convincingly demonstrated so that the installation wil1 minimize
the visual intrusion of the tower.
3. Be shared with other users to minimize the proliferation of towers within
the City of Dublin.
Communication Towers
Page Two
4. Be detailed in the site plan to include complete structure elevations and a
perspective view showing the tower as viewed from all the property lines/
lot lines of the proposed site.
5. Minimize the visual impact at base elevation of the proposed structure by a
comprehensive landscape plan.
Plans submitted for proposed towers shall show conformance with the following
development standards:
l. The installation shall be 1,000 feet from the nearest residential use or
district, including planned districts for residential use or public park.
2. Minimum setback from all property lines shall be a distance equal to the height
of the tower. Setback shall be deinfed as the distance from the property
line to the nearest portion of the structure.
3. Underground wiring to the site shall be required.
4. Equipment, mobile or immobile, not used in direct support of the transmission
or relay facility, shall not be stored or parked on the site except in
connection with a repair or maintenance being made to the installation.
5. No employees shall be employed on a regular basis at the installation site.
6. The owner of the tower/installation shall annually file with the Planning
Department a declaration ascertaining the continued operation, according to
the Planning and Zoning approval, of each tower approved by Special Permit.
7. Obsolete or unused facilities shall be removed within 12 months of ceasing
operation.
.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
TO: Timothy Hansley, City Manager
FROM: Staff of the Department of Planning and Development
DATE: July 5, 1989
SUBJECT : Cellular Telephone Towers
Executive Summary
Two cellular telephone companies have recently approached Dublin City
staff. Cellular One has advanced a proposal to erect a cel1ular tower in
Avery Park or atop the Avery_Park water tower. Concurrently, the staff of
the Planning and Development Department has generated a draft ordinance to
regulate the installation of towers in Dublin by means of a Special Permit
process through the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The attached ordinance has as its purpose to promote the goals of the
zoning ordinance as well as public safety and the appearance of the City of
Dublin. The proposed ordinance permits towers in industrial districts with
development standards including minimum lot size, setbacks and required
landscaping. When and if cellular technology is obsolete, the ordinance
provides for dismantling any existing towers.
Staff recommends that the draft ordinance be transmitted to the City
Council for review by the appropriate subcommittees and the Planning and
Zoning Commission. The Planning Department will provide staff support at
your request.
.
Recently, cellular telephone has garnered a large amount of media
coverage and citizen attention in the Columbus area. Much of the publicity
has centered around the installation of a l50-foot tall monopole cellular
telephone tower in Perry Township adjacent to the Whispering Pines
Subdivision near Snouffer Road. The Perry Township tower has been installed
on a small single-family site by Cellular One, one of the two cellular phone
companies licensed in Franklin County. Ameritech Cellular is the other
company doing business in the Columbus metropolitan area.' Each FCC licensed
cellular provider is required to extend cellular service over its entire
license area. At this time, most of the primary cell site installations
around the Columbus area have been completed with towers, and, according to
Cel1ular One's staff, both carriers are now addressing themselves to the
capacity to handle an increasing number of cellular phone customers. The
number of mobile phones has increased dramatically; nowhere more so than in
the Dublin/Worthington/Powell area of the Columbus metropolitan area. Both
Cellular One and Ameritech Cellular are now confronted with a growing number
of subscribers competing for a relatively small number of transmission
stations. Now, each licensee is planning the second stage of a three phase
implementation plan. Secondary cell site installations generally improve
the quality of phone transmissions in addition to the primary objective of
increasing the capacity of each cell/tower site. In the future, a tertiary
phase will further enhance transmission quality and capacity. In general,
and on flat terrain, a primary cell site (tower) wil1 have an eight-mile
radius range; a secondary site, a four-mile radius range; and a tertiary, a
two-mile radius range. Each cellular company operates from a master grid
system of cell sites which it overlays on our metropolitan area. These grid
systems are generated independently but are predicated on the same
technology and topography; therefore, should one company need to locate a
cell site within Dublin, it is likely that its competitor would as well.
Staff has reviewed tower regulation ordinances from numerous
communities, and on the advice of the Law Director's office, was advised to
look hardest at other legislation already in force in Ohio. In November,
1988, the City of Cincinnati adopted an ordinance that regulates cellular
towers in several residential districts by means of a conditional use permit
process. Cincinnati's ordinance was created in response to two cellular"
telephone transmission towers being erected in single-family residential
neighborhoods. Cincinnati's ordinance regulates towers for television and
radio broadcasting as well as for cellular phone transmission. Cincinnati's
Senior Planner, Toni Selney-Maddox, worked closely with both Cellular One
and Ameritech to implement the new ordinance.
Many other cities and towns have ordinances which restrict structures
by height and address the installation of dish antennae. In 1984, the
Village of Dublin adopted an ordinance requiring a Special Permit for dish
antennae. Now it would seem appropriate to amend the Special Permit section
of the Zoning Code to identify towers for regulation with respect to
appropriate zoning districts, location and development standards.
Therefore, the attached draft amendment to the zoning ordinance is proposed.
Concurrently, with staff development of the attached draft ordinance,
both cellular telephone licensees, Cellular One and Ameritech Cellular, have
contacted City staff to discuss potential sites to develop a secondary phase
cell site within Dublin. Discussions with Ameritech Cellular have been of a
general nature, but Cellular One has approached staff with a proposal to
locate a cell site at Avery Park.
. .
Cellular One has two distinct proposal options: to erect a
free-standing cell site tower or to locate a cell site extending upward from
the top of the existing water tower. A free-standing tower with 12' X 30'
accessory building would be between 183' and 283 feet in height depending on
the base elevation and the needs of Cellular One to transmit and relay from
its other cell sites. Each tower has a 17-foot extension so that the tip
height (highest point) varies from 200' to 300'. A cell site atop the 180'
Avery water tower would probably extend upward to a tip height of 222' or
higher.
The ordinance we are transmitting to you will restrict cellular
telephone towers to industrial zoning districts and require a Special Permit
from the Planning and Zoning Commission before a tower site is approved. At
present, the City could not deny a building permit for a tower for any
reason except for structural inadequacy. We could be faced with a Perry
Township/Whispering Pines situation at any time. The alternative options
for the City seem to be:
1. To adopt some form of the attached ordinance.
2. To adopt a tower ordinance for future tower/cellular cell site
installations and provide for a site in Avery Park.
3. To cooperate with the cellular phone companies to locate a cell
site in Avery Park and rely on their future goodwill to locate
future tertiary towers appropriately on a case-by-case basis.
4. To rely on the present zoning restriction. This would seem to be
totally ineffective because our present ordinance like that of
Perry Township sets no development standards for approval or
denial.
It is the Staff recommendation to proceed with option one or option
two. Certainly our City should respond to the introduction of cellular
technology with an ordinance. It may be desirable to enact or adopt a
moratorium on the issuance of building permits for such towers until the
City Council and Staff have had time to review the proposed ordinance in
committee. The Law Director's office will provide a legal opinion regarding
moratoria as an addendum to this memorandum. Meanwhile, Staff is seeking an
independent structural analysis of the Avery Road water tower to determine
its adequacy to support a cell site on top. In addition, Staff recommends
that the Council proceed with the initial reading at the Council meeting of
July 11, 1989, with a resolution to refer the proposed ordinance to the Land
Use subcommittee and the Service subcommittee for review.
The Staff of the Planning Department is 100king forward to working with
the City Manager's office to expedite the ordinance process if requested.
Please let us know what type of information will be needed for the July 11,
1989, City Council meeting, or if members of the Staff need to prepare a
presentation for the Council meeting, and when they should be available to
respond to questions.