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062-89 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.