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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002 03 11 Regular D Eliminating West Sewage Treatment and Water Reclamation Plant Site . COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM D CONSENT INFORMATIONAL PUBLIC HEARING REGULAR X 3/11/02 Meeting MGR. V-' IDEPT@ Authorization . REQUEST: The General Services Department requests that the City Commission review the request of Nextel Communications to amend Ordinance #678 (codified as Section 20-451), eliminating the West Sewage Treatment and Water Reclamation Plant site on Winter Springs Boulevard as a designated site for the location of cell towers, and substituting the East Sewage Treatment and Water Reclamation Plant site next to Sammy Smith Park in lieu of the West Plant site. PURPOSE: This agenda requests a determination by the Commission as to any further consideration it may want to give to a suggested amendment to Ordinance No. 678 (Section 20-451, Code of Ordinances), which would designate the East Sewage Treatment and Water Reclamation Plant site on Winter Springs Boulevard as an approved site for the location of a cell towers, and eliminate the West Sewage Treatment and Water Reclamation Plant site as a designated site. CONSIDERATIONS: . 1. Ordinance #678 (Section 20-451, Code of Ordinances) established five (5) designated sites in the City for the location of cell towers, and does not allow for additional sites as currently written. 2. Several months ago, representatives of Nextel Communications approached staff with a request to lease land at the city's East Sewage Treatment and Water Reclamation Plant site on Winter Springs Boulevard. 3. Nextel subsequently conducted tests to determine the suitability of the site for their purposes, and then submitted a Special Exception application to construct a cell tower there. 4. In compliance with Ordinance No. 678 (Section 20-451, Code of Ordinances), the application was rejected because the proposed site was not an approved designated site as required in the ordinance, nor could a special exception be entertained because cell towers had not yet been built on all currently- approved designated sites. . March 11, 2002 City Commission Regular Agenda Item "D" 5. After several more conversations with the City Manager and other appropriate members of staff, Nextel re-submitted a Special Exception application, along with proposed language changes to Ordinance No. 678, which would designate the East Water Reclamation and Sewage Treatment Plant site as an approved site for a cell tower. 6. The application was again rejected and returned to Nextel, and their representatives were advised that their proposed ordinance amendment would have to be presented to the City Commission and approved before it was processed. 7. Attached is a letter from Nextel, and a proposal to amend Ordinance No. 678 allowing for the new site designation. RECOMMENDATION: . Staff recommends that the City Commission make a determination to consider or reject Nextel's request for an amendment to Ordinance No. 678 allowing for a new site designation at the East Plant site on Winter Springs Boulevard, and eliminating the West Plant site as a designated site. FUNDING: None required at this time. A TT ACHMENTS: 1. Letter, dated February 25, 2002, from Trent Smith, Site Development Manager, Nextel Communications, to the Director of General Services. 2. Suggested ordinance language amending Ordinance No. 678 (Section 20-451 of the Code of Ordinances). COMMISSION ACTION: . RECE~VE~:j, FE B 2 5 2002 . NEXTEL: CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS Community Development Nextel Communications 851 Trafalgar Court, Suite 300 East, Maitland, FL 32751 407838-5200 FAX 407 838-5300 February 25, 2002 Attention: Gene DeMarie City of Winter Springs 1126 East SR 434 Winter Springs, Florida 32708 Re: Ordinance Amendment Request Nextel Communications Section 31, T20S, R31 E Tax Parcel No.: 31-20-31-5BB-0000-009A Seminole County, Florida Proposed Telecommunications Facility Dear Mr. DeMarie: . Attached hereto you will find an Ordinance Amendment requesting the City to allow placement of a 165-foot high cellular telecommunications structure on Tax Parcel No.: 31-20-31-5BB-0000-009A; owned and operated by the City of Winter Springs. Hereafter, you will find a brief synopsis of our request. Nextel is a provider of wireless telecommunication services. As the holder of a FCC license for these services and as a participant in a very competitive business, Nextel must provide quality, reliable wireless communications services throughout its service area. To achieve this goal, Nextel needs to create a network of individual "cell sites" which consist of radio antennae and related equipment, that send and receive radio signals from cell to cell and to and from customers' wireless telephones. The signals from and to the antennae in these cell sites are low power radio waves, necessitating rather short distances between cell sites. The antennae must be high enough to allow the antennae to successfully transmit and receive the radio signals, by "line of sight" and arranged so as to interconnect as part of the larger network. As the network grows, since each site can process only a limited number of calls at anyone time, additional cell sites must be added as Nextel's service usage increases. . 'EXrEl Given the area of need, with neither available sites nor suitable structures of which Nextel could use to satisfy its need, Nextel determined that a raw land site was unavoidable. Therefore, the selection process for a new tower site began. First, the land had to be within Nextel's Search Ring. Secondly, zoning issues had to be considered. The parcel also had to be large enough to meet all applicable setback requirements and Nextel's space needs. Based upon Ordinance No. 678 and its encouragement to locate on city owned property, Nextel identified a city owned parcel, a water reclamation plant (hereinafter named City of Winter Springs East Water Reclamation and Sewer Plant) that could serve as a plausible raw land site candidate. Based upon the setback criteria outlined in Ordinance No. 678 (for those raw land sites that could be applied for if and when all named sites are constructed), the City of Winter Springs East Water Reclamation and Sewer Plant parcel met setbacks for a 165' monopole telecommunications tower. . The location of the proposed is a suitable raw land location as its current use is a water reclamation and sewage facility. As with any type of facility, large holding tanks and retention reservoirs are contained within the parcel. Additionally, most of the parcel is buffered with existing pine and dense vegetation. Moreover, the Tuskawilla Country Club and Golf Coarse is situated to the north of the parent tract. Ordinance No. 678 states, that the City Commission finds that the promulgation of this ordinance is warranted and necessary to protect residential areas and land uses from the potential adverse impacts of Telecommunications Towers when placed at inappropriate locations or permitted without adequate controls and regulation consistent with the provisions of law; To minimize the adverse visual impacts resulting from Telecommunications Towers through sound and practical design, siting, landscape screening, and innovative camouflaging techniques all in accordance with generally acceptable engineering and planning principles and the public health, safety and welfare; To avoid potential damage to adjacent properties through sound engineering and planning and the prudent and careful approval of Telecommunications Tower sites and structures; To require share use/co-location of existing and new Telecommunications Towers (capability of having space for three or more carriers) to avoid proliferation of towers throughout the City of Winter Springs. . 'EXrEl . If a network contains too few cell sites or sites too far apart from one another, customers living or working in or traveling through these "coverage gaps" experience inadequate service, such as dropped calls or static. When too many callers attempt to connect through the same antennae, calls can also be dropped or the caller will receive a "fast busy" signal. To meet its goal of providing quality, reliable service, Nextel needs to fill these coverage gaps and provide sufficient call capacity. In the present case, Nextel has identified an area in Seminole County, more specifically the City of Winter Springs, where there is not sufficient call capacity and service. Hence coverage is minimal. Before filing this request, Nextel thoroughly explored whether there were any existing structures (towers, buildings, etc.) in their "search ring" on which Nextel could place their antennae. The search ring is the geographic area in which Nextel's antennae must be located to resolve the coverage issue discussed above. Any such structure must be tall enough to support the antennae at the required height, and must have the sufficient ground space for Nextel to place their supporting accessories. The structure must also be available for lease or purchase, on terms that are acceptable to Nextel, technically and financially. It is Nextel's priority to provide adequate signal to their customers and not tower building. In this case and most other jurisdictions, the most efficient way to get antennae in the air is to co-locate onto existing structures or antenna placement on existing buildings. As you are aware, the City of Winter Springs' Ordinance No. 678 outlines tower siting within the City's jurisdiction. Ordinance No. 678 provides specific tower locations within the City of which must be constructed with antennae placement prior to any additional new tower sites. Furthermore, each of the named sites are parcels owned by the City of Winter Springs. Finally, the named sites must be pursued prior to any rooftop installation within the city's jurisdiction. Unfortunately, the named sites included in Ordinance No. 678 are not within Nextel's area of need. In addition, there are neither existing conforming or non- conforming towers within the area of need nor suitable structures, such as water tanks, etc. that can provide suitable mounting heights for Nextel's need. Again, it's cheaper, more time efficient and more desirable for both Nextel and the jurisdiction to co-locate onto existing structures. . ~EXrEl As you may be aware, Nextel approached the City of Winter Springs staff to obtain input on the proposed. In an effort to reduce perceived community adverse impacts, Nextel proposed a camouflaged structure, e.g. a monopole tower designed to appear as a pine tree. Preliminary discussion of the proposed yielded an entry and testing agreement of which would provide Nextellegal right to enter the parcel. This would allow Nextel to proceed in obtaining additional information, e.g. survey information, of which setback criteria could be formerly reviewed and lease parcel siting could be accomplished. Nextel made every earnest attempt to site the tower within the area of need of which would minimize or even eliminate adverse impact to the residential area of Tuskawilla. We believe that the said parcel is consistent with all other parcels named within Ordinance No. 678, that the proposed is consistent with the parcels current use, and the location and type of structure shall minimize impact to the community and surrounding area. . With the proposed text amendment at hand, Nextel meets the requirements of the portions of the City Code of which pertain to Special Exceptions to raw land sites. We respectfully request that the City of Winter Springs approve the text amendment request so that Nextel can serve its customers adequately. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. ve7JY~ Trent Smith Site Development Manager . Cc: Allen Watts / Cobb Cole & Bell fI \ I .~ . ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 20, SECTION 20-451 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR AN ALTERN A TIVE PERMITTED SITE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF TELECOMMUNICATION TOWERS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, Secti on 20-451 (d)( 1 L of the Code of Ordinances curren tl y permi ts the erecti on of a telecommunication tower at the City of Winter Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant #l/West; and WHEREAS, the City Commission has determined that the development of a telecommunication tower on the approved site at the Wastewater Treatment Plant #l/West is technically unfeasible due to its close proximity to existing telecommunication towers outside of the jurisdiction of the City of Winter Springs; and WHEREAS, the City of Winter Springs is seeking to ensure that sufficient locations exist . to permit the erection of telecommunication towers within the City while maintaining the ability to guide and control the preferred location of such telecommunication towers; and WHEREAS, the City Commission has identified an alternative site which is suitable for the development of a telecommunication tower at the City of Winter Springs East Water Reclamation and Sewer Plant; and WHEREAS, the City of Winter Springs has attempted to balance obligations under the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 against the effects of the proliferation of telecommunication towers by providing publicly owned sites for such facilities; and WHEREAS, four of the designated sites are already in use by multiple tenants, and the fifth and only unused preapproved site is in close proximity to an existing facility in unincorporated Seminole County and is not now suitable for development as a telecommunication tower; and WHEREAS, the City of Winter Springs desires to continue its practice of restoring telecommunication facilities to publicly owned land in contrast to allowing a proliferation of Conditional Use Permits elsewhere in the City; and WHEREAS, the City of Winter Springs has identified an additional public site in substitution . for site (a); ,1 , , . . . NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAlNED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA, THAT: SECTION 1 - City of Winter Springs Code, Chapter 2b, Section 20-451(d)(1) is hereby amended as follows: (1) Telecommunication towers shall be a permitted use at the following sites (see map attachment Figure 1, dated July 14, 1997 and updated subject to other regulations which may apply: . 2002) * * * [new] f. City of Winter Springs East Water Reclamation and Sewer Plant SECTION 2 - If any section or portion of this Ordinance proves to be invalid, unlawful or unconstitutional, it shall not be held to invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect of any other section or portion of a section or subsection or part of this Ordinance. SECTION 3 - That all Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. SECTION 4 - This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption, in accordance with 166.041(4), Florida Statutes. PASSED AND ADOPTED this _ day of ,2002. PAUL P. , PARTYKA, MAYOR CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA FIRST READING: POSTED: SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARING: