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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 27, 2008 C I T Y o F 0 NDOVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 . (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Agenda May 27, 2008 Andover City Hall Council Chambers 7:00 D.m. 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes - April 22, 2008. 3. PUBLIC HEARING: Conditional Use Permit (07-14) to allow a telecommunications tower to be located at 13875 Crosstown Boulevard NW. 4. Other Business 5. Adjournment 0 0 C I T Y o F NDOVE 0 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING -.MAY 27,2008 The Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting of the Andover Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order by Chairperson Daninger on May 27,2008, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Commissioners present: Chairperson Daninger, Commissioners Tim Kirchoff, Michael Casey, Valerie Holthus, Douglas Falk and Dennis Cleveland. Commissioners absent: Devon Walton. Also present: Associate Planner, Andy Cross Others 0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES. Apri122,2008 Commissioner Kirchoff stated on page 2, the gentleman who spoke from Anoka County was Mr. John Tonding, not Todd. Motion by Casey, seconded by Falk, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried on a 6-ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. PUBLIC HEARING: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (07-14) TO ALLOW A TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER TO BE LOCATED AT 13875 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARDNW. Mr. Cross stated T-Mobile has applied for a Conditional Use Permit to locate a cellular phone antenna in Andover. Commissioner Casey stated on the CUP, it is good for a year and on this application he wondered if it is good for one year or for the length of the lease. Mr. Cross stated CUP are always able to be reviewed annually. Whether the City chooses to exercise that or not 0 is determined on a case-by-case basis. There may be some uses that could be potentially noxious and have a potential for a real nuisance characteristics so in that case the City Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes - May 27, 2008 Page 2 0 may want to exercise that annual review process but in a case like this perhaps less so because once the project is done at this site it will not change much. Commissioner Holthus wondered how close this is to the wetland area Mr. Cross indicated this location has the approval of the Engineering Department and there is a safe distance before it is in the wetland. He showed on the map where the tower will be located. Chairperson Daninger asked what the correct distanc~ is because the staff reports shows 300 feet. Mr. Cross stated it is close to 350 feet. Chairperson Daninger stated they encourage collocation so that is why they are sharing the City siren tower. Mr. Cross indicated that was correct. Commissioner Kirchoff asked if this is purposely at 75 feet so it stays below having to collocate other carriers or other commercial ventures. Mr. Cross stated the applicant is in a better position to answer that but staff deemed that is the height the applicant required to get optimal coverage and building it higher would add an additional cost to no additional gain. Motion by Casey, seconded by Kirchoff, to open the public hearing. Motion carried on a 6-ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. 0 Mr. Paul Harrington, Carlson and Harrington, 8000 West 78th Street, Edina, stated he was at the meeting to answer questions. Commissioner Kirchoff asked why they would want the pole at 75 feet and not 100 feet and if it went to 100 would T -Mobile be able to lease other properties on the site. Mr. Harrington stated if they have a higher tower they typically try to collocate. In this particular location the way the cell phone towers work is they do not want them to have to reach too far. The idea is that as you travel along the road using the phone the signal gets handed off from tower to tower so they do not want to be grabbing people from an area that may already be covered. The companies look at what their existing network is, what the local regulations are as far as zoning and then try to work with what will accomplish the company's objectives within the zoning requirements. With the siren going on there both staff and themselves viewed this as a dual use pole and it meets their objective at 75. Chairperson Daninger asked if the goal was to rnlnlrnlze the existing vegetation so they do not disturb that. Mr. Harrington stated that is correct. They tried to capitalize as much as they could on the existing vegetation but staff asked them to supplement that somewhat. Mr. Harrington showed on the map the location of the area that will be fenced and 0 landscaped. Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes-May 27,2008 Page 3 0 Chairperson Daninger asked when Mr. Harrington thought construction would begin if this is approved. Mr. Harrington stated the build plan, assuming the Council acts on this in early June they would like to begin construction sometime in early July. Chairperson Daninger asked with summer weather how long will it take to get the siren up and running on the new pole. Mr. Harrington stated they will keep the siren on the existing pole until the day they change over and then they will hook up the siren on the new pole, which will take around four hours. He stated they will try to do a cut over when the weather is good. Chairperson Daninger asked ifT-Mobile was responsible to remove the existing pole and utilities. Mr. Harrington stated they would be removing all of it. Chairperson Daninger asked if the siren will be able to rotate when activated because it looks like a side mount at fifty feet. He wondered if there would be any loss of audible when it hits the backside of the pole. Mr. Harrington stated they were not aware of that and they had a meeting with the City and asked them to look into that and T-Mobile got an answer that staff was ok with that. He stated it is on a fixed stand off arm. Chairperson Daninger stated according to the staff report the frequency that T -Mobile will be operating at will not affect the fire station. Mr. Harrington stated they have a 0 purchased bandwidth, they are in the 1900 MHZ wavelength and emergencies are in the free bandwidth of 800 MHZ. Mr. Harrington stated he is in the process of putting together the lease agreement with the City Administrator and that specifically references the priority and interference and if there are any problems T-Mobile will need to make adjustments to their system. Commissioner Falk asked which side of the pole will the siren be mounted on. Mr. Harrington stated he did not know the answer to that question but they will work with the Public Works Department to see what is effective and if there is any concern about the pole blocking the sound anytime it passes the pole, it might make sense to put it on the roadside. Chairperson Daninger stated staff received a letter from Ms. Crystal Grube opposing this location. Motion by Falk, seconded by Casey, to close the public hearing. Motion carried on a 6- ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. Motion by Kirchoff, seconded by Falk, to recommend to the City Council approval of the Conditional Use Permit request. Motion carried on a 6-ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. 0 Regular Andover Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes-May 27,2008 Page 4 0 Mr. Cross stated that this item would be before the Council at the June 3, 2008 City Council meeting. OTHER BUSINESS. Mr. Cross updated the Planning Commission on related items. Mr. Cross mentioned that Planning Commission received updated Code changes for review. Chairperson Daninger asked if in the future he could receive the updates on a CD instead of printed paper so he can keep it on his computer. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Falk, seconded by Casey, to adjourn the meeting at 7:28 p.m. Motion carried on a 6-ayes, O-nays, I-absent (Walton) vote. Respectfully Submitted, 0 Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 0