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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/13/2002rt MINI; TES ATTACHED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA AGENDA PUBLIC WORKSHOP MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2002 - 1:30 P.M. County Commission Chamber County Administration Building 1840 25`h Street, Vero Beach, Florida 32960 • COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Ruth M. Stanbridge, Chairman John W. Tippin, Vice Chairman Fran B. Adams Caroline D. Ginn Kenneth R. Macht D istrict 2 D istrict 4 District 1 D istrict 5 D istrict 3 James E Chandler County Administrator Joseph A. J. Baird, Assistant County Administrator Paul G. Bangel, County Attorney Kimberly Massung, Executive Aide to BCC Jeffrey K. Barton, Clerk to the Board 1:30 p.m. PUBLIC WORKSHOP — WIRELESS MASTER PLAN AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS (TOWFRS AND ANTENNAS). Consideration of Draft Wireless Master Plan Anyone who may wish to appeal any decision which may be made at this meeting will need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made which includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal will be based. Anyone who needs a special accommodation for this meeting may contact the County's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator at 567-8000 x1223 at least 48 hours in advance of meeting. Indian River County WebSite: www.ircgov.com Full agenda back-up material is available for review in the Board of County Commission Office, Indian River County Main Library, IRC Courthouse Law Library, and North County LibraryMeeting may be broadcast live on AT & 7' Cable Channel 13 — rebroadcast continuously Thursday 1:00 p.m. until Friday morning and Saturday 12:00 noon until 5:00 p.m. Meeting broadcast same as above on AT & T Broadband, Channel 27 in Sebastian. hi August 13, 2002 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS The Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida met in Special Session at the County Commission Chambers at 1840 25`" Street, Vero Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, August 13, 2002, at 1:30 p.m. Present were John W. Tippin, Vice Chairman; and Commissioners Fran B. Adams, Caroline D. Ginn and Kenneth R. Macht. Chairman Ruth M. Stanbridge was absent on County business. Also present were Joe Baird, Assistant County Administrator; Paul G. Bangel, County Attorney; and Patricia "PJ" Jones, Deputy Clerk. Vice Chairman Tippin called the meeting to order at 110 p.m. WIRELESS MASTER PLAN AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS (TOWERS AND ANTENNAS) The Board reviewed a Memorandum of August 7, 2002; CityScape Consultants, Inc - Report and Status Update of August 7, 2002; Master Plan Inventory; and Proposed Wireless Facility Master Plan of August 8, 2002: DRAFT COPIES OF THE MASTER PLAN INVENTORY AND WIRELESS FACILITY MASTER PLAN OF AUGUST 8. 2002 ARE ON FILE WITH THE BACKUP FOR TODAY'S MEETING AUGUST 13, 2002 1 r� 9 Vi Vi( y) J TO: James E. Chandler County Administrator TMENT HEAD CONCURRENCE obert M. eating, AIC Community Developmen Direct 4.11 FROM: Stan Boling, AICP Planning Director DATE: August 7, 2002 SUBJECT: Consideration of Draft Wireless Master Plan It is requested that the data herein be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its workshop of August 13, 2002. BACKGROUND In June 2001, the county entered into a contract with CityScape Siting and Management; Inc. to re -write the county's wireless facilities regulations and develop a wireless master plan. The overall process being followed by CityScape and the county is as follows: 1. Develop and adopt an "interim" wireless facilities ordinance and terminate the moratorium on applications for new towers. 2. Complete development of and adopt a wireless master plan. 3. Refine and adjust the interim ordinance by adopting any desired ordinance modifications, resulting in "final" regulations. The first step was completed on April 2, 2002, when the Board of County Commissioners adopted an `interim" wireless telecommunications ordinance. Although the ordinance is referred to as an "intenm" ordinance, it is comprehensive and detailed. The result is that the county now has a new set of regulations for wireless facilities, and has retained the previous set of tower regulations to apply to non - wireless towers (e.g radio and TV broadcast facilities). At the time of the April 2nd ordinance adoption, the Board also terminated the moratorium on applications for new towers; that moratorium had been in effect since January 2001 To date, no applications for new towers have been applied for under the new ordinance. AUGUST 13, 2002 Hti„Fi:£ • Since April, CityScape has continued to work on its draft wireless master plan and associated inventory of existing towers In so doing, CityScape has coordinated with county staff and received staff comments. Now, the draft wireless master plan is available for the Board's review. ANALYSIS Two documents are associated with the draft plan: the "Wireless Facility Inventory” (August 2002) and the "Wireless Facility Master Plan" (August 2002). Those documents are attached. The inventory provides information and maps that comprise a wireless facilities network database of existing and potential sites for antennas and towers. Inventory information relates to location, coverage, capacity and collocation issues. The wireless master plan is a planning tool that includes a forecast of future wireless facilities demands, siting and land use policies, and a technical framework for analyzing requests for new facilities. No wireless services providers fully participated in the master planning process; therefore, the master plan does not propose a set of pre -approved" collocation or new facility sites for any particular provider's planned future deployment. At the August 13th workshop, however, CityScape will review specific county -owned sites to determine which sites the Board feels are appropriate for accommodating wireless facilities. Such decisions can include limiting the type of facility (e.g. stealth) that the Board will allow or "pre -approve" on a given county -owned site. Regardless of any restricted "pre -approval" the county will always have the option of going through the application process, under the LDRs, to meet future communications needs that might arise. At the workshop, staff will discuss the possibility of designating several existing county -owned tower sites, including the Hobart Park site and the south county transfer station site, as "tower cluster sites" for broadcast and wireless facilities. Although the tower cluster concept is referenced in the county's non - wireless facilities LDRs, no cluster proposal has actually been proposed or considered to date. The Board may wish to apply this concept to the Hobart Park and south county sites, and incorporate the concept into the master plan. After the workshop, CityScape will fully address county continents and revise the wireless master plan and inventory documents. CityScape will then present the revised plan to the Board for adoption. Once the master plan is adopted, CityScape will complete the third task previously referenced That task relates to development of "final" wireless facilities regulations. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners review the draft wireless master plan, and provide comments to staff and CityScape for finalizing the wireless master plan. ATTACHMENTS 1. Update from CityScape (dated August 7, 2002) 2. Wireless Facility Inventory (August 2002) 3. Wireless Facility Master Plan (August 2002) AUGUST 13, 2002 3 .'f v • AUGUST 13, 2002 4 Indian River County Public Land Properties Site Address City Agree/Disagree SCHOOLS Beachland Elementary 3351 Mockingbird Drive Vero Beach Citrus Elementary 2771 4th Street Vero Beach Dodgertown Elementary 4350 43rd Avenue Vero Beach Fellsmere Elementary 50 N Cypress Street Fellsmere Highlands Elementary 500 20th Street, SW Vero Beach Glendale Elementary 4940 8th Street Vero Beach Osceola Magnet School 665 20th Street Vero Beach Pelican Island Elementary 1355 Schumann Drive Sebastian Rosewood Magnet School 3850 16th Street Vero Beach Sebastian Elementary 400 Country Road 512 Sebastian Thompson Elementary 1110 18th Avenue SW Vero Beach Vero Beach Elementary 1770 12th Street Vero Beach Wabasso Elementary 8895 US 1 Wabasso Gifford Middle School 2726 45th Street Vero Beach Olso Middle School 480 20th Avenue Vero Beach Sebastian River Middle 9400 County Road 512 Sebastian Vero Beach High School 1707 16th Street Vero Beach Sebastian River High School 9001 90th Avenue Sebastian Freshman Learning Center 1507 19th Street Vero Beach Parks Oceanfront Parks Golden Sands Beach Park A1A-North CR 510 Wabasso Humiston Park Ocean Drive-south of Beachland Blvd Vero Beach Jaycee Park Ocean Drive-north of Beachland Blvd Vero Beach Sebastian Inlet State Park Indian River-Brevard County line North County South Beach Park A1A-east Causeway Vero Beach Tracking Station Park A1A-1 mile North of Beachland Blvd Vero Beach Treasure Shores Park A1A-North of Wabasso Bridge North County Wabasso Beach Park A1A-East end of CR 510 Wabasso Rlverfront Parks Bethel Creek House Bethel Creek Canal Vero Beach Indian River Island Sanctuary Island-near Riverside Park Vero Beach MabWilliam Park Island-Indian River Drive East Vero Beach Main Street Boat Dock Mainland-Indian River Drive Sebastian Riverside Park Indian River Drive-US 1 Sebastian Round Island Park West Island-Indian River-Brevand County li South County Wabasso Causeway Park CR 510 at Wabasso Bridge Wabasso A.W. Young Park 21st Street Vero Beach MacDonald/Winbrow South of US 1 and CR 505 Sebastian River Roseland Community Center Park Bay Street-130th Street Sebastian River Lakefront Parks Blue Cypress Lake Park 28 miles west of Vero Beach Indian River County AUGUST 13, 2002 4 Troy Moody Park Barber Street Sports Complex Easy Street Park Lake Hardee Park Schumann Drive Park Fellsmere Park Oleander Park jzutn Avenue ott Oslo Road Victory Blvd and Cordova Ave 'Barber Street and Tulip Drive Lake Drive and Easy Street 'Barber Street and Lake Drive Vero Beach Vero Beach Sebastian Sebastian Sebastian Schumann Drive and Engler Drive South Orange Street Washington Park West Wabasso Park Sebastian Fellsmere Fellsmere Fellsmere Fellsmere Wabasso Water Plants West Regional South County North Beach Repump Station Sea Oaks North County Water Plant North Regional Central WWTP Libraries Main Library North Library Law Library 11600 21st Street AUGUST 13, 2002 Indian River County Public Land Properties Site fAddress C'ty [Agree/Disagree inland Parks Charles Park 115th Street -25th Avenue Vero Beach Creative Playgroud 11725 17th Avenue Vero Beach Gifford Park 15th Street -24th Avenue Vero Beach Kiwanis-Hobart Park 58th Avenue and 47th Street Vero Beach Leisure Square 13705 16th Street Vero Beach Municipal Athletic Avenue 116th Street and 17th Avenue Vero Beach A Neighborhood Park 19th Street and 25th AvenueVero Beach Piece of Pie Park 37th Avenue and Atlantic Blvd {Vero Beach Pocahontas Park 121st Street and 14th Avenue IVero Beach ...� �_.._... __.. Troy Moody Park Barber Street Sports Complex Easy Street Park Lake Hardee Park Schumann Drive Park Fellsmere Park Oleander Park jzutn Avenue ott Oslo Road Victory Blvd and Cordova Ave 'Barber Street and Tulip Drive Lake Drive and Easy Street 'Barber Street and Lake Drive Vero Beach Vero Beach Sebastian Sebastian Sebastian Schumann Drive and Engler Drive South Orange Street Washington Park West Wabasso Park Sebastian Fellsmere Fellsmere Fellsmere Fellsmere Wabasso Water Plants West Regional South County North Beach Repump Station Sea Oaks North County Water Plant North Regional Central WWTP Libraries Main Library North Library Law Library 11600 21st Street AUGUST 13, 2002 • Figure 1: Average PCS base station coverage available from all possible County towers. Note that much County area Is already contained within the coverage distance from "some" tower or structure. It should be noted, however, that with six possible PCS licenses, two cellular licenses, ESMR licenses, etc., all going to potentially n companies, all building out their systems independently, much duplication of facilitiesdiffere occur in the absence of any coordination. This is the reason for a Master Plan. The search area template Generally accepted cellular engineering principles establish a reasonable "search area" for a wireless base station as a circle with radius one-quarter that of the proposed cell, centered on the ideal location for the cell according to the carrier's deployment plan. Based on the coverage area available from a 1504 tower, and given a "handoff zone, above reasonable search reius is approximately onehelfme. Cellular engineers usually use "hexagons' to represent coverages because they together without gaps. The search area is ideally specified in a document given to site search consultants when they go out looking for a lease on which to build a tower. Any location within the search area is considered to be acceptable for the caner (and the consultantets paid for bringing in the lease, even if the requesting engineer changes his mind). 9 Cellular and PCS engineering require that the towers be precisely located. search areas are very important and should raise suspicion if they are simply circles on a map centered precisely on where the carrier hopesThus, the to build a tower. AUGUST 13, 2002 The search areas identified above are numbered and properties tallied in Chapter 8. Currently, out of 228 structure. Currently, One of possible search areas, 40 have an existing tower or antenna which could red forty-four grids have exempt property or a 'tall" existing the Countypotentially be developed should a fatality be needed there, in accorance with ordinance. This concept, tailored to the unique its ordinance,requirements in Indian River Countyin a withquirs site tower o limon ,Ea l save tremendous amounts of time accordance the location alternatives that theble ordinancecarneallows. location will be " when prospective canters pre evaluated" to determine Cityscape has undertaken research into the some of the wording within the County's Zoning resources and has simplified County areas where wireless facilitiesoawed ordinance into maps. Figure 3 re permitted by collocation/attachment. shoves Special Exception Staff Approval AUGUST 13, 2002 "Stealth" facilities are permitted in those areas shown in Figure 4. bbecN EX0.ueon Indian River New Stealth Facility • Figure 4: "Stealth" wireless facility zoning areas Finally, "non -stealth" potentials are shown in Figure 5. Indian River New Non -Stealth Facility • Figure 5: "Non -stealth" wireless facility zoning areas. Carrier input Prior to presentation of the plan to the County for final approval and input, all wireless carriers active in Indian River will be given another opportunity to comment on and participate in the plan. They may share their build -out plans with Cityscape in order to determine future needs, and an attempt will be made to meld the submitted plans together AUGUST 13, 2002 Planning Director Stan Boling introduced the representatives for the consultant, CityScape, and stated that staff and the consultant will make their presentation and receive input from the Board and the public as to any suggested revisions. Susan Rabold, Vice President and General Manager of CityScape, stated that the purpose of the meeting is to present the master plan and receive input in order to complete the plan to be brought back to the Board at a later date. There are a lot of factors which go into a master plan, including the number of providers in the area and required frequencies for service. The current clusters of population have a direct correlation to where the towers are located and you must take into consideration the current technology, areas covered, zoning, population and demographics, as well as trends in technology. There are different patterns of development for cell sites based on these factors. First, we need to locate all the existing sites and determine whether or not they are in good condition so that other providers could be added to those sites. Then we need to analyze the deployment of the sites to determine how well the network is covered and to locate any gaps. Global Positioning Satellite information was collected, as well as information collected from the Property Appraiser, the Federal Communications Commission network, and from staff. CityScape staff then drove through the county 3 times, looking at possible or proposed sites, as well as existing sites shown on the various databases. A map has been included in the backup which gives a roster of the existing locales, the site capacity, a site photograph and a site map. The category numbers indicate whether these are monopole, lattice towers, stealth towers, water tanks, or tall buildings. Information is also included on the site owners and tenants, as well the height, latitude and longitude of the site and the estimated capacity of the site. The condition of the tower is also reported. Some policy decisions will need to be made regarding the use of public lands and then we can do the assessments. Richard Edwards, President and Broadcast Engineer of CityScape, stated that input is now needed from the county to revise the master plan into something that works well for providers, customers and the county. There are many new bills being discussed regarding new AUGUST 13, 2002 15 nit" 1 s? 00 • technologies and he estimated that there will be almost a 70% roll back in new tower builds due to concerns of consolidations in providers which are anticipated to occur in the near future. We are rapidly approaching the point where it will be economically reasonable to allow data transmission over wireless technology. Many new technologies are being developed and it will be less expensive to use cellular than wire which will have a big impact on communities such as Indian River County. Someone had asked about using underground wires and he noted that this modern technology cannot go underground. These signals radiate from towers and the lower the tower, the less area it covers. In the near future there will be more and more cell phones and everyone is just guessing about how built -out the system is now. It is anticipated that Indian River County will need 30 new tower sites east of I-95 in the next few years. There are also some major gaps in the county. There is a lot of room for collocation in some areas and some providers can be steered to public property if a decision is made to allow use of those properties. Ms. Rabold stated that the preferences indicated by the Board previously for site development were: first, collocation attachment to existing towers; second, replacement of existing towers; and third, development of additional towers. Some discussion was devoted to using public structures for collocation purposes. Requests for towers could be pre -evaluated by staff and applicants attaching to an existing site with no new development would be administratively approved by staff. Other applicants would be required to furnish data that existing sites were either not available or not capable of supporting the needed installation. Mr Edwards noted that the survey of the county found only 1 FM radio station tower which did not contain any collocation sites and no AM station towers were located. (Note: Staff has informed CityScape of the location of an existing AM tower in the County, to be included in the revised inventory. ) Ms. Rabold asked the Board for a consensus to use publicly owned properties in the master plan, such as existing water tanks, roof tops, ballpark light standards and stealth alternatives. An appearance standard can be developed for stealth towers. These sites are a very valuable zoning tool plus revenue source for the county and could be used for 911 emergency management, as well as recreation and senior citizen centers. AUGUST 13, 2002 16 1 /01 • Jimmy McKee, a Vero Beach broadcaster, stated that he has expressed an interest in building a 500 foot tower on county property for his use in partnership with the county for multiple uses and shared revenues. Director Boling noted that the existing tower is not in good shape and it would make sense to allow Mr McKee to rebuild the tower for broadcast purposes and allow the county to also use that tower. Commissioner Macht felt everyone would benefit from such an arrangement. Emergency Services Director John King responded that the Federal Aviation Administration helped to pay for the existing tower in 1985 and he believed they did not pay any rent for the use of the tower. Vice Chairman Tippin felt there was a CONSENSUS that staff should investigate the replacement of the 2 existing towers and report back to the Board. George Gross, a member of the Planning & Zoning Board, expressed his confusion about the collocation statement on page 35 of the proposed Master Plan in discussing the height of the antennas, and Mr Edwards responded that some carriers have experienced a problem with service using the 100 foot towers but he believed that the towers to come will drop in height . Ms Rabold then discussed some of the new features available for stealth towers such as pictures, faux trees, light and flag poles, acrylic windows with the infrastructure behind the window pane, cupolas made from fiberglass which allow transmission, custom frontage on buildings, dormers, louvers, roof top extensions, building side mounts, signage, silos, faux fire towers, and windmills. She questioned whether the Board had an interest in using public lands or in allowing sites on other public properties. AUGUST 13, 2002 17 1< • Commissioner Adams felt those decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. The County has a lot of conservation lands and most people go to parks for quiet enjoyment. She did not feel cell phones are needed in parks. Commissioner Ginn agreed that the decisions need to be made on a case-by-case basis. She did not want to see huge lattice towers downtown. Director Boling stated that he hoped to get some consensus from the Board as to whether staff needs to come to the Board each time someone makes an application or whether the Board wishes to set some policies now. Commissioner Macht and Commissioner Tippin agreed that applications should be presented on a case-by-case basis Director Boling confirmed that the policy will be set so that the Board will not prohibit the towers but wants to see each proposal on a case-by-case basis. Mr Edwards stated that there is a small possibility that the master plan will indicate a need for a tower near the ocean in order to comply with federal regulations but the County could still preclude certain areas in those locations. Commissioner Ginn wanted to include water and sewer plants and landfills as possible locations, and Commissioner Adams did not want libraries included but felt ballfield facilities with existing light poles could be used. Director Boling confirmed that County -owned sites could be included and that the cluster concept would be acceptable. He also confirmed that there are 2 towers at Hobart Park which need to be rebuilt and stated that he would work with Mr McKee on that. Commissioner Ginn was not in favor of clustering the towers. Director King commented on the significant growth in the county which has put a strain on the emergency communications system. He felt that the intersection of SR -60 and I-95 would be a good place for a new tower to alleviate that situation and stated that a limit of 150 feet might have to be exceeded to provide adequate coverage for public safety needs He believed that putting the county's equipment on someone else's tower would not be in the County's best interests. AUGUST 13, 2002 18 • plan. Commissioner Macht suggested the inclusion of an exemption for public safety. Mr Edwards asked for clarification on what should be included and/or excluded from the Commissioner Adams felt that conservation areas should be included because they are such large tracts. Commissioner Macht questioned whether any LAAC regulations would prohibit those towers, and Director Boling stated that he did not know of any such restrictions. Director Boling confirmed that the direction from the Board was that stealth towers could possibly be used on County -owned sites depending on the details of the application. The ordinance will require that the proposal be brought to the Board as the owner of the property. He then questioned whether the Board would want another workshop on this plan or would want it brought back for approval at a regular Board meeting, and Commissioner Macht responded that the revised plan should be brought to a regular Board meeting for approval. Vice Chairman Tippin then questioned whether anyone in the audience wished to be heard with regard to this matter and opened the public discussion portion of the meeting. Telecommunications Manager Terry Smith questioned what effect digital broadcasting would have on towers and whether that change in technology would require more towers. Mr Edwards responded that a government directive has required that television providers change from analog services to digital services by 2005. However, there is only 1 licensed Vero Beach station which is located in Palm Beach County. Low powered stations are not mandated by the federal government. The FCC has mandated that digital providers are required to cover the same service area as VHF providers. Any signals that are being received now should still be received when the change to digital is made. Vice Chairman Tippin thanked the CityScape representatives for an enlightening presentation. Commissioner Ginn also complimented CityScape and noted that they had put in a tremendous amount of work. AUGUST 13, 2002 19 0 1 The Vice Chairman then asked if anyone else wished to be heard regarding this matter. There being none, the Vice Chairman closed the public discussion portion of the meeting. There being no further business, on Motion duly made, seconded and carried, the Board adjourned at 3:26 p.m. ATTEST: Minutes Approved: ! - 0 `- z AUGUST 13, 2002 20 7 John W.Tippin, Vice Chairman