The meeting was called to order at 7:31 P.M.
Plan Commission Members Present: Stephen Park, David Nordentoft, Richard McFarlane,
Sharon Salmons, and Chairman James Sula.
Plan Commission Members Absent: Gwen Broughton, Patrick Drennan
Other Officials Present: Bryan Winter, Village Attorney; David Ziegler, Director of Community Development; Tracy Velkover, Planning Manager; and Molly Bacon, Associate Planner
1. Public Hearing: Rezoning & Special Use Permit for Clearwire Corporation
Associate Planner Molly Bacon stated the petitioner Clearwire Corporation is proposing to rezone the southern half of the 0.88 acre property located at 3857 Grandview Avenue in order to construct a new monopole cellular tower. She stated the property is currently split zoned with the northern half zoned I-1 Restricted Industrial District and the southern half zoned C/B-2 EGG, East Grand Gateway Overlay District. She stated the zoning request was necessary because the proposed location of the tower is on the southern half of the property in the C/B-2 EGG zoning district which does not allow for new cellular towers. She stated new cell towers are allowed as a Special Use in the I-1 zoning district.
Ms. Bacon stated the petitioner’s second request is for a Special Use for a proposed new wireless antenna facility on the southern half of the subject property. She stated the facility will consist of a 120-foot tall monopole with antennas, a ground equipment panel and related support equipment.
Chairman Sula stated as this is a Public Hearing, he asked for anyone from the petitioner or members of the general who intend to either give testimony or ask questions to stand and be sworn in by the Village Attorney.
Chairman Sula opened the floor to the petitioner.
Mr. Tony Phillips of SAC Wireless located at 635 Remington Road, Schaumburg, Illinois introduced himself. He stated he is representing Clearwireless, LLC which is a division that is 59% owned by Sprint. He stated this parcel is unique and shaped in an arrow-like pie piece with the “point” of the property being basically unusable for the owner and his business, therefore a potential spot to locate the proposed tower. He stated they were advised this lot is zoned by two different zonings and Staff recommended this by alleviated by rezoning under one zoning for purposes of the Village and for the purposes of the petitioner to allow for the tower.
Mr. Phillips stated the proposal is to construct a 120 foot tower on the subject parcel with ground equipment that includes screening using a six foot wood fence. The proposed tower allows for two additional carriers on the tower. He stated other carriers that may come into the Village of Gurnee would use this tower without having to erect their own tower. He stated the tower would be along Rt. 41 which has a lot of workforce traffic with a residential area located across the highway. He stated this product is very popular with a cost of $55.00 per month, unlimited for life and includes internet and wireless internet both for home and on laptop computers. He stated for normal cell towers they cover every 1 to 3 miles and for this product to work the range of equipment is every ¼ to ½ mile apart because of the way in which the communication operates. He stated this is done with the microwave dishes which talk to tower to tower to tower. He stated currently they have several sites in which they have worked with the Village and those include 3 water tanks which have been approved with negotiated leases as well as some other towers on various properties in Lake County. He stated this is a huge network which consists of approximately 1,200 sites in the Chicagoland area to operate the communications of the network. He stated they had to find something in this search area that would work for them. He noted they were unable to find another existing structure they could mount their antennas on that would provide the coverage needed to complete the network grid. He stated it is not their first choice to build a tower due to the expense, but to complete this piece of the puzzle they had no choice but to find a piece of property to erect and build a tower. He stated they wanted to go onto Village property and have used every piece of Village property that fit into their grid and have been working with the Village to accomplish this.
Chairman Sula asked for any questions from the Commission.
As there were no questions at this point from the Commission, Chairman Sula opened the floor to the Public for any questions or comments.
Mr. Tim Sloth of 1929 Lawson Boulevard stated he is present at this meeting on behalf of one of the residents who lives off of Waveland Road which is about a football length away from where the proposed cell tower is. He stated the concern is that this cell tower seems to be very close to the residential area. He stated this resident is the third house from the proposed cell tower and approximately 100 yards from the site. He stated the resident(s) own their own business and are currently working this evening, thus, they asked him to be present on their behalf. He stated their concerns are 1) what type of effect would a cell tower that is omitting radiation have on housing values in the area;
2) children and grandchildren present, especially on Grandview and Waveland; 3) the health risk associated with radiation, noting research that has been done in Europe which do not allow cell towers within such a close proximity to residential areas and 4) if there has been any consideration to locating this tower in the industrial park located off of Northwestern Avenue which is located behind the residences and running parallel to Rt. 41 instead of having a proposed location so close to the residences.
He stated these are the main concerns and asked if the Plan Commission has addressed these concerns and if there is any consideration that could be given.
Chairman Sula asked for any other questions or comments from the Public.
Chairman Sula closed the floor to the Public.
Chairman Sula stated for the record, that Staff has provided the Commission with some statistics. He stated for the distance mentioned in question (1), the nearest single family, residential home to the proposed tower is 357 feet away as well as being separated by railroad tracks and US 41. He stated there is quite a bit of distance as well as other infrastructure to the proposed tower and the nearest residence. He stated the next closest residence is 468 feet away.
Mr. Phillips provided the answer to question (2) and the effect of radiation on house values. He stated the FCC states anything at the proposed tower height will not affect the public whatsoever. He stated it is categorically excluded. He stated the Telecommunications Act of 1996 prevents municipalities from restricting cell towers based on health and safety. He stated they have determined that cell towers are needed enough and the health risks are minimal.
Chairman Sula asked for the Village Attorney Bryan Winter to provide legal advice.
Mr. Winter stated when the Village of Gurnee passed their ordinance this was not included as a factor and the Village’s ordinance does not go through that analysis. He stated the Village accepts that the Federal Government has pre-empted them from looking into this.
Mr. Phillips responded to question (4) considering other locations. He stated they have looked in other locations and as he noted earlier, this product / system, need to be closer than normal, as compared to a normal cell tower. He stated because of the height of 120 feet, there is no issue whatsoever. He stated there is a study by the FCC which can be found on their website which has a workbook for municipalities to determine what is safe and what is not safe. He stated a cell tower is the safest thing that can be done as far as antennas.
Chairman Sula asked for any other questions or comments from members of the Commission.
Mr. McFarlane stated the entire overlay was intended to upgrade this area. He stated this would be a Special Use and asked if this would open up the area for other cell towers. He stated the base of a 120 foot tower would be seen and his concern is for the whole area not specifically for this site.
Chairman Sula responded the site is a very unique isolated parcel that is off the beaten track of what the Village is trying to do with the EGG and is contiguous to the I-1.
Mr. McFarlane stated the 120 foot tower would be seen and then this would not open the door for any other towers to actually come into the area. He stated this is just his comment as the area is struggling and mentioned would the tower look like.
Ms. Salmons asked what type of road would there be and where would the road would exit out onto Grandview.
Mr. Phillips responded it is an unmanned facility and the only time they would need to look at it is probably once a month when a service technician would come in with a pick-up or van, just working on the ground for adjustments to the radio equipment. He stated they would enter through the property owner’s entrance by obtaining his permission for access. He stated he believed the property owner’s yard is locked and this would actually be a double locked area as their compound is locked up as well and all within the property owner’s yard. He stated it would be a secure area and access would be through the owners existing parking lot.
Ms. Salmons asked if there was an existing exit coming off of the road.
Mr. Phillips responded an existing driveway and parking lot is present onsite which is located in the back of the owner’s storage yard.
Chairman Sula stated there are two different matters before the Commission with regard to this particular topic. He stated 1) is rezoning the property from the C/B-2 EGG to become I-1 Restricted Industrial District.
Chairman Sula asked for a motion on this matter.
Mr. Nordentoft motioned, seconded by Ms. Salmons, to forward a favorable recommendation for the rezoning of the aforementioned property from C/B-2 EGG, East Grand Gateway Overlay District to I-1 Restricted Industrial District as it meets the standards for the zoning amendment.
Roll Call
Ayes: McFarlane, Nordentoft, Park, Salmons, Sula
Nays: None
Abstain:
Motion Carried: 5-0-0
Chairman Sula asked for a motion for the Special Use Permit to construct a wireless antenna facility consisting of the 120 foot tall monopole with antennas referencing the items that were considered.
Mr. Nordentoft motioned, seconded by Ms. Salmons, to forward a favorable recommendation, to the Village Board for the Special Use Permit to construct a wireless antenna facility at 3857 Grandview Ave stating that this proposal does meet the standards for a Special Use Permit for a personal wireless subject to the following conditions:
1. That when the petitioner submits a building permit for review by the Village of Gurnee for construction of the proposed monopole tower, that a Structural report is provided that anticipates two (2) additional carriers for tower design and site plan, and includes this location’s Special Wind Region designation that wind loads shall be calculated at 90 mph 3 second gust, among other general requirements.
2. That the structural report shall be approved by the Community Development Department prior to the grant of any occupancy for the project.
3. That space on the tower, connections to the tower, and space on the ground for equipment, must be offered to entities seeking co-location onto said tower, including but not limited to competitors, at commercially reasonable terms related to proposed rent or other similar lease or purchase agreement requirements.
4. That the facility be in substantial conformance with the plans submitted, with the last revision date of 1-15-2010.
Roll Call
Ayes: Nordentoft, Park, Salmons, Sula
Nays: McFarlane
Abstain:
Motion Carried: 4-1-0
Mr. Nordentoft made a motion, seconded by Mr. McFarlane, to adjourn.
The Meeting was adjourned at 7:48 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted:
Joanne Havenhill
Plan Commission Secretary