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Home My WebLink About2.0 PC Staff Report 06.12.1985(t PROJECT INFORMATION (; PC 6/L2/85 AND STAEF COMMENTS Spec ial Use permit forcommunication towers and associatedradio transmitting facilities. Rifle Broadcast Company A parcel located in the E L/2 R9 2W,Sec t ion 22,T65,approximately 2 l/2 miles south ofSiIt off of an access road off ofCounty Rd. 331. The request is to a1low theplacement of five (5) communicationtowers and associated radiotransmitting facilities. Holding tank Individual Sewage Disposal System Via County Rd. 331 A/R/RD A/R/RD in al-1 directions APPLICANI: LOCATION: SITE DA'IA: WATER: SEWER: ACCESS: EXISTING ZON]NG: ADJACENT ZONING: I. RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The proposed special use is located in District 2b, Subdivisions/RuralServicable Areas, L/2 to 1 mile radius, Moderate EnvironmentalConstraints. The 2b designation is related to the Minneota RidgeEstates subdivision, which has a centrar water system. IT. DESCRIPTION OT THE PROPOSAL A. Sitg-.Dgscription: The parcel on which the towers and associatedracrlltles are proposed to be located is in an area of rollingterrain with sparse pinon an<l juniper vegetation. Approximatel!one mile north of the site is weinle-Peak ana a mile S6utheast i-;Dry Hol1ow peak. Pr-ojgct DeqcriPtion: The proposal would allow for the placementot tlve (5) 35r foot high, communication towers, and a r0o0square foot transmitter building. The towers will be made of 1inch diameter tuburar rods in an lg inch triangular pattern.Three of the towers have to be painted alternatelf red and whiteand illuminated with a red, 620 watt beacon lignt at the top an<l69 watt obstruction lights at the 117 and 23g foot 1eve1s. Theother two towers will not have any lighting or specially coloredtowers. The radio station wil-l be a SOfw AM stereo stationduring 9lyright hours and 1 KW during the night hours. Thetowers will be located in an area 990 feet wid6 by 2450 feetlong, or approximately 50 acres. (See page tJ '1 . W-ater wiII betrucked into a hording tank on the iite anE- sewer wilr beprovided by an individual sewage disposal sysrem. The actualbroadcasting studio would be located i; Si1t. -L- REQUEST: B. 3. A. B. Hi*gr+: An ?pprication for the same faciliries was made forproperty located approximatery 1 L/2 miles south of the presentryproposed site.. th9 application was denied by nesorution No.84;r=0q 9r. primarily-to negative visuar impacts on-tn" existingneighborhood and the potentiil degradation ot rand varues. are a Special TII.MAJOR TSSUES AND CONCERNS zoni{rg: communication towers and broadcasting studiosspeciar use in the A/R/RD zone district. To ipprove ause permit, the following requirements must ue mell i. utilities adequate to provide water and sanitation servicebased on accepted_elgineering standards and approved by theEnvironmental Health officei shall either -U. in pla6e orshall be constructed in conjunction with the proposel usei 2. Street improvements adequate to accommodate traffic volumegenerated by the proposed use and to provide safe,convenient access to the use shall either be in place, orshall be constructed in conjunction with the proposed usei 3. Design _ of the proposed use is organized to minimize impacton and_ from adjacent uses of land through installation ofscreen fences or landscape materials on the periphery of the1ot and by location of intensively utilized arlasr- accesspoints, lighting and signs in such a manner as to protectestablished neighborhood character ; 4. Broadcasting studios and communication towers must beapproved by the Federal Communication Commission and FederalAviation Administration. The applicants have addressed those requirements in the followingmanner: 1. water and sewer wirr be avairable on the rot by truckingwater to a holding tank and installing an individual sewag6disposal. 2. The only traffic going to the site, once construction iscompreted, wirr consist of an engineer making occasionalchecks to the area, which wirr be at least once a week,under normal operating conditions. The appricant has noted that the proposed towers should notbe visibre beyond a mile from the -site. The Gzo wattbeacons can be shielded in a manner to effectivery eliminateany visual impacts from the ground. 4. Rifre Broadcast company has previousry had the appropriateF.A.A. and q.c.c. approvals. The F.c.c. construction !ermitwas approved February Ig, 1995. Staff Comments: The visuar impact of the proposed communications towers wasan issue at the time that the ArzRrzRD zone district text wasamended and during the previous speciar use permit Spplication, as noted previously. Three of the towers willhave red 620 watt beacon lighls on the top and two 69 wattobstruction lights at rower leveLs. Adaitionarly, thesethree structures wilr be painted alternately red and-white. 1. - 7^ O 2. 1. 2. 3. IV. SUGGESTED According to.the appricants, it is possible to shield thetop beacon light . from ground view by placing a plate berowt!: light making it visiule onry to .ir traffic. The towerswill be made of 1" tubular r6as, in an 1g,, triangurarpattern, making them difficurt to see from more than a mileaway, according to the application. The proposed towerswili have the bases set at approximate erevltions of 5rg50.f.9t to 5,880 feet. This woura resurt in the t;a beaconsbeing at approximatery 6 t2or feet to 6,23L feet inelevation- Th" most signiiicant visual impacts ,irr be tothe surrounding area of which the crosest residences areapproximately L/2 mi1e away, due north and southwest of theproposed site. There are additionar residencesapproximately 3/4 0f a mile to the east of the site. Thecolorado River. valrey floor and sir-t Mesa areas are aminimum of 2 r/2 miles-north of the proposed site. concerns about the transmitters interfering with radio,telephone and terevision reception, a15ng with thepossibilit,y of the radio sign3] ueing transmitted throughcertain metarlic objects witr,in t.h; area were expressedpreviously. A number of electrical engineer's opi"ion" weresomewhat varied as to !h" intensi[y of the effects, butgenerally agreed upon the forrowing as fossibl_e effects:a. rt is possibre that the radio -signi:. coula ue-picrea upon terephone rines in the area, but this can be corrected.9' Two way signars, such as paging devices, .o,rta haveinterference, but again this can O6 c6rrected.c- -.one engineer stated that it was possibre for certainappriances to pick up and transmit tha radio signal. Theother engineers conceded that it was possible, 5ui highlyunlikely- should it happen, it is pissible to correct theaffaa}.v!!9vu.d. some older_ radios may not be able to pick up any othersignal than Rifre Broadcist,s signai. - rt can be correctedby the radio being replaced by a n6w model. !: _An improperry instarled transmitter can, in certaincrrcumstances, arc certain revels of RF energy to certainobjects within a roo to 2oo foot radius. This could occuron a high level broadcasting frequency transmitter. RifreBroadcast is a 1ow level broidcasti.rg fiequency. An FCC engineer stated that Federar regurations wilr requirethe radio station to correct any probt6ms within a one voltarea, or approximately one mile rldius of the propo""a site. FINDINGS That the meeting before the Pranning commission was extensive andcomplete, that 3II pertinent taits, matters and issues h,eresubmitted and that arr interested parties were heard at themeetirg; That the special lse application meets the requirements set forthin section 5.03 of the-Garfield couniv ioning Resolution of lg7g,as amended; ilt TI,ut the proposed rand "r!)(rn nor be senerarly comparibre wirhthe existing and permitted y'ana uses i; arr directions. ;i#;l:i:,'::.ir "':::!,i:i;i::!.: ;'i:;,:::tT;':;i:!i:,iff :i:iGarfield County 4. - t- l/ (r (t V.RECO},IMENDATION If the Planning Commission feels that the visualproposed towers is compatible with the surroundingfollowing conditions should be imposed: 1. That all written and verbal representations ofshall be considered conditions of approval. impact of the area and the the applicant 2. That all beacons and light.s be shielded, to the extent legallyfeasible, from the view of surrounding property owners. 3. The applicant shal1 obtain and comply witn all County building and ISDS permit regulations prior to the issuance of a Special Use permit. i I I I