07/22/2003 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

does not tell her if it affects two homes or fifty homes. Mr. Koeth said the coverage is -not the board's problem. Mr. Satarawala said those towers are only collocate-able if First Energy owns the land in the easement to the tower. Mr. Koeth pointed out there is a tower at the far end by Lorain. Mr. Satarawala said per First Energy, there are 50 landlords that own easements to any of those towers. He said if they are spending the coverage dollars that are anticipated by anything close to that tower, and again per your own city code of spacing towers, folks, I didn't write your code. Mr. Hreha said that is why they grant variances. 1VIr. Koeth said there is a right of way tower not less than a 1/2 a mile and if Cingular has to deal with the landlords, they will get some money out of this project. The state is getting $22,000 a year. He said he has a problem with these right of way towers that are available where maybe a landlord will get the money. He has a problem with the state requesting a 190-foot tower right in the middle of a residential area. They will get the money, but we have to look at this tower, and right down the street there are other possible sites. He said why not take advantage of the other towers. He commented that Cingular has made requests for areas farther south and then all of a sudden it's up here in the north. 1VIr. Satarawala said it was farther south because those are 31/4 miles away from the search area. IVIr. Koeth said he would like to see more research done before they make a decision on this. Mr. Satarawala said they went ahead and took the tower closest to the highway. They went the 1/2-mile distance where AT&T has their insert. He said Cingular's position is that insert does not provide the coverage. If the commission would choose to make the recommendation not to approve this, then Cingular will approach O.D.O.T. and do what it needs to do with the State of Ohio. Mr. Koeth said that is a threat and he would like to see an O.D.O.T. representative here. He said the board will stay within the statutes and within ordinances but he would like to see more alternatives, rather than Cingular coming in here and telling them this is where they have to put it. Mrs. Hoft=Smith said Cingular and O.D.O.T. are doing this from their point of view, and O.D.O.T. can say this is fine, but they are not listening to the board or the residents because they are not here. Mr. Koeth said another alternative is putting the tower in the other right of way and then 1/2 a mile north is the city of Westlake, and there is land where they can put a tower that would cover the north. He asked if there are any towers to the north of Lorain where they can have the coverage overlap. Mr. Satarawala reviewed the existing cell rings on the map and referred to the expert, the radio frequency engineer, Mr. Kovitch. 1!'Ir. O'Malley objected to the discussion. He said he does not know if Mr. Kovitch really covered this previously and he does not know Mr. Satarawala's qualifications to relay Mr. Kovitch's report. He does not know if there are findings in writing. He sees the colored maps but he does not see a written report with these conclusions. It seems that Mr. Kovitch should speak to these issues directly. Mr. Satarawala said he can leave Mr. Kovitch's written dissertation with the board. Mr. O'Malley said he would like the applicant to have due process but the board does not have a copy of the report. Mr. Koeth said they will need time to examine the report. He said the report and any other material can be given to the clerk to include in the board's packets, so there is time to review it before the meeting. Mr. Koeth asked if Mr. Kovitch works directly for Cingular and Mr. Satarawala confirmed that he does. He instructed Mr. Satarawala to talk to Mr. Kovitch about putting a tower in the right of way and getting another configuration as to where things would be, with another tower to the north of Stearns where Crocker Stearns will eventually be. Mr. Satarawala started to direct a question to Mr. O'Malley. Mr. O'1Vlalley said he would like to clarify something. He is not present to respond to Mr. Satarawala's requests for legal advice. He is here as counsel to the Planning Commission, to answer any questions the commission might have and to provide them with advice. Furthermore, Mr. Satarawala's conversations with Mr. Conway are appropriate as he is the administrative official who interprets the building and zoning code, and he works with developers as to their applications that are then forwarded to the Planning Commission. He said Mr. Rymarczyk is present and could speak on behalf of the building department as to advising the board on code, on interpretation, and code application. He said he would advise the Planning Commission under Chapter 1126, which he believes applies here, is restricted to 60 days for its review. He cautioned them that unless they find delay that is attributable to the applicant that would extend the time, or unless the applicant concedes to additional time, the Planning Commission should plan to 7