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applicant was required to submit. There are issues such as draining, the 100 year flood plain, and a few other things that are quite lacking. Law Depaa-tment Comments 1VIr. O'Malley said the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was designed to enable or encourage local control and the enactment of zoning regulations. There is an element of a first amendment issue here and there is also a federal preemption. There are 4 limitations placed on municipalities by the federal law. The City of North Olmsted enacted Chapter 1151 with the assistance of experts in order to take advantage of the authorization from the federal government to regulate in this area. In the absence of that chapter, the City would have difficulty having any influence over the location of these cell towers. The City is not permitted to absolutely prohibit personal wireless services and cannot discriminate among providers. Our local code complies with the federal law. The action on a wireless facility application must be within a reasonable period of time. Again, our code complies and allows for that review. The third limitation by federal statute is that any denial of an application must be in writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record. The final, and one of the most critical aspects of the federal law, is the limitation on the local regulation not to contain regulations on the basis of environmental affects of radio frequency emissions, other than requiring that the facilities comply with FCC regulations. Chapter 1151, in several provisions compels and requires the applicant to demonstrate compliance with FCC regulations. Our Chapter 1151 is in compliance with the federal law. It does not authorize, does not contemplate, that the City would in the course of reviewing a wireless tower application, revisit the area of RF emissions. This is an area of federal law. He said 1151 in the rezoning that has taken place for this piece of property, allows for a tower of this nature as a conditional use and the chapter outlines some of the conditions that must be satisfied. These are standards that the board is familiar with. Plannins! Director Comments Ms. Wenger said since December 23, 2003 she has not had any communication with Sprint. At the last meeting, the Commission gave Sprint a couple of instructions, namely to look at alternative sites on the parcel and to look into the residents' concerns. They have not been provided with additional materials for this meeting. The Board has one map before them that shows the location of the proposed cell tower along with the 300 foot setback. The Commission also directed the applicant to look at the rear soccer field that is adjacent to I-480 as a possible location. They have shown that area does not meet the setback. Beyond that, they have not provided additional material to review prior to the meeting so perhaps the applicant can now provide additional comments or information about site availability. Applicant's Presentation IYIr. David Rachards came forward on behalf of Sprintcom. 1VIr. I£oeth asked why they have not submitted the other plans that were requested. Mr. Richards said his understanding was the questions the Board had regarding other locations, such as the soccer field, are actually on the property itself which they have already investigated. The total width of the soccer field is approximately 300 feet so even if in the center of the field, they would be looking at a 150 foot setback, maximum, from the nearest residential property. That is half of what they have in the proposed location. One of the other areas considered was the municipal complex which was rejected based on the plans for redevelopment including the library that is being built. The service garage area is one that was looked at and the City indicated it may go off site at some point and no longer be a service garage. And, if the municipal complex is to expand, it would expand into that area that is currently occupied by the service garage. There was a park off Lorain Road on the north side that was looked at. The setbacks are less than the required 300 feet and there is no real buffering. It would be a highly visible site. They discussed the water tank. The City of Cleveland owns that and is not in a position to do a long-term lease with Sprintcom because they have plans to eventually discontinue its use and dismantle it. Those are all locations they looked at before going to the school site. One of the other concerns they have left before them is the light on the pole issue. The only reason they chose that very specific location is to be able to replace one of the existing poles and simply put the existing lights there back on to the new structure. He 2