Loading...
2000-09-12 "'~ES 'lED {. ) 2000' Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 1 ......... MINUTES Town of Wappinger Zoning Board of Appeals MEETING DATE: September 12,2000 TIME: 7:30 p.m. Town Hall 20 Middlebush Road Wappinger Falls, NY Members Present: Mr. Lehigh, Chairman Mr. diPierno, Member Mr. Fanue1e, Vice Chairman Mr. Warren, Member Mr. Prager, Member Others Present: Ms. Lukianoff, Zoning Administrator Mr. Roberts, Town Attorney Ms. DiPaola, Secretary to Zoning SUMMARIZED Discussions: Kenneth Cole Cellular One Zack's V-Twin cycles - Public Hearing Sept. 26,2000 - Public Hearing Sept. 26,2000 - Public Hearing Oct. 10,2000 Mr. Prager: Made a motion to approve the August 22,2000 minutes. '-"' Mr. Warren: Second the motion. V ote: All present voted aye. Mr. Prager: Made a motion to approve the August 26,2000 site inspection minutes as amended. Mr. diPierno: Second the motion. V ote: All present voted aye. DISCUSSIONS 1. Kenneth Cole - Seeking an area variance to construct an open wood deck. The property is located 5 Winesap Lane in the Town of Wappinger. Kenneth Cole is present for the meeting. Mr. Cole: I would like to build a deck on the back of my house. I have one that is presently there but it is falling apart. I want to make it bigger. Mr. Lehigh: How big is the present deck? Mr. Cole: 4x6. Mr. Lehigh: This one is going to be 16x16? You are in a R-20 district? - ......... Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 2 Yes. Is there any other way you can build the new deck? If I go to the side I have my garage and the roof line is lower, so the deck would be higher. The other side I have a bathroom window and the air conditioner there. Mr. Lehigh: You have a comer lot? Mr. Cole: Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Cole: Mr. Cole: Yes. Mr. Prager: Can you make it smaller? Mr. Cole: I have a lot of company and I would like to be able to fit two tables on the deck. Mr. Lehigh: It comes down on a concrete patio? Mr. Cole: Yes. Mr. Fanuele: How high is the deck going to be? Mr. Cole: Mr. Lehigh: ....... It is about 58 inches. This is a nice drawing, but it would help if you had some measurements on it. The distance from the edge of the porch to the house. Mr. Fanuele: You only need a variance for that one comer of the deck? Mr. Cole: Yes. Mr. Lehigh: We will have a public hearing on September 26,2000. 2. Cellular One - Seeking 3 variances in order to construct a cell tower. The property is located at 20 Middlebush Road in the Town of Wappinger. Chris Fisher, the applicant's attorney Ron Graiff, Radio Frequency Consultant and Kevin Brennan the applicant are present for the meeting. Mr. Fisher: Your board had asked for some additional information. We have submitted it all to you as you requested. We have also submitted additional colored photographs of the area. I also submitted a comprehensive document from the FCC. A site visit was conduct at the site with the applicant and this board. There are copies of the wetlands in the file. The only area that would comply with the setback is the DEC wetlands. We would like to stay out of the wetlands. ,.... ........ Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Graiff: Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Graiff: Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Graiff: ........ Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Graiff: Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Fisher: Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Fisher: Mr. Lehigh: ....... Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 3 Also I was told that this board would like us to move the tower further back. If that is what the board would like us to do then we will submit new plans. The board has to let us know. I would like to know why you need the cell tower in the first place? I really do not understand too much. I provide independent analysis for carriers as well as municipalities. Would you like a brief understanding and background of it? Yes, you should do that. We have been studying this for a very long time. It is important to understand what the aspect are. We know what the effects are and the government sets standards that everyone has to comply with. We estimated and calculated the maximum exposure that anyone would be exposed to, it is 2.1 %. I did a calculation it was .074% of the mpe. What is the exposure of the State Police and the Emergency building? The frequency is very low. The standard is higher but lower. Weare more concerned about the exposure of the State Police tower than a cell tower, because of the frequency. They transmit between 100-500 watts. For the State Police it is .02 mpe. The percentage for maximum exposure is about the same. When you leave the exposure goes away when you come back it starts again. What is the exposure for the cell tower? The standard is 2.1 %. I calculated last week and it came out to .9% to 1.8%. I feel comfortable with what the percentage is. I do not set the standard. I would like to extend this for another week or two. I would like to have the public hearing on September 26,2000. I am asking your permission. That is fine with me. I would also like you to supply a stenographer for the public hearing. We will. Is this information explaining me that you have to have it to keep the service here or increase the servIce. . . ........ Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 4 Mr. Graiff: There are two types of sites, capacity and coverage. There might be enough coverage but the capacity is not good. Adding channels to a cell site is much easier than building a new cell tower. Mr. Brennan: You have to put a site were it is most busy, so you can get the traffic off the other sites. We will not be the only ones on this site, sooner or later other companies will be added to it. This site will handle all of Wappingers, not just one section of the Town. Mr. Lehigh: How long is this going to be good for? Mr. Brennan: I do not foresee in the future that we will need to have another one. Mr. Fisher: ,..... Mr. Graiff: Mr. Lehigh: We discuss at the site inspection about dropping the height of the tower from 180 to 150. Mr. Fisher: One of the things that we have always said is that the height is going to be 150 feet. Mr. Fanuele: Right now we are talking about a variance of250 feet. The measurements are based on where you want to locate the tower. What would the measurements be if! don't need a variance? There is no location on this property where I would not need a variance. There is a maximum point. At the base of the tower there is no energy. As you move away from the tower you get energy. The maximum location is 87 feet from the base of the tower. Its goes from grade to grade. I did the calculation at 1200 feet it is about .074% mpe, at 1500 feet is about .061 % mpe. When you are that far away it would say zero, because the tools don't read that far away. Mr. Lehigh: At this time I would like it open to the public and if you have any question you may ask them. Rob Miller Middlebush Road: I went to the first Planning Board meeting. They spoke of the coverage area shaped like a football, and the majority said it would cover west of the Hudson. Now it has changed. I am concerned about the Health issues, I was told it was a non issue. Mr. Lehigh: The FCC controls the Health issues. We are not considering that. I asked the applicant to come to this board and explain it to us. We do not take care of that issue that is up to the Planning Board. Mr. Brennan: There is nothing that is going to cover on the other side of the river. We did say when we went in front of the Newburgh Board that their site will cover over here up until the ball field. Bill Henry Middlebush Road: When I went to the Planning Board we asked about the property value and we ......... were told that is an non issue. '-" Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 5 Mr. Fisher: I don't believe that we are dealing with a property value. I have never seen a problem with the property value. Tom Stenson: Is this the last chance the public will have to speak? Mr. Lehigh: The public hearing will be the last input. Mr. Stenson: The letter from Mr. Cooper to the Planning Board stated that he doesn't know what the height could be because he doesn't know what the frequency is. Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Cooper will be hear for the public hearing. If you have some questions for him then you can ask at that line. Mr. Stenson: There was a tower balloon that was behind the salvation army building in the early spring and now it was taken down. Does anyone know why that was there? Mr. Lehigh: I do not know anything about it. Mr. Stenson: Isn't now the time to determine how many antennas and channels are going on there. Mr. Lehigh: We have stated that we are building a base of 180 feet but it will be limited to 150 feet and they '-" have to make another application to go from 150 to 180. Mr. Stenson: What I am trying to say is that if we are going to be putting additional antennas on we will be back were we are now. If your radiation is zero now and then put another antenna on it is going to be the same radiation? Every applicant will have to come in an apply for an amended site plan. Every carrier should be required to demonstrate compliance ofOET 65. Every time a new carrier comes in will we have to take what the base character is contributing and then add what they are contributing. The maximum of what you will see is between 8 and 10% of the mpe. Mr. Stenson: Why so many people are concerned is because of the setbacks between the school and a house. Why is it 1500 for a school and 750 for a house? Mr. Roberts: We were looking at a number of ordinance that communities have linagated and those measurements came from the Great Barrington by laws, that was the end result of the program. It was the highest setback requirement that seemed to pass. We chose to be most conservative. It has nothing to do with the health issues if that is your concern. Mr. Stenson: Do we know what additional requirements they are going to have? Has it been looked at? He ....... didn't talk about any frequency for the antennas. Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Fisher: Mr. Graiff: .'-' Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 6 Mr. Lehigh: From the bottom of the antenna is zero. Mr. Stenson: No its not. Mr. Graiff: The antenna gets its energy from the horizon. Each antenna have certain 10abs to it All the energy goes out. That's why at the bottom of the antenna has nothing, because maximum energy is at the horizon. Mr. Lehigh: We are not really interested in anything but what they have corne before us with. What we consider is the esthetics and property value. We do not consider everything else that was from the Planning Board. I asked them to corne here and explain it you and this board. Mr. Stenson: I am trying to understand what the requirements are. Mr. Fisher: Its not that there are three tenants waiting for this. You have the information, if you look in the FCC packet it will tell you the exposure. You have to be 150 feet above the ground in front of it, not 150 feet on the ground. Mr. Stenson: How long will someone be expose to the antenna? What is the exposure of the antennas? ~ Mr. Lehigh: If I was to go and tell these people they can not have an antenna because the school, State Police and the Ambulance has one. They would have me in court so fast and the tower built. I have no control over the school system, State Police and the radiation. The Federal Government has ruled and they have met that. Mr. Stenson: This is the FCC. Mr. Lehigh: They have met that. Mr. Stenson: Is the Zoning Board public hearing for the cell tower, the last meeting? Mr. Lehigh: Yes. The only thing that we are considering are the variances. Mr. Roberts: This board responsibility to adapt the ordinance to the practicalities of the individual properties. They have this authority under state law. There is a procedure they have to follow and criteria they have to follow. Chris Iverson: I want to say thank you, because this experience is a lot pleasant than the Town and Planning Board. You let the people get out their feelings. Is Cellular One still confident, that there aren't any health risks? That question does not relate to this application. I think the biggest thing is that the residents do not want the tower in their neighborhood, because they do not want to make it industrial neighborhood. Mr. Fisher: ........ Mr. Iverson: " '~ Zoning Board of Appeals Summarized Minutes September 12,2000 page 7 Gerry Webb: I would like to thank you for listening to us and being very patient with us. Mr. Lehigh: We will set the public hearing for September 26,2000. 2. Zack's V-Twin Cycles - Seek and interpretation for 240.67. The property is located at Route 376 in the Town of Wappinger. Zack: We see the code and it is written for automobiles. Outside display and the 3 acres is for car lots. We do not sell anything outside. Our store is a retail business, we sell clothes, helmets, riding apparel and motorcycle repairs and sells. We do about 60% of our business is on retail. There will be no outdoor display, when we close we do not show anything. Mr. Lehigh: You are the contractor vendee? ~ Zack: Yes. We would like to know ifit would be a permitted use? Mr. Roberts: You should get written permission from the owner. Zack: The owner is here tonight. Mr. Lehigh: I would like to see a plot plan of the property. Salvatore: I am the owner of the property. I have a survey ofthe property. Mr. Lehigh: How long would it take you to get that to us? Salvatore: I can get it to you with in 2 days. Mr. Lehigh: We would like to see some kind of drawing of the building you are going to build. Zack: We want to go over the same plot that is already existing there now. Mr. Lehigh: Once you get that information, we will have a public hearing. Mr. Fanuele: Why don't we have the public hearing the first meeting in October, which is October 10,2000. Mr. Lehigh: That is fine. Mr. Prager: Mr. diPiemo: Vote: Made a motion to go into executive session Second the motion. All present voted aye. ..... Went into executive session at 9:30 p.m. ........ Mr. Prager: Made a motion to come out of executive session. Mr. diPierno: Second the motion. Vote: All present voted aye. Came out of executive session at 10:00 p.m. Mr. Prager: Made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. diPierno: Second the motion. Vote: All present voted aye. MEETING ENDED 10:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, C'~5it~'YtCL \)1 (t~ (fc.: .~ Christina DiPaola, Secretary Zoning Board of Appeals ~