HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-09-20 Planning Board Supplemental Materials (10)
Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
Town of North Andover
Office of the Planning Department
Community Development and Services Division
1600 Osgood Street
North Andover, Massachusetts 01845
NOTICE OF DECISION
Any appeal shall be filed
within (20) days after the
date of filing this notice in
the office of the Town Clerk.
Date: September 20, 2011
Date of Hearings: September 6, 2011,
September 20, 2011
Date of Decision: September 20, 2011
Application of: New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC (“AT&T”)
Premises Affected: 5 Boston Hill (5 Boston Street)
Map 107C Parcel 11
Referring to the above petition for a Wireless Service Facility Special Permit and modification to
a pre-existing facility, in accordance with the requirements of the North Andover Zoning Bylaw,
Sections 8.9 Wireless Service Facilities and Section 2.65 Special Permit Granting Authority, in
order to modify the pre-existing wireless services facility positioned on three sides of the building
located at 5 Boston Hill. Modification consists of installation of three (3) additional Long Term
Evolution (LTE) antennas plus related and ancillary equipment located on the building exterior
and in the equipment room located inside the building.
So as to allow the issuance of a Special Permit to continue operation of six (6) wireless service
antennas and add three (3) LTE (Long Term Evolution) antennas with associated coaxial cabling and
other related equipment on an existing wireless service tower located at 5 Boston Hill (a/k/a 5 Boston
Street). The construction and initial operation of the Facility by AT&T’s predecessor-in-interest,
Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Inc., d/b/a Cellular One, began in 1995and pre-dated the
Town’s Wireless Telecommunications Bylaw which was enacted in 1998.
nd
, the Planning Board
Upon a motionby R. Glover and a 2 by T. Seibert hereby APPROVES
Wireless Service Facilities Special PermitModify
the issuance of a and to the pre-existing
,
wireless service facility including the addition of three (3) LTE antennas and related equipment
on an existing structure by a vote of 5 in favor and 0 against.
___________
___________
On behalf of the North Andover Planning Board
John Simons, Chairman
Timothy Seibert
Michael Colantoni
Richard Rowen
Rickey Glover
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Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
The Planning Board herein approves the Special Permit to continue operation of the
Wireless Facility, which consists of 6 coaxial cable antennas on an existing wireless
service tower located at 5 Boston Hill (a/k/a 5 Boston Street) and ancillary equipment and to
add three (3) LTE antennas, plus ancillary equipment at the same location. The Special
Permit was requested by Susan Roberts, Esq., Agent for
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC
. This application and additional documentation as cited herein were filed with
(“AT&T”)
the Planning Board on August 11, 2011, with subsequent submittals on file. The applicant
submitted a complete application which was noticed and reviewed in accordance with
Sections 8.3, 10.3, and 10.3.1 of the Town of North Andover Zoning Bylaw and MGL
c.40A, Sec. 9.
The Planning Board finds that the applicant has met the following requirements as
required by the North Andover Zoning Bylaw Section 8.9:
FINDINGS OF FACT:
1.The Special Permit application meets the filing requirements of the Wireless
Service Facilities By-law Section 8.9.12. The applicant has demonstrated that the
existing wireless facility, with the addition of the LTE antennas is in compliance
with FCC regulations regarding Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limits, as
indicated by the report provided by the applicant dated June 6, 2011 authored by
SAI Communications. The conclusion stated in the reports is that the applicant’s
Wireless Facility installation contributes a maximum RF exposure of less than
five-tenths of one percent of the current State and Federal permissible exposure
guidelines. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits this Board from
taking health effects of RF transmissions into account beyond FCC requirements.
2.The town’s consultant has reviewed the RF Reports and has found that the
applicant has shown a clear gap in LTE coverage without the activation of the
proposed LTE antennas. He notes that AT&T seeks to deploy the LTE spectrum
to enable advanced broadband capability at data speeds competitive with
cable/wireline services. He also concludes that the location and distance of
neighboring sites rule out their use to cover this LTE gap.
3.The applicant has also demonstrated that the site is in compliance with the Noise
Standards as set forth in section 8.9.8(b).
4.The applicant has provided a structural report, dated September 6, 2011 and
authored by Patrick Botimer, Armor Tower, Inc., as Structural Consultant to
Atlantis Group, that demonstrates that the existing structure does have the
capacity for installation of the three new LTE antennas, provided that a stiffarm
pipe is added to one end of the existing antenna frame that currently does not have
one (details are specified in the report).
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Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
Finally the Planning Board finds that this project generally complies with the Town of
North Andover Zoning Bylaw requirements as listed in Section 8.9 but requires
conditions in order to be fully in compliance. The Planning Board hereby grants an
approval to the applicant providedthe following conditions are met:
SPECIAL CONDITIONS:
1)Discontinuance Abandonment
a)At such time that a licensed carrier plans to abandon or discontinue operation of
wireless service equipment, such carrier will notify the Town by certified US mail
of the proposed date of abandonmentor discontinuation of operations. Such
notice shall be given no less than 30 days prior to abandonment or discontinuation
of operations. In the event that a licensed carrier fails to give such notice, the
wireless service equipment shall be considered abandoned upon discontinuation
of operations.
b)Upon abandonment or discontinuation of use, the carrier shall physically remove
the wireless service equipment placed on the site by the carrier within 90 days
from the date of abandonment or discontinuation of use. “Physically remove"
shall include, but not be limited to:
i)Removal of antennas, mount, equipment shelters and security barriers
installed by the carrier (unless the same will continue to be used by the owner)
from the subject property.
ii)Proper disposal of the waste materials generated by the carrier fromthe site in
accordance with local and state solid waste disposal regulations.
iii)Restoring the location of the wireless service facility in its condition before
the installation, except that any landscaping and grading shall remain the
after-condition.
c)The equipment shall be deemed to be abandoned or discontinued if it has not been
used for the purpose for which it was originally constructed for a period of six (6)
months or more. Once abandonment or discontinuance has occurred, the carrier
shall remove the equipment from the subject property within ninety days.
2)Waivers:
The installation will be constructed according to the Plans, with the following waivers
granted by the Town of North Andover Planning Board, according to the provisions
of the Town of North Zoning Bylaw. These waivers are hereby granted in
consideration of the installation as a pre-existent installation and a co-location:
Section 8.9.5.d) Application Filing Requirements, ii) Location Filing Requirements
sections (3), (4), and (5), iii) Siting Filing Requirements sections (3), (4), (9), (10),
and (12), iv) Site lines and photographs as described below: sections (1), (2), (3), (4),
(4a), (4b), (4c), (4d), and (4e), v) Design Filing Requirements sections (4), (6), and
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Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
(7).
3)Upgrades:
Pursuant to Section 8.9.7 of the Town of North Andover Bylaws, any upgrades to the
equipment to be installed on the tower would require a new structural report to be
submitted to the Planning Board for review.
4)Annual Certification:
a)Annual certification demonstrating continuing compliance with the standards of
the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Aviation Administration and
the American National Standards Institute shall be filed with the SPGA by the
Special Permit holder.
5)Term of Special Permit:
a)Pursuant to Section 8.9.12.a of the Town of North Andover Zoning Bylaw, a
three (3)
SpecialPermit issued for this wireless service facility shall be valid for
years from the date of the decision for the Special Permit renewal. The special
permit may be renewed under the same criteria as the original special permit, as
modified herein, provided that the application for renewal of the special permit is
made prior to the expiration dateof the original or any renewed special permit.
Additional measures governing the administration of the special permit are found
in Section 10.3 of the Zoning Bylaw.
b)Pursuant to Section 8.9.8.a of the Town of North Andover Zoning Bylaw, the
applicant shall submit to the SPGA at annual intervals from the date of the
decision for the Special Permit renewal, preexistent and current RFE
measurements. Such measurements shall be signed and certified by an RF
engineer, stating that RFE measurements are accurate and are in compliance or
why the measurements fail to comply with all applicable FCC Guidelines as
specified in Section 8.9(5)(d)(vii) RFE Filing Requirements of this Bylaw. The
measurements shall be submitted for both the applicant and all co-locators. If the
applicant fails to comply with this requirement, the Special Permit will be
revoked, until such time that the installation is brought into compliance with FCC
Guidelines.
c)Pursuant to Section 8.9.8.b of the Town of North Andover Zoning Bylaw, the
applicant shall submit to the SPGA at annual intervals from the date of decision of
the Special Permit renewal, preexistent and current measurements of acoustic
noise from the wireless service facility. Such measurements shall be certified
and signed by an acoustical engineer, stating that noise measurements are accurate
.
and meet the Noise Standards sub-section 8.9.(5)(d)(vi) of this BylawThe
applicant shall forward to a separate consulting engineer, selected by the Town,
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Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
the above materials for review. The applicant shall pay for such review.
d) The applicant and co-applicant or their successor in interest shall maintain the
wireless service equipment in good condition. Such maintenance shall include,
but shall not be limited to, painting and structural integrity of the antennas.
6)Prior to the endorsement of the plans by the Planning Board, the applicant must
comply with the following conditions:
five thousand dollars5,000)
a)A bond in the amount of ($ shall be posted for
the purpose of insuring that the applicant will file with the Planning Staff a
final as-built plan showing the location of all on-site structures. The bond is
also in place to insure that the site is constructed in accordance with the
approved plan. This bond shall be in the form of a check made out to the
Town of North Andover. This check will then be deposited into an interest
bearing bond account.
b)The applicant shall provide the necessary certification as required in the above
sections 3a.
7)Prior to the start of construction:
a)A construction schedule shall be submitted to the Planning Staff for the
purpose of tracking the construction and informing the public of
anticipated activities on the site.
8)Prior to FORM U verification
(Building Permit Issuance):
a) The final site plan mylars must be endorsed and three (3) copies of the
signed plans must be delivered to the Planning Department.
b) A certified copy of the recorded decision must be submitted to the
Planning Department.
9)Prior to the final release of security:
a)A final as-built plan showing final construction and location of the wireless
hardware shall be submitted to and reviewed by the Planning Staff.
b)A Structural engineer must provide evidence that the stiffarn pipe as specified in
the structural report, dated September 6, 2011, has been installed.
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Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
10)
In an effort to reduce noise levels, the applicant shall keep in optimum working order,
through regular maintenance, any and all equipment that shall emanate sounds from
the structures or site.
11)
The provisions of this conditional approval shall apply to and be binding upon the
applicant, its employees and all successors and assigns in interest or control.
12)
The following information shall be deemed part of the decision:
Application Titled
a): Request for Modification of Pre-Existing Wireless Service
Facility
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC (“AT&T”) c/o Susan M.
Roberts, Esq.
Anderson & Kreiger LLP
One Canal Park Suite 200
Cambridge, MA 02141
Prepared for
: New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC (“AT&T”)
b)Documentation Submitted:
1Town of North Andover Planning Board Application for Special Permit-
Modification to Pre-Existing Facility;
2 Site Plans for Proposed Modification of Facility, prepared by Atlantis
Group, dated May 17, 2011, including Sheet T-1, GN-1, A-1, A-2, A-3, A-
4, and G-1;
3Report of Radio Frequency Engineer Kevin Breuer, dated June 2, 2011
with coverage maps;
4Photographs of 2011 Existing Facility and Photo simulations of Proposed
Facility;
5FCC Licenses Applicable to Facility;
6LTE Antenna and Related Equipment Specifications;
7Maximum Permissible Exposure Study, prepared by SAI
Communications, dated June 6, 2011;
8Table of Compliance with Town of North Andover Wireless Services
Facilities Bylaw, Section 8.9;
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Special Permit - Wireless
5 Boston Hill, AT&T
9Acoustic Noise Study for Facility, prepared by Noise Control Engineering,
Inc., dated June 3,2011, including modification by the addition of
antennas as shown in proposed Site Plans;
10Building Lease Agreement between Benjamin G. Farnum, as Lessor, and
Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Inc., d/b/a Cellular One, as Lessee,
dated April 7, 1995, and First Amendment to Building Lease Agreement,
dated January 2, 2001 (redacted to delete rental information);
11Photograph of Existing Facility, January 7, 2004;
12Table of Requested Waivers;
13Certified Abutters’ List;
14Structural Analysis dated September 6, 2011, Prepared by Patrick
Botimer, Tower Armor, Inc., Structural Consultant to Atlantis Group;
15Review Report, dated September 5, 2011, Prepared by Mark F. Hutchins.
Cc: Applicant
Abutters
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