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Planning Commission Meeting <br />Minutes – Wednesday, January 06, 2010 <br />Page 2 <br />Mr. Brokke reviewed community meetings held to-date, with the next meeting <br />46 <br />scheduled at the Fairview Community Center on February 2, 2010 at 6:30 p.m., <br />47 <br />and encouraged public attendance and participation. <br />48 <br />Mr. Brokke reviewed other avenues being undertaken by the 28-member <br />49 <br />Community Advisory Team that began its work in September of 2009 and would <br />50 <br />continue through mid-2010 with a recommendation to the City Council. Mr. Brokke <br />51 <br />noted distribution of questionnaires and briefly summarized comments received <br />52 <br />to-date; use of “meetings in a box” to engage residents at meetings already <br />53 <br />scheduled by other groups and organizations within the community, including <br />54 <br />affiliated meetings; and sector listening sessions, and community workshops. <br />55 <br />Mr. Brokke advised that more detailed information was available on the City’s <br />56 <br />website (www.ci.roseville.mn.us) and encouraged everyone’s attendance at public <br />57 <br />meetings or to provide their comments to him directly by phone at 651/792-7101. <br />58 <br />5. Public Hearings <br />59 <br />Chair Doherty reviewed the purpose and process for public hearings before the Planning <br />60 <br />Commission. <br />61 <br />a. Planning File 09-032 <br />62 <br />Request by Clearwire, LLC for approval of a 125-foot telecommunication <br />63 <br />tower facility in Acorn Park, 286 County Road C, as a CONDITIONAL USE <br />64 <br />Chair Doherty opened the Public Hearing for Planning File 09-032 at 6:57 p.m. <br />65 <br />Associate Planner Bryan Lloyd reviewed staff’s analysis of the request by <br />66 <br />Clearwire, LLC for approval of a 125-foot telecommunication tower facility in <br />67 <br />Acorn Park, 286 County Road C, as a CONDITIONAL USE. <br />68 <br />Mr. Lloyd noted that this request had originally come before the Commission in <br />69 <br />October 2009, but the timing of the request was such that the question of the <br />70 <br />exact height and location of the facility had not been fully resolved between the <br />71 <br />various City Departments prior to the public hearing; and that the request had <br />72 <br />been tabled at that time to resolve those outstanding issues. Mr. Lloyd advised <br />73 <br />that, while the initial installation would include only Clearwire, the tower would be <br />74 <br />designed to accommodate a height extension and the ground facilities are such <br />75 <br />that additional equipment can be installed with minimal impact to the aesthetics <br />76 <br />and use of the park; such future expansion, however, is not currently proposed <br />77 <br />and may only be considered through a renewed conditional use approval process. <br />78 <br />Mr. Lloyd noted that the Park and Recreation Commission had recently met and, <br />79 <br />in light of their Master Plan efforts and potentially needing to plan a park around <br />80 <br />the tower rather than having a more comprehensive park plan available for Acorn <br />81 <br />Park, did support the current tower proposal at this time. <br />82 <br />Staff recommended approval of the CONDITIONAL USE request, based on the <br />83 <br />comments and findings, and subject to the conditions detailed in the staff report <br />84 <br />dated January 06, 2010. <br />85 <br />Discussion among Commissioners and staff included the current proposal <br />86 <br />compared to the original proposal by Clearwire for a single-user tower, based on <br />87 <br />City Code and the City’s goal of maximizing the number of providers on the fewest <br />88 <br />towers; increasing service needs and requests from other service providers in <br />89 <br />“dead” zones; lack of other appropriate properties in this area that could <br />90 <br />accommodate a tower and meet setback and zoning ordinance requirements; and <br />91 <br />location of ground equipment adjacent to and impacting residential properties. <br />92 <br />Further discussion included the original proposal of Clearwire for a tower that <br />93 <br />would also accommodate lights at the hockey rink but not accommodate <br />94 <br />additional height for multiple users; fencing not required initially to avoid a larger <br />95 <br />footprint and impact to the park, but willingness of the applicant to install shrubs in <br />96 <br /> <br />