Address: 78 Main Street

Assessor’s Parcel Number: 59-102-20

File Number: 19706

Lot Size: 1.87 acres

General Plan: Village Commercial

Zoning: VC (Village Commercial)

Current Use: Commercial

Owners: Edward Zelinsky and Barbara Abrams

Applicant: Arch Wireless

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A wireless communications facility has been established on property located at 78 Main Street. The facility includes three whip antennas on the roof of an existing commercial building on Ark Row. In addition, an equipment cabinet has been installed within the building. The facility is used for the transmission of Personal Communications Services (PCS) signals, which are utilized by a variety of paging communications devices. The signals allow the transmission of voice messages which are received through paging equipment, along with normal paging messages.

On June 11, 1997, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 97-14 (Exhibit 2) permitting this facility for a period of one year. On July 22, 1998, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution 98-15 (Exhibit 3), extending the permit for five additional years, until June 11, 2003. As this time extension is set to expire, the applicant has now requested a further time extension for this permit.

 ANALYSIS

Site Conditions

The antennas are 12' 5" in height and are attached to the roof of the building. The omni-directional whip antennas present a more slender silhouette than panel antennas, and have been painted green in order to blend in with the large pine tree which is in front of the building. The equipment cabinet for the antennas has been installed within an existing equipment room located below the sidewalk level.

Since the approval of this permit, Staff has received no complaints regarding this wireless communications facility. The antennas are barely visible, and likely go unnoticed by most passersby.

As part of the original approval of this permit, the applicant was required to post financial securities for maintenance and future dismantling of the facility, and to pay for the cost of preparing electromagnetic frequency radiation reports evaluating the conformance of the facility with applicable health standards adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The applicant was also required to enter into a standard performance agreement with the Town. The applicant has posted the required securities and entered into this agreement.

The applicant submitted a radiation report for the facility (Exhibit 9) during the review of the original application. That report summarized that the worst case scenario for EMF radiation exposure at ground level would be only 0.0504 mW/cm5 , which is 8.4% of the public limit exposure standard set by the FCC for this type of facility. Levels within the building would be higher, at 57.5% of the standard, but would likely be reduced due to the shielding effects of building materials.

The applicant has submitted a radiofrequency power density report (Exhibit 10) for the facility. This report does not include measurements on the actual operations of this facility. However, the report states that installed antenna has a lower power output than the antenna originally approved for this facility, and that the FCC exempts such lower output facilities from further safety assessments. The Planning Commission should review the submitted report and determine whether additional radiation frequency reports should be prepared for this facility.

Wireless Communications Facilities Standards and Criteria

The most recent Interim Standards and Criteria states that A the initial one-year approval may be extended for up to five additional years if the Town determines that the project is in complete compliance with adopted standards and regulations, and that new or modified conditions of permit approval are not required.@ This would appear to indicate that no further time extension would be granted to the subject wireless communications facility beyond the five year extension granted in 1998. However, during the review of a similar requested time extension for a wireless communications facility at 1505 Tiburon Boulevard (File #19705), the Planning Commission determined that a further five year time extension was appropriate, but recommended that a review and update of the Interim Standards and Criteria be scheduled for a Planning Commission meeting in the near future.

 ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS

Staff has made a preliminary determination that the subject application is categorically exempt from the requirements of CEQA per Section 15303 of the CEQA Guidelines.

PUBLIC COMMENT

No comments have been received regarding the subject application.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission take public testimony on this item, close the public hearing, deliberate upon the project merits, and adopt the attached resolution granting a five year time extension for this conditional use permit.