06/26/2000 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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AGENDA ITEM 6 F STAFF ORIGINATOR: Jeff Smyser C. C. MEETING DATE: June 26, 2000 TOPIC: FIRST READING: Ordinance 10 -00 PCS Tower Moratorium ACTION: 4/5 vote BACKGROUND On May 22 the City Council adopted Resolution #00 -67 directing staff to initiate the process for adopting a moratorium on new towers for personal wireless services, such as wireless telephone services. The resolution also set a public hearing at the June 14 P & Z meeting. A moratorium on new tower applications will be treated as an amendment to the zoning ordinance, which requires a 4/5 vote. The attached Ordinance No. 10 -00 establishes the moratorium. MN Statute 462.355 Subd. 4 authorizes a municipality to adopt an interim ordinance (moratorium) for the purpose of protecting a planning process when conducting a study. Staff has begun a towers location study. This study will inventory existing facilities in the area with the goal of determining where new facilities likely will be needed. To the extent we can do this, we can plan for those locations and minimize the number of towers. The intent is to include tower location planning in the larger land use planning of the City to ensure: one, consistency with the policies and provisions of the Comprehensive Plan; two, compatibility with present and future land uses; and three, that official controls and performance standards are adequate. We are also asking surrounding communities to join in the study. With their cooperation, we hope to minimize the number of new towers in all our communities and still provide for full PCS service in compliance with federal law. We also will ask for the cooperation of the providers of wireless services, such as the firms that lease space on our water towers. We hope the study will be beneficial to all involved, including the participating cities and the wireless service providers. Our City Attorney advises us that once the City Council initiated the process by directing staff to prepare a moratorium ordinance, we can forestall approvals of applications for new towers until the study is completed. The following schedule gives the anticipated timeline. The public hearing occurred at the June 14 P & Z as scheduled. The P & Z recommended approval of Ordinance 10 -00 with a unanimous vote of the six members present.