HomeMy Public PortalAbout2016_09_27_R126 Adopting Town Plan Amendments TLTA 2016-0001 for Ch. 10 Telecommunication Facilities The Town of
Leesburg,
Virginia
PRESENTED: September 27, 2016
RESOLUTION NO. 2016-126 ADOPTED: September 27, 2016
A RESOLUTION: ADOPTING TOWN PLAN AMENDMENTS THROUGH TLTA-2016-0001,
AMENDING TOWN PLAN POLICY LANGUAGE FOR CHAPTER 10,
COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES TO UPDATE
TELECOMMUNICATION POLICIES.
WHEREAS, Chapter 10, Community Facilities and Services, currently addressees
telecommunication policy through Objective 4d; and
WHEREAS, Town Council initiated an amendment of the Town Plan through Resolution
2016-062 to update the telecommunication policy to provide more guidance on locational and
aesthetic guidance for telecommunication facilities and to provide more guidance on when
commission permits are necessary for such facilities; and
WHEREAS, this amendment was advertised for a Planning Commission Public Hearing
which was held on June 2, 2016; and
WHEREAS, at their meeting of September 1, 2016, the Planning Commission recommended
approval of the amendment to the Town Council; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council held a duly advertised public hearing on this application on
September 27, 2016; and
WHEREAS, staff recommends approval; and
WHEREAS, the Council has concluded that the approval of the application would be in the
public interest and in accordance with sound zoning and planning principles; and
WHEREAS, Town Council has determined that the approval criteria of Zoning Ordinance
Section 3.16.12 have been satisfied; and
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A RESOLUTION: ADOPTING TOWN PLAN AMENDMENTS THROUGH TLTA-2016-0001,
AMENDING TOWN PLAN POLICY LANGUAGE FOR CHAPTER 10,
COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES TO UPDATE
TELECOMMUNICATION POLICIES.
WHEREAS, Town Council has determined that approval of the amendments proposed by
TLTA 2016-0001 provides updated guidance for telecommunication facilities that will promote the
health, safety, convenience, prosperity and general welfare for Leesburg.
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, by the Council of the Town of Leesburg in Virginia that
TLTA-2016-0001, Telecommunication Policies is hereby approved and the Town Plan shall be
amended as described:
Chapter 10: Community Facilities and Services
Objective 4. Locate and construct community facilities that are compatible with the Town
character and which protect residential areas, natural areas and heritage resources. in regard to
other Plan policies, including compatibility with the Town character, and protection and
enhancement of residential areas, natural resource, and heritage resources.
a. Continue to require new development to place power lines underground.
b. Consider undergrounding existing power lines with capital projects.
c. Design streets to include tree planning areas to help meet the Town goal to increase tree
canopy.
d. ... . . - - - = - - . . - .. , - - . .
e. Community facility design and construction standards should be infeffned influenced by the
objective of the natural resources element of the Town Plan.
f. Encourage the State Corporate Commission to take into account the impacts on the Town
when considering approval of electrical transmission lines.
NEW Objective 15. Mobile and land-based telecommunication services can include antenna,
towers, monopoles, distributed antenna system (DAS), small cell or other miniaturization
technology and communication devices as well as related equipment for transmitting, receiving, or
relaying telecommunication signals and together form a wireless telecommunication network.
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A RESOLUTION: ADOPTING TOWN PLAN AMENDMENTS THROUGH TLTA-2016-0001,
AMENDING TOWN PLAN POLICY LANGUAGE FOR CHAPTER 10,
COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES TO UPDATE
TELECOMMUNICATION POLICIES.
The Plan polices will ensure the siting of such facilities to provide adequate levels of service but
also to reduce or eliminate the visual impacts of such facilities. Opportunities to co-locate
telecommunication antenna on existing structures, buildings, poles, towers, and monopoles will be
encouraged as a first preference. This will minimize the need for new monopoles and towers. If
new telecommunication antenna cannot be located on existing structures, buildings or poles, the
Town encourages the location of new monopoles or towers to be located within overhead
transmission line right-of-way or in industrial or employment areas and will require commission
permit and special exception approval.
a. To minimize the need for new towers and monopoles and to mitigate visual impacts, new
telecommunication antennas should be collocated on existing buildings, towers, monopoles, water
tanks, overhead utility transmission line structures and other structures when feasible and subject to
performance standards. The collocation of any additional antenna or related equipment on an
existing, telecommunication tower, monopole or structure upon which an approved antenna exists
shall be deemed to be a feature already shown on the Comprehensive Plan that shall not require
Planning Commission approval provided such collocation conforms to the applicable approved
conditions and/or performance standards to mitigate visual impacts.
b. Distributed Antennal Systems (DAS) and small cell antenna or other antenna facilities are
designed to extend or supplement the wireless network . These types of antennas area designed to
provide more localized service and may address geographically challenging areas. They are smaller
in size and shall be located at street level or below tree level to blend into the built environment.
Service extensions of the wireless communications network shall be deemed a feature already
shown on the Comprehensive Plan that shall not require Planning Commission approval provided
such collocation is consistent with performance standards as determined below and in the Zoning
Ordinance.
c. General performance standards for such telecommunication facilities shall include the following
and are in addition to any specific performance standards in the Zoning Ordinance :
1. When collocating antenna on utility poles, the antenna and associated equipment cabinets
should not increase the height or bulk of such host facilities to the extent that they would
become structurally compromised or excessively cluttered.
2. Within the Route 15 Bypass, the height of new antenna will remain below the tree canopy
levels.
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A RESOLUTION: ADOPTING TOWN PLAN AMENDMENTS THROUGH TLTA-2016-0001,
AMENDING TOWN PLAN POLICY LANGUAGE FOR CHAPTER 10,
COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES TO UPDATE
TELECOMMUNICATION POLICIES.
3. Generally, the height of such telecommunication facilities will be commensurate with the
height limitations in the residential or nonresidential districts in which they are located.
Specific height limitations will be included as use standards in the Zoning Ordinance.
4. Equipment cabinets associated with telecommunication antenna shall be located on the
ground or elevated on a structure or pole such that the positioning of such facility will not
obscure site distance for motorists or impede pedestrian travel. For ground mounted
cabinets, vegetative screening should be installed if practical.
5. Antenna and its mounting shall be of a color or finish that closely matches and blends with
the surface to which they are attached.
6. No ground mounted facilities shall be located in residential areas.
7. Camouflaging techniques shall be considered to minimize visual impacts of
telecommunication facilities. The type of camouflage technique used should be sensitive to
the residential, non-residential, and/or environmental context of the location in which the
facility is located. Camouflage housing such as church steeples, flagpoles, copula or other
such encasements should be designed to be realistic and be of a size and scale that are
appropriate for the context.
PASSED this 27th day of September, 2016.
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David S. Butler, Mayor
Town of Leesburg
AT T: •
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Clerk of__ o 1
P:\Resolutions\2016\0927 Adopting TP Amendment TLTA 2016-0001 Amending Policy Language for Telecommunication Facilities.docx