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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA-07/11/2002 HEAR SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD OF APPEALS TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC HEARINGS _ HELD JULY 11, 2002 (Prepared by Paula Quintieri) Present were: Chainnan Goehringer Member Tortora Member Orlando Absent were: Member Horning Member Oliva PUBLIC HEARINGS: 7:10 p.m. Appl. No. 5127—NEXTEL CHAIRMAN: Are there any opening remarks you would like to make? J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: We have presented our entire application at the last meeting. I'm just here to answer any concerns, if I can. CHAIRMAN: Sure. J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Thank you. CHAIRMAN: You're welcome. Is there anybody else that would like to voice concerns regarding this application? Either one of you two ladies? I need you to use the microphone. LAVERNE TAYLOR: I'm Lavern Taylor. The last time I was here I was still confused and I'm really not so much confused this time I just don't agree. As far as the shelter, she was telling me it was for antennas. Number one, I don't know if I can do anything. The tower that go in in 1991. My husband inherited the house in 1985. We were never notified about any tower being put there and I thought that was very unfair about the tower. And because the tower was put there that's why, now they need room for the shelter and I'm not sure I can do anything about that, because that's years ago. But I'm still not satisfied. I don't think its safe and I just don't want it there. MEMBER TORTORA: How far is it from your property? LAVERN TAYLOR: Is it 70 feet away from my property? J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: The tower, or the shelter? Page 2,July 11,2002 ZBA Public Hearings Town of Southold AMBIL MEMBER TORTORA: Your property. CHAIRMAN: The Junge property is how far from your property? Is it next to your property? MEMBER TORTORA: I'm trying to figure our why you weren't notified that's all. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Never, CHAIRMAN: Could I just explain something to you? In 1991 we had Public Hearings on this tower. LAVERNE TAYLOR: I was living in Maryland with my husband at the time. The house that we live in now was going through probate and the Wickham's were handling the case. We were never notified by them asking us anything or to even come here for a public hearing. I thought that was so unjust. CHAIRMAN: Well now if your attorney was representing you then your attorney was notified, because whoever was receiving the snail did get notified in that 1991 hearing. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Are you sure? ® CHAIRMAN: Of course. We certainly have the transcript and we certainly have the file. And we can certainly tell you who was notified. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Can I get that information? CHAIRMAN: Sure you can come into the office and get it. We just want you to know that the file has ,to be gotten from downstairs. It's not something that can be done immediately. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Okay. CHAIRMAN: It's our file and we have to go down and get it. We have to bring it up and we can tell you who was noticed and it was done in the local paper and the hearing occurred. But since then, subsequent to that telecommunications law which the Town Board adopted indicated to us and to the Town, and I don't think I go into this at the last meeting with you ma'am, that instead of building additional towers we are co-locating additional services on the same towers. And that's what I believe is happening here. And that is the reason why this counsel is here representing Nextel. Because Nextel wants to co-locate on this tower; which means put their services on this Tower. And the purpose of counsel bring here is, of course, this shelter which you are referring to. And we understand that. You are certainly within your right to express your dissatisfaction about it, and I can say it's duly noted, but you certainly can review the file. You just have to Page 3,July 11,2002 ZBA Public Hearings Town of Southold call us and one of these nice ladies will go down and retrieve the file and then you can review it in our office. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Okay, and if I find out that I wasn't notified, well I know I wasn't notified because I'm just finding out all this. Where do I go from there? CHAIRMAN: To your attorney. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Because it's really unfair, if we were not notified, my husband and myself. CHAIRMAN: Let me just get the line on this. This is the house between you and the entrance to the landfill? LAVERNE TAYLOR: Yes it is. CHAIRMAN: The one you have the pretty flowers out in front and you just put a lot of money into it. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Yes. Oh which one. Oh the next door one, there's two of them. CHAIRMAN: Oh there are two of them? • LAVERNE TAYLOR: Yes, we just split everything got split in half. CHAIRMAN: Oh, okay. But you're the one most adjacent to the Junge property? LAVERNE TAYLOR: Correct. CHAIRMAN: Okay. LAVERNE TAYLOR: I'm right next door to that. MEMBER TORTORA: Could you show me on this map please, if you would? Here's where the shelter is. Is it over where the shelter is, over here? J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Okay on this side, it says where her land. Are you the little yellow house? LAVERNE TAYLOR: Yes, we're the little yellow houses. J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Closest to the road? CHAIRMAN: There are actually two houses that are there that are relatively close to the road. You're the middle one between the entrance to the landfill and the Junge property. So you're directly west of the Junge property. • Page 4,July 11,2002 ZBA Public Hearings Town of Southold LAVERNE TAYLOR: Correct. MEMBER TORTORA: I see here. Can you tell me why you have no landscaping in front of the shelter? J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Our shelter, the proposed shelter? As it says in the plan, due to the industrial nature of the existing site fencing, we weren't planning on any landscaping. Of course, we do have to go to the Planning Board for site plan approval, so whatever they need we will abide by but right now there is no plan. When I drove by today, it's heavily treed. First of all we're in that far opposite corner from their house. We provide a greater rear yard than the Board already granted for the existing shelter and in that variance decision, which I have a copy of with me tonight and ask that you review it in your file. You made all the findings for the area variance that there was no detriment to all of the 1991 variance. I don't see that there's any, we're providing a greater, we're abutting the landfill as the neighbor and it's a smaller shelter I think too. CHAIRMAN: The reason why was because the Town was not adverse to the construction of this monopole at that location. Had this been a residential piece of property I think there would have been great concern. But it is one of the storage areas for the landfill and that is the reason why the Town chose not to object to it at that point. MEMBER TORTORA: Well, still in all, I think there's a need for buffering there because there is a residential community there and the residential community has been there long, long before that was a landfill. Long before you were there and I think we have to respect their concerns and I think that a nice landscaping plan would go a long way to buffer that building from the adjoining property. J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Just around our building. CHAIRMAN: You're certainly not going to deal with the other aspect of it if its. J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: It wouldn't seem fair to make us landscape the entire thing that was there. MEMBER TORTORA: I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting that it be directly related to the variance you are requesting, not to any other part of the plan. But it would seem to me that, and I'm not a landscaper so, perhaps if you submit a plan that it would be either in this area in here rather than back here. I think it would have a lot more effect if it were right here. J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Or we could put it directly right around the proposed shelter. Around the exact building, so that it would be screened. I could probably propose two different things. • Page 5,July 11,2002 ZBA Public Hearings Town of Southold MEMBER TORTORA: Exactly, I think if you did something up in here you would also be taking the impact of the industrial look away from the residential community and it would go a long way to be a lot more compatible with the neighbors. CHAIRMAN: So what we're doing is basically Ms. Caputi is setting you up in saying that if we intend to grant this, its going to be subject to the Planning Board. MEMBER TORTORA: No our Board. CHAIRMAN: No, no you cannot do that Lydia. If they are going to the Planning Board, the Planning Board does the screening. MEMBER TORTORA: We just went through screening with... CHAIRMAN: That's residential. MEMBER TORTORA: That doesn't matter. CHAIRMAN: Well then if you intend to put screening on this property when the Chainnan of the Planning Board calls, he's going to call you. MEMBER TORTORA: Okay. CHAIRMAN: That's fine with me. Remember it's not going to be to my house or my office. MEMBER TORTORA: In other words, I think we're saying the same thing Jerry. Ours is going to be the condition on screening. CHAIRMAN: On screening that the Planning Board will work out with counsel. MEMBER TORTORA: Fine. J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: I don't think that Nextel will have a problem with that. CHAIRMAN: Okay let's see what else develops throughout the hearing. Subject to the Planning Board doing the screening and submitting the plans to us. Yes ma'am. LAVERNE TAYLOR: One question is there any danger involved with equipment of the antemia being in the area. Is there any danger that comes with that? Anything that we don't know about. CHAIRMAN: The main concern that I have always had was, and this of course, is so critical for us to understand at this time after seeing two tremendous towers in New York City fall. There is a fall back zone. When this 1991 application came before us it was a different monopole I believe, and our concern is wind velocity. With the monopole • Page 6,July 11,2002 ZBA Public Hearings Town of Southold situation, it has been my understanding seeing through many of these hearings that the pole is made to break at approximately a halfway point and just bend down. Again, the Town's position and I'm not speaking for the Town because I only work for one agency of the Town, was in 1991 that they were not concerned with the fallback area because there are no necessarily any buildings close within that proximity that if God forbid the tower did fall at that point, tower as opposed to a monopole. I believe it's always been a monopole; this is just a bigger monopole. So again, I believe that that's the process that the monopole is supposed to take. I have always asked for wind velocity on every one of these. They have told me they are rated for 125 miles per hour and will take about 150 mile an hour wind velocity before there is any major default of the tower. So it's rated for 125, this is what they tell me. Because this is a question that we ask for a similar monopole that exists by the Auto parts store on the corner of Elijah's Lane and the Main Road over in Mattituck. It's basically the same type of monopole and that's what the wind velocity rating was at that time on that pole. They just rebuilt that pole to co-locate more units on that also. So this is my understanding, this is what the pole is supposed to do. Just as we say those towers pancake down like this. That's what it's supposed to do. So if it's a 100-foot tower and it breaks at the halfway point, fifty feet of it will just bend down like this. That is one of the biggest concerns I have concerning the monopoles, and any tower that basically is erected for the purposes of what we have here. That's really the best I can do for you at this juncture. LAVERNE TAYLOR: What number would I call to get that infonnation? CHAIRMAN: 765-1809, and I believe that tower was applied for under the name of Arthur Junge. It was, I think, a Nynex tower at the time. Do you have the date of that decision? J. CAPUTI, ESQ.: Yes, its Appeal No. 4058 and 4062. It was November 21, 1991. CHAIRMAN: Okay. 11/21/01, 4058 and 4062. The only thing they did not have at that time was the public notice aspect of putting a sign out. We only, I believe, at that time, noticed you by snail. Since then, we've put the sign up. And that was one of the reasons why we put the sign up, because a lot of people were not, actually there are two philosophies on this, and I probably don't want to get into either one of them at this point because I don't know if I necessarily agree with the sign because with the amount of wind that we have out here, sometimes the signs blow away once you put them in. And it's difficult to put them in, in the wintertime when the ground is frozen. So if you don't have a tree to put it on, then they're really sustainable to all kinds of wind conditions. But, of course, that's not a problem this time of year. But I'm just telling you that's where we are. All right. LAVERNE TAYLOR: Thank you. CHAIRMAN: Your welcome ma'am. Are their any other questions regarding this? Hearing no further questions I'll make a motion closing the hearing reserving decision. • Page 7,July 11,2002 ZBA Public Hearings Town of Southold SEE MINUTES FOR RESOLUTION