Houma Board of Adjustment Meeting Notice
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HOUMA BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING NOTICE DATE: Monday, May 15, 2017 TIME: 3:30 PM PLACE: Terrebonne Parish Council Meeting Room 2nd Floor, Government Tower 8026 Main Street, Houma, LA 70360 A • G • E • N • D • A 1. Pledge of Allegiance 2. Roll Call 3. Announcements: 4. Approve Minutes of April 17, 2017 and May 08, 2017 5. New Business: a. Structure Variance: Rear yard setback variance from required 25’ to 10’ to allow for new residential construction to be attached to the existing structure located at 226 Exeter Run; Angela Rains, applicant; (Bayou Cane Fire District/Council District 6). b. Special Exception: Approval for placement of a 190’ tall communication tower at 1310 Savanne Road; New Cingular Wireless, PCS, LLC d/b/a AT&T Mobility, applicant; (Bayou Cane Fire District/Council District 6). 7. Next Meeting Date: June 19, 2017 8. Board of Adjustment Member Comment 9. Public Comment 10. Adjourn Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government 1 HOUMA BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT –April 17, 2017 HOUMA BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Official Proceedings of April 17,2017 Government Tower 2nd Floor, Terrebonne Parish Council Meeting Room 1. The Chairman, Trudy Hebert, called the April 17, 2017 meeting of the Houma Board of Adjustment to order at 3:40 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Mr. Joe Harris. 2. Upon Roll Call, those members present were Mr. Joe Harris, Mr. Pete Konos, Mr. Willie Newton, Mrs. Katie Sims and Mrs. Trudy Hebert. Also present was Mr. Christopher Pulaski, TPCG Planning Director and Mr. Julius Hebert, TPCG attorney. Absent was Mr. David Tauzin, due to an out of town business commitment. 3. Announcements: Chairman recognized Councilwoman Christa Duplantis Prather and Councilman Darren Guidry who were in attendance. 4. Approval of Minutes: Motion was made by Mr. Joe Harris, seconded by Mr. Willie Newton, that the minutes of March 20, 2017 be APPROVED; THERE BEING NO OPPOSITION, THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. OLD BUSINESS: a. Structure Variance: Height variance request for placement of a 250’ cellular communication tower at 1310 Savanne Road; AT&T applicant. Chair recognized Mr. Jon “Chip” Leyens, 201 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA, who stated that they are only requesting a height variance for a communication tower at 1310 Savanne Road. He also stated that this is his third hearing on this issue. He stated that AT&T may be willing to reduce the height variance request to 190’ vs. 250’ if that would help to move this approval forward. Chair recognized Mr. Jake Dickenson, Key Point Communications, 713 Navajo Drive, Abita Springs, La. 70320, who stated that he is an AT&T consultant on this project and is here to answer any questions. Chair recognized Mr. Lloyd Olsen, 3792 Highway 311, Houma, who stated that he is the owner of this property. He presented pictures of other towers in the area which are similar to the proposed tower. (See Attachments 1: a-e) Chair recognized Mr. Christopher Pulaski. Mr. Pulaski introduced two experts from the audience, Mr. Leo Holzenthal, Professional Engineer with M.S. Benbow and Associates; and Mr. Steve Villavaso, AICP, Certified Planner of Villavaso and Associates out of New Orleans. Mr. Pulaski stated that these experts are available to answer any questions. Mr. Pulaski stated that the applicant is requesting approval to allow for the construction of a 250 foot monopole wireless telecommunication tower in a C-3 zoned district. While the request has been considered a height variance, further analysis of the zoning ordinance has concluded that the request constitutes an exception since the supplementary height section of the zoning ordinance excludes telecommunication towers. At the February meeting, staff recommendation was for approval. Due to public comment and concern, the Board of Adjustment continued the item to allow for additional public comment. Subsequently, Administration and Staff evaluated the situation and had requested at the March meeting that the item be continued to allow for additional evaluation and withdrew the previous recommendation. As part of the evaluation, the Parish has retained the services of both a Professional Engineer and a AICP Certified Planner with considerable experience in proposed cell towers and their placement. Each expert consultant has conducted a site visit of the proposed site and several of the surrounding alternative sites as identified by the applicant and subsequent alternative sites that have been identified by Parish Staff. Attached to this Staff Report is a copy of the report from each of the experts along with a copy of their qualifications. The report prepared by the engineer, Mr. Leo Holzenthal, Jr., dated April 12, 2017 includes an analysis and findings of proposed alternative sites including the existing nearby 260’ tower owned and operated by American Tower originally described as Candidate C by the applicant which the applicant states that it cannot structurally support additional antennas that AT&T requires. Also attached to this Staff Report is an email from a representative of American Tower to Mr. Holzenthal dated April 09, 2017 that states that there is enough structural capacity for another carrier which would be confirmed in the co-location structural analysis. Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government 2 HOUMA BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT –April 17, 2017 The Parish has also provided three additional site alternatives for the applicant to consider as Candidate Sites G, H and I. G and H are both on Parish-owned property that are within ¾ to 1.5 miles from the subject property site, and would be in keeping with the public infrastructure aspects of the sites. Candidate Site H is of particular interest as the Parish’s expert engineer stated that the site may be close enough to be viable. The site is zoned OL (Open Land) which would require a rezone which the Parish Staff would support. The Parish’s findings and comments to all of the site alternatives are included as part of Mr. Holzenthal’s report. Staff agrees with Mr. Holzenthal in that Candidates C and H appear to be the most attractive alternatives. Also attached to this Staff Report is a copy of the report prepared by our AICP Certified Planner, Mr. Steve Villavaso, dated April 13, 2017. Page 1 addresses the supplementary regulations while Pages 2 and 3 of the report include an analysis of the conditions of approval that Section 24-178(3) of the Parish Zoning Ordinance states must exist before the Board can approve. This report will be read into the meeting record. (See attachments: 2) M.S. Benbow and Associates, April 12, 2017); and 3) Villavaso & Associates, April 13, 2017). Parish Staff concurs with Mr. Villavaso’s findings. While the tower is a permitted use in C-3 zoning, the additional foot requirement for each additional foot above the 35’ height max (215’) has not been met. RECOMMENDATION: In lieu of the findings pertaining to the alternative sites, Staff recommends that the Board DENY the request so that the applicant may reapply for one of the alternative locations. Mr. Pulaski clarified that the alternative locations are Candidate Sites A-F as identified by the applicant and Candidate Sites G, H, and I identified by the Parish. He further stated that if the applicant requests to modify the application to reflect a lower height of 190’ as indicated in their April 12, 2017 email, Staff would recommend that the Board DENY the request for a 250’ tower and that the applicant submit a new application to the Board for an exception for the 190’ tall tower. It was further stated that with the exception of legal, non-conforming towers that pre-date zoning, any new construction tower application shall be subject, at a minimum, to the setbacks identified in the Supplementary Section 28-73 of the Parish Zoning Ordinance or provide for setback waiver and other requirements including applicable indemnification agreements. It was mentioned that the tower behind CVS at Hollywood Road and Park Avenue, as well as other existing towers, including Candidate C, pre-date zoning so there were no such zoning requirements at the time those were erected. Chair recognized Mr. Olsen, again, who questioned the recommendations. Chair recognized Mr. Leyens, again, who stated the construction schedule issues. Chair recognized Mr. Dickinson, again, who attempted to answer questions regarding capacity issues. Chair recognized Mr. Burt Theriot, 142 Houmas Drive, who stated that he lives in the area. He voiced that there is a need for Wi-Fi in the area. Chair recognized Mr. Leo Holzenthal, M.S. Benbow & Associates, 2450 Severn Avenue, Metairie, LA., who explained his contact with American Tower and his company’s participation in this issue. Chair recognized Mr. Steve Villavaso, 6304 Beauregard Avenue, New Orleans, LA., who stated that his firm was asked to analyze from a Zoning, Planning and Land use perspective and their recommendation is that this is a Special Exception and that AT&T’s request does not meet 5 out of the 8 criteria required. After a lengthy discussion, a motion to DENY and allow AT&T to re-apply was made by Joe Harris, seconded by Willie Newton. ROLL CALL VOTE: YEAS: Newton, Konos, Harris NAYS: None ABSTAINED: Sims NOT VOTING: Hebert ABSENT: Tauzin Chair declared the MOTION ADOPTED and the request DENIED and to allow applicant to re-apply. Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government 3 HOUMA BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT –April 17, 2017 6. NEW BUSINESS: a. Structure Variance: Rear yard setback from required 25’ to 10’ for new residential construction at 422 Levron Street; Charity Boudreaux, applicant. Chair recognized Mrs. Charity Boudreaux, 422 Levron Street, Houma, who stated that she is requesting the rear yard variance in order to be able to rebuild her house through the flood mitigation grant.