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Lemon Grove Drive T-Mobile facility approved

The county’s Zoning Administrator has approved a minor use permit for the construction, installation, and maintenance of a wireless telecommunications facility on Lemon Grove Drive.

The August 7 decision of Zoning Administrator Rose Garduno authorizes a false elm tree measuring 40 feet high. Twelve antennas will be mounted at a height of 35 feet, and an enclosure at the base of the false tree will contain four equipment cabinets, a terminal panel, and an electrical panel.

The facility started as a Cingular site, and then Cingular sold the location to T-Mobile. “They’ve been working on it for five to six years,” said Bob Butler, who owns the 1.2-acre residential property where the false tree will be located.

In addition to Butler’s house, the property also contains an avocado grove along with other mature ornamental trees. Butler notes that the false broadleaf tree will blend in with the actual trees on his property. “It’s all evergreen,” he said.

“The trees themselves in the grove are probably 30 to 35,” he said of the height of the real trees. “They’re trees that have been around since the ’60s, when the house was built.”

The land has A70, or light agriculture, zoning. Although commercial and industrial parcels are considered preferred locations for wireless communication sites, the surrounding land is also zoned A70 and no preferred location exists in the area which would allow for coverage to the residential areas in the north and east portions of Morro Hills and to cars traveling along Olive Hill Road.

In 2003 the county adopted a wireless communications policy which included zoning regulations. Later that year the county approved an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to allow wireless communication projects to be processed under the previous standards if the application was filed prior to the May 30, 2003, effective date of that policy. Because the Lemon Grove Drive proposal was submitted prior to the ordinance’s effective date, it was processed under a Minor Use Permit rather than a Major Use Permit normally required for a wireless communication facility in an agricultural zone. The false tree’s height is five feet over the 35-foot height limit for structures, so an exemption was also granted to allow for the additional height.

The closest public road is Olive Hill Road, which is more than 600 feet east of the site. A noise level analysis indicates that the facility will meet noise level limits at the property line, and photo simulations indicate that the facility will blend in with surroundings. All materials and design will be integrated to match the colors, textures, and architecture to the existing surroundings. The false elm tree will have simulated bark cladding which will appear consistent with other trees in the area.

The equipment closure will measure 24 feet 8 inches long, 14 feet wide, and 6 feet high. The enclosure will occupy approximately 346 1/2 square feet. Access to the site will be through Lemon Grove Drive, a private road which connects to Olive Hill Road.

 

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