AGENDA REPORT
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 3/6/2019
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Community Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
City Council consideration of CUP2017-0106, a Conditional Use Permit application to establish a 75-foot high wireless telecommunications facility designed as a mono-eucalyptus tree at the city’s Lester Water Treatment Facility located at 2970 Rimpau Avenue in the A (Agricultural) Zone. (Applicant: JD Fox with Wireless Development Resources, LLC, PO Box 8823, Newport Beach, CA 92660).
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
1. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission's action granting CUP2017-0106, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
- OR-
2. Set the item for review at a subsequent meeting.
Body
ANALYSIS:
The purpose of Conditional Use Permit 2017-0106 is to construct a 75-foot high telecommunications facility at the city’s Lester Water Treatment Plant located at 2970 Rimpau Avenue. The property is located in the Agriculture zone and is developed with utility buildings and structures associated with the city’s water treatment plant. The telecommunications facility will resemble a faux eucalyptus tree and will be centrally located within the project site.
The proposal is the same proposal that was approved by CUP13-01 in 2013. AT&T, however, never constructed the facility and CUP13-01 expired after two years because the facility was never built within the initial two years and the application was never extended by the applicant. AT&T has a valid lease agreement with the city for the leased space at the Lester Treatment Plant and has been paying rent to the city in accordance with the existing agreement. AT&T is now ready to move forward with the project and in order to reinstate the previous approval the applicant is required to process a new CUP application, which is the reason for CUP2017-0106.
The mono-eucalyptus would increase the capacity, speed, and reliability of AT&T’s existing cellular phone coverage and data network in an area that is currently experiencing a gap in 4G-LTE network coverage. Propagation maps were submitted and included as exhibits in the Planning and Housing Commission staff report showing the three closest AT&T telecommunications facilities to the project site. The first facility is located 0.7 miles northeast of the project site at Community Church of the Nazarene. The second facility is located 1.8 miles southeast of the project site at Eagle Glen Park. The third facility is located 1.5 miles northwest of the project site at Calvary Chapel. For the area surrounding the project site, the existing AT&T coverage in this area mostly provides for outdoor service (sufficient signal strength for on-street or in-the-open areas), but there is not enough coverage for customers inside a vehicle or building. With the mono-eucalyptus constructed on the project site, the coverage for customers inside buildings and vehicles would increase and fill in the current coverage gap in the area.
The mono-eucalyptus will be centrally located within the Lester Water Treatment Facility. The tower is approximately 259 feet from Rimpau Avenue, 245 feet from Chase Drive, 104 feet from the westerly property line which is where the nearest residential properties are located, and 358 feet from the southerly property line with residential properties farther south. Additionally, the mono-eucalyptus will have a separation of 91 feet from an existing monopalm located on the property. The monopalm facilitates wireless services for Corona’s Department of Water and Power and was not designed to support the collocation of additional antennas. Therefore, a new facility was required to support AT&T’s antennas. The mono-eucalyptus however is capable of supporting the collocation of antennas in the future.
The tower has a single trunk that splits into three smaller trunks that support the antenna arrays, panel antennas, and branches. The project site contains several live mature eucalyptus trees in addition to other types of trees of varying heights which help camouflage the mono-eucalyptus. Therefore, the applicant has taken steps to minimize the visual impacts the facility may have on the surrounding area. CUP2017-0106 will implement General Plan Policy 7.13.2 which provides for the continued development and expansion of telecommunications systems for access of data, information, and communication purposes because it will improve and provide convenient access to wireless service in the service area of the project site.
COMMITTEE ACTION:
Not applicable.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Not applicable.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid $12,891.75 in application processing fees for the conditional use permit. Additionally, the applicant entered into a License Lease Agreement with the City of Corona for the lease space at the Lester Water Treatment Facility. The initial monthly license payment was $2,575.00 per month which was February 5, 2014, with an annual escalator of 4%. The current monthly license payment to the city is $3,012.38.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Per Section 15070 of the State Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 6.01 of the City’s Local Guidelines, a negative declaration was prepared for the project because the initial study showed that there is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record before the City that the project may have a significant or potentially significant adverse effect on the environment. Therefore, a negative declaration was adopted by the Planning and Housing at its meeting on February 11, 2019.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of February 11, 2019, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Alexander/Shah) and carried unanimously, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt the Negative Declaration and Resolution No. 2527 granting CUP2017-0106, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 5.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: KERRY D. EDEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR
SUBMITTED BY: MichELE NISSEN, ACTING CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Locational and Zoning Map.
2. Exhibit 2 - Site Plan for CUP2017-0106.
3. Exhibit 3 - Photosimulation of mono-eucalyptus.
4. Exhibit 4 - Planning and Housing Commission Staff Report.
5. Exhibit 5 - Draft Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of 02/11/19.