02/16/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Acting City Manager/Planning Director Carl Cahill provided a brief status report on the DeBell cell facility project. T-Mobile had been given direction to remove the COW from • the site within the next thirty days, a notice of incompletion had been sent to the vendor and a letter had been sent to all affected property owners by the Town clarifying the outstanding issues. Cahill noted that the lot for the proposed tower was constrained and staff had scheduled a meeting with T-Mobile next week to review alternative construction options for the project. Smith thanked staff for their letter and their efforts to keep the neighbors apprised of the status of theJro'ect. p Randoph Harr, resident, commented that he had spoken with Mayor Kerr recently about the issue of cell towers and he appreciated his generosity of time. He explained that in addition to the survey that he had presented to the Council at the February 9, 2006 meeting, he had personally called over fifty residents that were geographically dispersed throughout the Town to illicit their opinions on cell phone towers and regulations. Harr had shared with the recipients of his calls, his concern that an ordinance was not in place governing cell towers. He reported that 90% of those contacted agreed with his concern. He urged Council to delay consideration of the applications. Diane Huffinan, Catherine Court, suggested that the Council update the Town's cell phone policy to include guidelines. She recommended consideration of a citizen's advisory committee to review cell tower issues. She believed it was the Town's responsibility to ensure that tower locations were safe and appropriate and not rely on the • cell phone vendors. Steve Hubbell, Conejo Court, suggested it would be helpful to educate the residents on the application process and related issues on cell towers. He suggested the Town's Newsletter with an article from an independent source would be an appropriate vehicle for getting the information to residents. Mark Breier, Esperanza Drive, commented that the citizens of Los Altos Hills had provided Council with their thoughts on this issue, including the results of the Schireson telephone survey that he had underwritten. He suggested that citizens had overwhelmingly expressed that they wanted their input taken into consideration on the location of cell towers. Brier offered that cell phone technology was rapidly changing and that Council should embrace all of the new technologies. Brier offered that the CEQA document that had been prepared for the new Town Hall project had called for the apricot orchard that was the proposed site for the cell tower to be protected. He suggested that Council consider relocating the tower to the other side of Town Hall near the entrance and driveway. For the record, Brier noted that the aerials of Town Hall that were included in the staff report were not current. Eric Clow, Central Drive, Planning Commissioner, expressed his appreciation for the Council's efforts to improve cell phone coverage in Los Altos Hills. He believed the current cell phone policy had a thoughtful and methodical process in place for siting cell towers. 2 Special City Council Meeting Minutes February 16,2006