HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeight provisions Telecom facilitiesTo: The Zoning Board of Appeals
From: Chris Balestra, Senior Town Planner
Re: Telecommunications Height and Town Code
Town Code height provisions:
Zoning Or.l. wp51 \zon. 11/27/93
10. In Residence Districts R30, no building shall be erected, altered or extended to exceed
thirty-four feet in height from the lowest interior grade or thirty feet in height from the
lowest exterior grade, whichever is lower. No structure other than a building shall be
erected, altered, or extended to exceed thirty (30) feet in height.
Zoning Or. i, wp5i \zon, 12/3/97
10. In Residence Districts R30, no building shall be erected, altered, or extended to exceed
thirty-eight (38) feet in height from the lowest interior grade or thirty-six (36) feet in
height from the lowest exterior grade, whichever is lower. No structure other than a
building shall be erected, altered, or extended to exceed thirty (30) feet in height.
2024 Town Code, §270-59: Except as may be specifically otherwise authorized in this chapter, in Low
Density Residen al Zones no building shall be erected, altered, or extended to exceed 38 feet in height
from lowest interior grade nor 36 feet in height from lowest exterior grade, whichever is lower. No
structure other than a building shall be erected, altered, or extended to exceed 30 feet in height.
Town Code Telecommunications height provisions:
2003 Town Code §270-219.B: If the proposed height of the telecommunications facility exceeds the
permitted height of structures in the zoning district in which the facility is proposed to be located,
notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a height variance from the Board of Appeals shall
also be required.
2023 Town Code §270-219.N(3): All personal wireless service facili es shall comply with the height,
setback, frontage, minimum lot size, and (except as specified below) yard standards of the underlying
zoning district and the fall zone requirements of this sec on. To the extent there is a conflict, the more
restric ve provision shall govern. If the proposed height of the facility exceeds the permi ed height of
structures in the zoning district in which the facility is proposed to be located, notwithstanding any other
provisions of this chapter, a height variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals shall also be required.
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CONCLUSIONS:
Height provisions for structures have been in the Town Code since 1968, but they were revised
over the years, as buildings got larger and taller.
The current height provisions in Town Code are exactly the same as the 1997 provisions.
The first collocation of cell antennas happened on a farm silo at 385 West King Road in 2001. The
town did not have telecom provisions in place then.
Telecom provisions were not added to the Town Code until 2003.
The first cell tower proposal was proposed at 651 Five Mile Drive in 2009.
The Town Code height provisions were NOT revised to apply to telecommunications
facilities. They apply to all structures and were modified at least 4 years before the
first telecom proposal (1997 revised height provisions – 2001 first cell antenna
project); and at least 8 years before the first cell tower proposal (2009).
Additionally, the height provisions in the current revised telecommunications
provisions (2023) are EXACTLY the same as those that were drafted in 2003…six
years before the first cell tower proposal.