Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-02-08-057 — Sprint Pcs

Request: Special Exception in A-2 (agricultural) zone for single use tower in lieu of co-located (more than one user) communication tower (170 ft. monopole tower proposed)

Decision: Approved

Hearing: The Staff Report and Recommendation is located on Pages____. The BZA was concerned about approving another single use tower with a future co-location deadline without some expectation that co-location would actually occur. On the other hand, the BZA understood the fact that there has been a true "slump" in the telecommunications industry, and that current economic conditions meant a substantial loss of funding for the industry. Sprint's representative stated this project was originally intended as a three-user tower. Sprint had agreement with Nextel and Verizon to co-locate. However, after the events of "9/11", both companies backed out. They have since not been able to find other users even though they have had an aggressive marketing strategy. He requested the BZA grant a 36-month period upon which to accomplish co-location. Staff indicated that Sprint had a good track record with Zoning insofar as co-location efforts were concerned. Since the adoption of the amended tower Code in 1997, Sprint had only one single use tower site approved by the BZA with a co-location deadline, which expires in March of next year. Sprint's representative indicated he was aware of this and was working on getting that site co-located also. Based on the current industry and economic circumstances, and based on the applicant's testimony and reputation, the BZA agreed to approve the Special Exception with a 24-month co-location deadline. The applicant agreed to the conditions. There was no public opposition to this request.