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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-05-12 TCELLCO PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT MAY 12, 2005 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of CELLCO PARTNESHIP dba VERIZON was called to order at 8:41 p.m. in the County Building, WIRELESS (SPP 05-004) Councilroom - Room 201, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii, with Second Vice-Chairman Hannah Springer presiding. PRESENT:Hannah Springer ABSENT & EXCUSED: Fred Galdones C. Kimo Alameda Bill Graham Andrew Iwashita Jeffrey McCall Allen Salavea Rene€ Siracusa Rodney Watanabe Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel ChristopherJ.Yuen,PlanningDirector Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner And approximately 4 people from the public in attendance. Special APPLICANT: CELLCO PARTNESHIP dba VERIZON WIRELESS (SPP 05-004) Permit to allow the construction of a new 104-foot high steel monopole telecommunications tower, appurtenant cabinets and equipment shelter, and chain link fence enclosure on approximately 1,100 square feet of land within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The thth property is located along the northeast side of 35 Avenue, approximately 650 feet from the 35 Avenue ƒ Orchidland Drive intersection, Orchidland Estates Subdivision, Keaau, Puna, Hawaii, TMK: 1-6-10: 48. SPRINGER:We€re now on Agenda Item No. 4. The applicant is CELLCO PARTNESHIP dba VERIZON WIRELESS (SPP 05-004). This is a Special Permit to allow the construction of a new 104-foot high steel monopole telecommunications tower, appurtenant cabinets and equipment shelter, and chain link fence enclosure on approximately 1,100 square feet of land within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located along the thth northeast side of 35Avenue,approximately650feetfromthe35AvenueƒOrchidlandDrive intersection, Orchidland Estates Subdivision, Keaau, Puna, Hawaii, TMK: 1-6-10: 48. Mr.Darrow,staffpresentation,please. DARROW:Thankyou,MadamChair.IfImaydirectyourattentiontothelocation map, again, the location of this application is in the Puna district of Hawaii. More specifically, thisisintheOrchidlandSubdivision.Justforreference,travelinginanorth-southdirection,we 1EXHIBIT E have the Keaau-Pahoa Road. This direction towards Pahoa, this direction towards Keaau. The location of this application would be from Keaau-Pahoa Road onto Orchidland, traveling right on th 35 and it€s three lots in on the right side. Referring to the site plan that has been submitted by the applicant. Theapplicant in this case is Cellco Partnership doing business as Verizon Wireless. They are submitting a request for a special permit to allow a 104-foot steel telecommunications tower, monopole, along with 12 th panel antennas and related equipment. On 35, which we have identified here, we have the subject parcel which is a 2-acre parcel within the Orchidland Subdivision. The applicants are proposing to utilize 1100 square feet of this 2-acre parcel identified in pink. The driveway to the facility is identified in brown. Looking at more specifics, this is a blown-up shot that shows the equipment area, the location of the tower and, more specifically, it€s not very easy to see but we have a diagram of what the actual tower looks like. It€s a monopole steel tower that€s a 100 feet, and then we have 23 of the panel antennas. Looking from a bird€s eye view it would be in a circle; and these would be in sections of four panels each reaching out. The reason for the request is Verizon Wireless has towers in Mt. View, Keaau, Pahoa. They need to be able to connect their signal between Keaau and Pahoa. This site in Orchidland would be ideal for being able to bring their coverage together in that area. The Planning Director is recommending approval of this request. And the Planning Department has received a petition for standing in a contested case from the Orchidland Community Association. Are there any questions? SPRINGER:Commissioners? SIRACUSA:I have, I have a question -. SPRINGER:Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Yeah,wereceivedsomethingfromJosephLipinskihere;andhestatesthat cell towers are not shared by providers. Is that true? Is that accurate? DARROW:I€m sorry, I just received this correspondence that you€re referring to. You€reaskingifthecelltowersarenot,I€msorry-? SIRACUSA:Hisstatementhereiscelltowerserviceisowned/providedbyasingle wireless business and are NOT shared within the highly competitive industry, (i.e. one tower does not serve all providers).‚ So I€m asking if that is true. DARROW:Madam Chair, may I answer her? SPRINGER:Commissioner Watanabe. WATANABE:I know from experience that€s not true. AT&T leases the same, you know, same space from Verizon, because we€ve had situations like that where AT&T went down. 2EXHIBIT E SPRINGER:Commissioner Watanabe, there€s some guidance, perhaps, that Mr. Torigoe can offer us right now as far as us testifying as experts. TORIGOE:Yeah, I would recommend against your, you know, providing what is essentially testimony on a contested case matter. DARROW:If I may address the question? SPRINGER:Mr. Darrow. DARROW:The Planning Director, when we look at requests for telecommunication towers, his main objective in the beginning of the application is to request whether or not the applicant has taken steps to co-locate on existing towers. If there are no options available, then at that point we€ll proceed with the special permit. In the special permit application, we always trytorecommendco-locationofothertowerstobeabletolocateonthis. Irecallintheapplicationthattheapplicantstatedthat,Ibelieve,thattherewouldberoomfor one co-location on this tower. But if we could also allow the applicant to go into more detail regarding co-location. I believe that€s what you€re asking, is that correct? SIRCUSA:Yes. And then there€s the follow up one which was d) on this, Mr. Lipinski€s communication, that I€d also like to know if this is accurate, if a community permits a cell tower within its geographical area, it is legally bound to allow competitive service providers the right to install their towers as well? So would that mean that we would end up having a plethora of towers within every single community once we give a permit to one? DARROW:Yeah, it€s -. Oh, I€m going to defer that to the Panning Director. SPRINGER:Mr. Yuen. YUEN:A body like a Planning Commission can reject cell towers for reasons unrelated to health of safety. For example, you can reject a cell tower in a particular location because of its aesthetic effect. You cannot discriminate among providers. What that means is that you can€t say, well, I like Verizon and I don€t like Cingular. So, and that€s the only sense in which you allow one you have to allow others. You can, if you allow one and somebody else comes in with a cell tower in a location that has a much worse visual effect, you can reject the second application. But you can€t do it on the basis of, well, we let one company in and that€s good enough, we don€t want to have more companies in here. SIRACUSA:I see. Thank you for clarifying that. SPRINGER:Jeff, perhaps I didn€t go and pick up materials that might have come in subsequent to when I did picked up my packets, but I don€t have the record of the request for standing. DARROW:If it€s okay with you, I can bring you a copy of it. 3EXHIBIT E SPRINGER:Thank you. DARROW:This is the original. That wouldn€t be a good idea. Has, does -? SIRACUSA:I don€t have that either. SPRINGER:It may be that some of the other Commissioners do not have it either. ALAMEDA:I don€t. SPRINGER:We do not have copies of this in our records. Commissioner Siracusa, you do not have it. Commissioner Alameda, you do not have it. SALAVEA:Is it part of the background materials? SPRINGER:They usually are. I don€t have any in my set, however. DARROW:There was a letter that was transmitted to the Orchidland Community Associationandonthere,thePlanningCommissionwas-. SPRINGER:Okay,Ididnotgetthis.AndIdon€tknowifanyoftheother Commissioners have it. IWASHITA:No, we haven€t. No. SPRINGER:Okay. DARROW:I€ll pass a copy around. ALAMEDA:Madam Chair? SPRINGER:Commissioner Alameda. ALAMEDA:On the petition for standing, did it follow all the guidelines by the Department and, on time and all? DARROW:Yes. ALAMEDA:Okay. SPRINGER:Commissioners, have you all had a chance to review the application for standing? TORIGOE:Everybody got it? I think everybody has got it now. SPRINGER:So the next course of business for us is to determine whether or not we want to accept this petition for standing in the contested case hearing on this item. Our 4EXHIBIT E guidelines are found in Section 4-7 of our rules. Everybody is having a chance to review the application. At this time, I€d like to invite the applicant or their representative, and the representative from the Orchidland Community Association, to the table. Mr. Pawu, you€ve been sworn in. To the Cellco representative, will you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? YOUNG:Yes. SPRINGER:Could you state your name and address for the record, please. YOUNG:My name is Les Young, 1506 Ala Mahamoe Street in Honolulu, Hawaii. SPRINGER:Thankyou,sir.Rightnowwe€rediscussing,orwehavebeforeusa petition for standing in a contested case hearing. Have you had a chance to review the application? YOUNG:Yes, I have. SPRINGER:Do you take any exception to that? YOUNG:No. ALAMEDA:Madam Chair? SPRINGER:Commissioner Alameda. ALAMEDA:I learned this one from you ƒ With regards to informing the parties, just reminding what standing would require, and all of that. SPRINGER:Thank you. Have you had a chance, I believe that this particular applicant, petitioner for standing, is similar with the process. He€s not a neophyte. ALAMEDA:He€s not new, all right. SPRINGER:But Mr. Pawu, do you understand all the rights and responsibilities that come with this petition? PAWU:Yes, Ma€am, I do. And I€ve been directed by my board and the membership at large to request this contested case hearing. SPRINGER:Thank you, sir. ALAMEDA:Thank you. SPRINGER:Does that satisfy your curiosity? 5EXHIBIT E ALAMEDA:Sure does. SPRINGER:So we have before us the application. We see that the status of the petitioner, their interest is that they have responsibility for liability, traffic and trash on the property, on the privately owned roadway necessary for ingress and egress to the proposed site. Is there any discussion on this petition for standing? ALAMEDA:Sounds like, if there€s no discussion then we would make a motion on it? SPRINGER:Commissioners Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. A question to Mr. Pawu, and I was wondering if your board also directs you to protect their interests, visa vi, you know, aesthetic considerations, or property values and developments that may affect the community, because the Board did that on some of the previous things you were here for as an intervenor. And I€m wondering if that applies here as well. PAWU:Yes, yes, Madam Commissioner. It does apply here. And we were specifically directed to ask for this contested case hearing based on the visual impact, the possibleliabilityimpactsshouldthistowerfalloffofthepropertythatit€son.It€slocatedona corner of the property, and it could fall on the roadway, block our roadway or damage a vehicle driving on our private roadway and create liability for our organization. And these are under the issues that we need to see addressed. SIRACUSA:Then, may I continue? SPRINGER:Yes, you may, Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Then you were saying that your interest differs from that of the general public as you were representing the members and property owners of the subdivision in which this development is proposed? PAWU:That is correct. ALAMEDA:Madam Chair? SPRINGER:Commissioner Alameda. ALAMEDA:I was just curious, for the applicant, if you tried to remediate or work with the board beforehand or -? nd YOUNG:I met with Mr. Pawu and his Board on March 22.Wehadanevening meeting in which I made a presentation to the Board and, I guess, several of the ownersof the Orchidlandarea.Atthattime,afterpresentingourproposal,therewassomediscussionon alternative sites to be considered. Primary reason for alternate sites being, and if you can interjectifImisstatesomeoftheconclusionsofthemeeting,wasthat,one,lookforanareathat 6EXHIBIT E is commercially zoned or, perhaps, more in line with the type of use that we are recommending. Mr. Pawu also gave me a name of one gentleman, who I contacted subsequent to our meeting. In addition to that, I did follow up with calls to another person who owns commercial property, several of which were discussed at earlier meetings today -- Mr. Vern Wood and his Orchidland Trade Center Development, the Watumulls and their Wiki Wiki Mart area. Mr. Wood also owns nd a piece of property right off the Highway 130, I believe it€s on 32 Avenue just a bit off Makuu; and then, of course, as was discussed by Jeff Darrow we did look at, once again at T Mobile€s existing 80-foot tower at the Ainaloa Longhouse. Mr. Pawu at that meeting also made reference to the property that the Community Association had purchased; and that that might be a possible th consideration on 37 Street. However, one of the reasons why we did not seriously, or I did not seriously entertain that as an option at that time is there was a lady, whose name escape me at the moment, who is on the Board who reacted bodily language wise not too favorably when that was discussed, because she owns fairly close by or right next to the existing community association property. On a subsequent call, maybe about 2 ž or 3 weeks ago with Mr. Pawu he did mention to me that perhaps that particular landowner, that lady would be able to remove herself from the personal aspect of ownership and take a broader scope as to the overall benefit to the association; and I just let that statement stand as is. So we did look at alternative locations, none of which at this point in time have come through as far as anything firm that we could proceed on as a viable alternative. ALAMEDA:Thank you. SPRINGER:Thank you, Mr. Young. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Madam Chair. SPRINGER:Commissioner Alameda, any follow up to that. ALAMEDA:No. SPRINGER:OtherCommissioners,wehavebeforeusthispetitionforstandingina contested case hearing. Our first order of business will be to determine whether or not to accept thispetitionforstanding,andthenwe€llmoveforwardtoseewhetherornotwewanttoserveas the hearings officers or outsource should this petition be accepted. Commissioner Iwashita, were you stretching or were your raising your hand? IWASHITA:Neither. SPRINGER:Thank you. ALAMEDA:Madam Chair? SPRINGER:Is there any discussion on this petition? Is there a motion? ALAMEDA:I€m ready to make a motion if no discussion. SPRINGER:Proceed, Commissioner Alameda. 7EXHIBIT E ALAMEDA:Okay. With regard to Applicant Cellco Partnerships doing business as Verizon Wireless, Special Permit 05-004, that we move to approve the request for a contested case hearing -. SPRINGER:For standing? ALAMEDA:For standing -. SPRINGER:In a contested case hearing? ALAMEDA:In a contested case hearing. SPRINGER:Is there a second? SALAVEA:Second. SPRINGER:Commissioner Salavea seconded the motion. Is there discussion on the motion? Mr. Darrow, we€re ready for a roll call vote on the petition for standing. DARROW:Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner Alameda? ALAMEDA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Salavea? SALAVEA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Aye. DARROW:CommissionerSiracusa? SIRACUSA:Aye. DARROW:CommissionerWatanabe? WATANABE:Aye. DARROW:MadamChair? SPRINGER:Yes. DARROW:The motion passes six to zero to grant standing in a contested case to the Orchidland Community Association. 8EXHIBIT E SPRINGER:Thank you. Commissioners, the next order of business for us is to determine whether we or a subset of us will serve as hearings officers on this matter, or if we would prefer to outsource it. Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Well, once again we come to this question, and someone asked Director Yuen a really good one, and that is, can we afford it, to outsource -? How€s our budget? YUEN:Yes. SPRINGER:Thank you, Commissioner Siracusa. Commissioners, are we ready for a motion? Is there further discussion? ALAMEDA:I can entertain a motion since I€m on a roll, and if there€s no objection. Okay. I€d like to, with regard to this applicant, Verizon Wireless, Special Permit 05-004, that we outsource this standing for a contested case hearing. SPRINGER:Outsource to a hearings officer? ALAMEDA:Outsource to a hearings officer. SPRINGER:Thank you, Commissioner Alameda. Is there a second? SIRACUSA:Second. SPRINGER:Commissioner Siracusa seconded the motion to outsource to a hearings officeronthismatter.Mr.Darrow? DARROW:Thankyou,MadamChair.CommissionerAlameda? ALAMEDA:Aye. DARROW:CommissionerSiracusa? SIRACUSA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Salavea? SALAVEA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Aye. 9EXHIBIT E DARROW:And MadamChair? SPRINGER:Yes. DARROW:The motionpassessix to zero to outsource to a hearings officer. SPRINGER:The next step would then be the applicant€s representative, the petitioner and the Planning Director as parties will go into prehearing discussions, and the coordination will occur, Mr. Torigoe? TORIGOE:Well, once the hearings officer is hired, then the hearings officer will take over and make those arrangements. SPRINGER:Okay. And about how long will that be, Mr. Director, for the hearings officer to be selected? YUEN:Mr. Hayashi will be responsible for that -. HAYASHI:Yes. SPRINGER:So all the parties will be informed -? YUEN:Who I€m sure will be very prompt. SPRINGER:And, Mr. Hayashi, will you inform then the parties, and follow up appropriately? HAYASHI:Yes,Ma€am. SPRINGER:Thankyou.Sir,andthisisapublichearing.Wehave,Ibelieve,one individual, Arnold Westphal who has signed up to testify. Would you care to testify this evening, or at the time that the contested case hearing is conducted? You€ve been so patient and waited. Would you like to put your thoughts on the record now, sir? If you would come forward, we can swear you in. Will you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? WESTPHAL:Yes, I do. SPRINGER:Sir, if you could please speak into the microphone; and if you could please give us your name and your address, and then proceed with your testimony. WESTPHAL:My name is Arnold Westphal and my address is Post Office Box 633, Kurtistown HI. My physical address is 16-2092 Hawaiian Acres. SPRINGER:Thank you, sir. You may proceed with your testimony. 10EXHIBIT E WESTPHAL:I€m againstthe tower because I€m not too certain it doesn€t give off things that we don€t know about and the, like the Navywas testing their sonar and all the whales would be chopping -, things like that. And there€s also a kind of an eyesore, I believe, to be erected in there, where people are living. That€s about all I have to say. SPRINGER:Thank you, sir. Commissioners, do you have any questions to the testifier? Thank you for your patience in staying with us until this late hour, sir. Thank you. Thank you, both. We€ve identified Mr. Hayashi as the person that will be following up with you on the prehearing matters. And thank you both for your patience also this evening. YOUNG:Thank you. SPRINGER:You€re welcome. PAWU:Thankyou. SPRINGER:You€rewelcome. Thediscussionendedat9:07p.m. Respectfullysubmitted, Sharon M. Nomura, East Hawaii Secretary 11EXHIBIT E