beagenda

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WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

WEDNESDA= Y, FEBRUARY 23, 2005 - 7:30 P.M.

JOHN TRU= MBULL PRIMARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER

APPLICAT= ION #793 – NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS

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PRESENT: = &nb= sp; = Mary Bisson, Secretary

&nbs= p; John Griffith

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Phil Roger, Vice Chairman

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; Enrico Sarandrea, Chai= rman

ABSENT: = &nb= sp; = Roger Mitchell

ALTERNATES PRESENT: Scott Stewart

ALTERNATES ABSENT: &= nbsp; None

OTHERS PRESENT: &n= bsp; = ; Moosa Rafey, Assistant Zoning Enforcement Officer

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1. = Call Meeting To Order

Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, called the Public Hearing to Order at 7:56 p.m.

2. &nb= sp; Roll Call

Ms. Bisson, Secretary, executed the Roll Call.

Ms. Bisson, Secretary,= read aloud the Legal Notice for the Record:

“Legal Notice

The Zoning Board of Ap= peals of the Town of Watertown will hold a Public Hearing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesd= ay, February 23, 2005 at the John Trumbull School Media Center, 6779 Buckingham Street, Oakville, CT to hear and act upon the following applications:<= /o:p>

Application #793 of Ne= xtel Communications for Mid-Atlantic, Inc., d/b/a Nextel Communications (“Nextel”) request for a 67 foot height variance to permit the installation of 12 panel antennas on an exiting smokestack extends to a hei= ght of 117 feet above ground level at 20 Main Street, Oakville known as the Old= Pin Shop located in a B-C Central Business Zoning District.

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Section 31.6.2 of the Watertown Zoning Regulations permits maximum height of 50 feet in a B-C Cen= tral Business Zoning District.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

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FEBRUARY= 23, 2005

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At this Hearing intere= sted persons and written communications will be heard. A copy of the application is on fi= le in the Planning and Zoning Office, 51 Depot Street, Suite 502, Watertown, Connecticut.

Dated at Watertown, Connecticut, this 10^th day of February, 2005.<= /p>

Dated at Watertown, Connecticut, this 17^th day of February, 2005.<= /p>

Mary Bisson, Secretary=

Zoning Board of Appeals”

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3. Hearing of Cases=

&= nbsp; D. Application #793 of Nextel Communications requests for a 7 feet height variance to perm= it the installation of panel antennas on an existing smokestack at 20 Main Str= eet, Oakville, CT.

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&= nbsp; Recess or Adjourn, the Public Hearing must be Closed by March 31, 2005 unless applicant grants a time extension.

&= nbsp; Jennifer Gaudette, Representing Nextel Communications

= ; Ms. Gaudette: I believe that all of = you have available to you the packet of information that we filed along with the application forms. The applic= ation is really quite simple. In co= nformance with the highest preference of the Watertown Zoning Regulations we’re proposing to locate antennas on the existing smokestack at 20 Main Street in the Old Pin Shop property. The variance is requested because in the BC Zoning District in which that struc= ture is located, the maximum height allowed is 50 feet. The smokestack itself extends to 1= 18 feet and we are proposing to locate the antennas in such a way that the top= of the antennas would be located 1 foot below the top of the smokestack itself= . As you may know there is related electronic equipment associated with any cell site and that’s going t= o be located within the existing Old Pin Shop building in space on the second floor. The height needed for = the antennas is driven by the need to generate signal out to a certain area. The topography surrounding the Old= Pin Shop property is fairly severe, particularly in the north and also to the w= est and to the south and getting above those hills is very important in order to avoid the need for more sites where one would do. This property does have unique characteristics, most notably the smokestack that make it very suitable for installation of a wireless facility. This is similar in type to the facility previously approved for AT&a= mp;T Wireless at 23 Main Street, directly across the street.

WATERTOW= N ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

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&= nbsp; Behind Tab 3 in the application you will find photo simulations from various locat= ions in the area, some in Watertown, some in Waterbury, due to the proximity of = the Town line. With that I’= d be happy to answer any questions?

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Is there anyone from t= he public who wishes to speak For or Against this Application?

&= nbsp; Diane Furlan, 21 Woodlawn Avenue, Oakville, CT&n= bsp; 06779

= ; Ms. Furlan: I have several questio= ns regarding the installation of these panel antennas. I don’t think that thereR= 17;s been enough information given to basically the people who are here tonight,= who are going to have this equipment in their back yards, in their site lines. = When we think of panel antennas, we= think of actual panel antennas. Whe= n we came here tonight, the small group of us that did, we expected to see maybe some photos, pictures of what it might look like. This smokestack is in my back yard= and I don’t feel that I can really make any kind of decision or really understand what is going on. I understand that you have packets, but we really have nothing to look at. Is there a safety issue to be look= ed at, is it going to take away from the site line of our properties, just questio= ns like that. That’s basic= ally about it.

= ; Mr. Rafey: I have a bunch of photos here that= the public can look at, the ones you have in your packet.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Would you like to answer any of th= ose questions?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Again I did have an opportunity to speak briefly with the neighbors here when I recognized that= it was my application that they were here for. I can’t say that it gave the= m a great deal of time to absorb the photos, but I did try to share with them s= ome of the information contained in the application. As far as safety, I’m sure t= hat your colleagues on the Planning and Zoning Commission will be dealing with = some of those issues that are under their purview, but again in the application packet, typically some of the questions that come up in that arena are rela= ted to increase in traffic, what we call power density, which is the health eff= ect regulated and superceded by the Federal Government, but there is informatio= n in here that contains the calculations behind Tab 4 that show that the facility would emit under 20% of the standard set by the Federal Communications Commission for facilities like this. In other words, if you assume that 100% is the amount allowed under = the Federal Regulations, this facility would generate under 20% of that amount.=

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= ; Mr. Rafey: Instead of building a = new tower in Town, it’s much better to use the existing facilities that we have in Town, such as this smokestack.&nbs= p; The Zoning Regulations recommend that if there is any existing structures in Town, that should be used before they build a new tower in To= wn.

= ; Mr. Griffith: Do a lot of old smokes= tacks support that?

= ; Mr. Rafey: Not all of them.=

= ; Ms. Gaudette: This one we have perfo= rmed the structural analysis to prove that.&nbs= p; We wouldn’t have taken the application this far and invested in the site with a lease and pursuing it this far if we had not confirmed the structural integrity.

= ; Mr. Rafey: The existing structure= is already an existing non-conforming structure. They’re not adding another 67 height to the existing structure. It’s already there. If you allow this antennae to be attached to that on that, that smokestack is there and it’s 118 feet high.

= ; Mr. Stewart: Going up the side of t= he smokestack, I mean aside from the panel antennae at the top we have big gray conduits running all the way up there disrupting the aesthetic beauty of our heritage. I mean who’s looking at those, I guess is what I’m trying to say. Is that an eyesore, or can it be m= ade to look better?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: I think the easiest wa= y to begin answering your question is to ask you to turn to photo 1B behind Tab 3 and there you can see a notation with an arrow pointing to the proposed cab= le tray. It is our plan to paint= . . . . .

= ; Mr. Rafey: See mine are black and= white so I don’t really see it quite the same way.

= ; Mr. Rafey: We made copies of those cause we k= ept those for the Planning and Zoning Commission. This is a joint application for si= te plan approval and Z.B.A.

= ; Mr. Rafey: Instead of building a = new tower in Town, it’s much better to use the existing facilities that we have in Town, such as this smokestack.&nbs= p; The Zoning Regulations recommend that if there is any existing structures in Town, they should be used before they build a new tower in Town. But even the black and = white photos are very clear, you can see everything.

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= ; Ms. Gaudette: I have referred Mr. St= ewart to photo 1B which indicates that the so called proposed cable tray which is= the covering for the cables that run up the side will go up in a location on the smokestack that would essentially face Main Street. In addition all of the cables, the= cable tray, covering and so on, everything that is visible will be painted to ble= nd in with the smokestack, so where the smokestack is the sort of yellow/brown= brick, we’ll try to match that as closely as possible, not to have it be gra= y, black, or dark brown, something like that.

= ; Ms. Bisson: Are these panels or are these like, in our picture it looks like single antennas, are they panels or single rods?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Those are so called pa= nel antennas. Rods, I think you m= ay be thinking of what is called in the industry an omni directional width antenn= ae which would be probably this big around.&n= bsp; The panel antenna is if you’ll give me a moment to refer to the plans, these antennas are 5, 6 maximum of 6 feet long and about 8 inches wi= de typically. I don’t know whether that’s what you’re accustomed to seeing, but it is a fa= irly typical panel antennae as distinguished from that width antennae which is longer and quite slim, more like a very small flagpole mount that you might= see on a house or something.

= ; Ms. Bisson: The black and white pi= cture, that’s what it looks like is a pole, but . . . .

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Do you have the color photos?

= ; Mr. Rafey: If you look at this, i= t will be like this.

= ; Ms. Bisson: Okay, I see, thank you= .

= ; Mr. Stewart: On you photo 1B there,= does that array of panels, does that wrap the stack, cause on the black and white photo, it probably looks the same in the color, it looks like it’s ki= nd of extending beyond the diameter of it.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: They do extend beyond = the diameter. In order to accommo= date 12 antennas, that’s 4 on each of 3 sides that are called sectors, the antennas can’t all be mounted flush to the smokestack on a collar (Ta= pe #1, Side A ended- may have missed some.)&n= bsp; I think the best place for you to see a depiction of that would behi= nd Tab 1 in the plans themselves, on drawing Z2. If you look down in the lower left corner of drawing Z2, see it? It’s developed in a triangular shape that allows separation that’s necessary in between the antennas in order to avoid creating interference among the 4 antennas and then also allows those antennas to be positioned so that they are generating their signal in a direction that all= ows to fit within the overall Nextel system.

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= ; Eric Grahoski, 74 Hungerford Avenue, Oakville, CT 067793=

= ; Mr. Grahoski: I came here believing = that these panels were going to be 67 feet above the existing smokestack, appare= ntly they’re going to be a foot lower from the installation. That I don’t have an objecti= on to. My question is now with the, there= was a little discussion here about emitting bad rays. Can you go into that a little bit?=

= ; Mr. Roger: I think she brought up= 100% is maximum and the emission from this would be 20% of the 100%, that is permitted.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: Now 20% of what type of emissions? What is emitting?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Radiation?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: The calculation that I referred to before addressed electro magnetic frequency and that is the sig= nal that is generated by this or any other wirelesses telecommunication site. It is similar to, in PCS frequenci= es it’s similar to microwave oven frequencies. These are not “bad” rays. The studies that have b= een done to get to that federal standard are very significant and that standard itself is a conservative standard so that this 20% of that is an even more conservative level.

= ; Mr. Roger: The 20% that you’= ;re quoting us is that standing at the base of the smokestack?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Yes. The 20% itself is a very conservat= ive calculation and by conservative in that sense I mean that it overstates what would in all probability be the actual amount of electro magnetic frequency generated. The reason for tha= t is that the calculation assumes that all of the channels at the site are opera= ting simultaneously, and moreover that all of the antennas are pointed straight = at the ground, which is not the typical operation, but that is a calculation d= one at the base of the smokestack assuming a 6 foot tall individual, so it woul= d be from 117 feet it would go to approximately 111.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: So actually up that hi= gh it really isn’t doing anything. I mean the further away you get from it . . . . .<= /p>

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Yes, the further away = the lower the number.

= ; Mr. Griffith: It decreases by the sq= uare of the distance.

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= ; Mr. Grahoski: My property, DianeR= 17;s property, and several other properties in the neighborhood of Hungerford Avenue are level with the top of the smokestack.&= nbsp; We live on a hill, the smokestack is basically in a valley, so the t= op of the smokestack is level with probably me standing in my back yard. How are these electro magnetic ray= s that are going to affect my children when they’re out playing in my back yard? My back yard is less th= an I would say 150 feet from this smokestack.

= ; Mr. Roger: That’s kind of h= ard to say, cause the 20% is rated at the base of the smokestack if the antennas w= ere pointed at the ground. I unde= rstand you’re level with the smokestack, but you’re 150 feet away.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: So if the smokestack i= s 117 feet in the air, so you’re talking 111 feet according to her calculations, I’m only a few more feet away from it than that. Obviously they’re not pointi= ng at the ground, they’re going to be pointing at my back yard, and the back yards of several people in the neighborhood. Diane’s house is even closer= than mine to the smokestack, and she has children also.

= ; Mr. Stewart: What she did say, thou= gh, was that the levels were at 20% of the allowable federal levels, whatever it is. So it’s well under = the threshold.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: But do I want my child= ren being beamed 24 hours a day, by electro magnetic rays?

= ; Mr. Roger: I’m sure your ch= ildren aren’t outside 24 hours a day and inside a building . . . . .

= ; Mr. Grahoski: Well they’re out= for 8 hours a day swimming in my pool. I mean that is what I’m asking.

= ; Mr. Roger: Sir, and you know, when they’re sleeping they’re in the house and I’m sure the magnetic field is probably much less being that they’re inside the house. I mean I understand yo= ur concerns, but at this point they’re only at 20% of the 100% allowable= .

= ; Mr. Grahoski: Well I want more information on wha= t that allowable level is, and how that can affect my family, people in the neighborhood, our reception.

= ; Mr. Stewart: I understand your conc= ern but what Nextel is here for tonight is a variance on the height and like she had said, she’ll have to go to Zoning for the safety and other issues addressed. So I don’t r= eally know that it’s really an issue, the safety portion of it for us to be really taking into consideration.

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= ; Mr. Sarandrea: We’re health and safety here too.

= ; Mr. Roger: I mean you’re sa= ying our Board is welfare and safety also, but in my opinion they’re well underneath the maximum allowable and there’s a distance between the smokestack and the house, so in my opinion the health factor has been addre= ssed as far as I’m concerned.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: But what is your opini= on based on? What knowledge do y= ou have of electro magnetic rays and what they do to affect people? Did you go to school for that?

= ; Mr. Roger: I don’t have any knowledge of it at all. What I’m telling you is, is she addressed my concerns.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: If these were going in= your back yard would you be concerned?

= ; Mr. Roger: You want to sell me yo= ur house, I’ll move in.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: Anything is for sale.<= o:p>

= ; Mr. Roger: I’m just telling= you in my opinion, from my satisfaction, she has addressed 20% of the 100% allowable. That is my satisfaction. How the rest of= the Board feels, it’s up to them, but that has satisfied me.

= ; Mr. Griffith: Do you have microwave = ovens at your house?

= ; Mr. Grahoski: No. You laugh? My wife refuses to have a microwave oven. We do not have a microw= ave oven in the house.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: How far away from the = church is that tower?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: I do not have a scaled distance. I do have a map tha= t I think is helpful to the gentleman’s comments and perhaps to your ques= tion as well. Behind Tab 3, a map = which was placed in there to indicate the locations from which photos had been ta= ken does show the location of I believe the church parking lot as photo #2. It also shows Hungerford Avenue an= d I believe Woodlawn is probably the unlabeled street near that. The distances would appear to be i= n all instances greater than 117 feet and so that the calculation therefore at a greater distance, you know taking into account as we stated before, the antennas are not pointed straight at the ground, but the calculation assumes that, the antennas are generating their frequency out straight out into the= air essentially and those distances, any distance greater than the 118 feet wou= ld result in a lower percentage of the standard.

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= ; Mr. Sarandrea: How far away, like you= know power lines, high tension wires, have to be so many feet from public dwellings. Do you have some k= ind of regulation on that, how far away this structure, I mean I know it’s an existing structure, but say you were to locate this area that you wanted to= put this structure there if it wasn’t there, how far away do you have to = be from existing dwellings as far as homes, schools, churches, whatever. How far away. You’re in a more densely pop= ulated area so what I’d like to know, do you have some kind of scale that yo= u go by that represents how far away you have to be from residents, churches, schools, whatever.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: No, there are no such regulations that I’m aware of at the federal, state, or town levels.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> There are some towns that do have = fall zones in the case of a construction of a new tower. There are some other towns that ha= ve a distance from a school that they would like to see facilities located, but there are no federal regulations on that and none at the state level.<= /o:p>

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Cause I know a few oth= er towns and I think one time they even came to our town, they were trying to = put a tower up, and that was one of the reasons why they couldn’t was bec= ause they were too close to houses. Is there some way you could find out for us if this tower is okay, being so cl= ose to a densely populated area? I’d hate to have this whole thing go through and you may have a problem.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Well I can tell you th= at there is no Town of Watertown regulation that requires a proposed facility = to be located at a particular distance from residences. In fact this proposed location mee= ts the highest preference found in the Watertown regulations. As to the safety issue that weR= 17;ve been discussing, I’m certainly not here to throw this in anyone’= ;s face, but the federal government does supercede all state and local jurisdi= ction. In other words the federal governm= ent sets the standard and if a facility complies with that standard, then a municipality or state or a county cannot say no to it on that basis.

= ; Mr. Roger: Just a couple other notes. I don’t know if = you were aware, but there is a cell antenna inside the congregational church on the green, in the tower, which is in close proximity and there is also one alre= ady in the pin shop across the street from the smokestack which is probably another, I don’t know how many feet, but it could be almost another 1= 00 feet away.

= ; Mr. Rafey: Mr. Chairman, they hav= e to go to the Planning and Zoning Commission.&= nbsp; If this Board grants a variance, then there is a site plan review process . . . . .

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= ; Mr. Roger: (Inaudible) to express= the issue of the height at this point and I mean the issues are, in my opinion,= the health issue has been addressed with the 20% of the 100% so at this point s= he needs to go before Zoning before this all gets approved at that point, we n= eed to address the height issue which I think we need to concentrate on at this point.

= ; Mr. Rafey: There are a list of is= sues that they have to present to the Planning and Zoning Commission including t= he location from the residential properties.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: I just want to be sure because one of our responsibilities is safety also.

= ; Mr. Rafey: You don’t have to close the Public Hearing. If = you want additional information you can keep it open.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: I just had that questi= on, I just wanted to be sure cause there was a tower denied at one time in Town a= nd I know one of the reasons was it was too close to the houses. But this is an existing structure,= so I don’t know the details on the other tower.

= ; Mr. Stewart: What federal agency regulates your emissions? Is = that the E.P.A.?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: No, it would be the Fe= deral Communications Commission, and that’s under the 1996 Telecommunicatio= ns Act.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: I understand what you = people are getting at, but if we approve this thing and there is a health or safety issue, there’s no . . . .

= ; Mr. Rafey: The Planning and Zoning Commission can deny it.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: But still, I mean we s= hould, I think before we even go, I mean she’s answering our questions, I ju= st want to make sure that there aren’t any issues and if she had any information stating how far away you’re supposed to be from a dwellin= g.

= ; Mr. Rafey: But if you need additi= onal information before you make a decision, you can continue the public hearing= to next month; there’s no rush to close it.

= ; Mr. Roger: Well at this point we’ve asked the questions and she’s addressed them. As far as Town regulations, there = is none.

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= ; Mr. Rafey: There are regulations = about, but all of those issues will be looked at by the Planning and Zoning Commission. They should have information about the location of this tower from the residential properties for the Planning and Zoning Commission.&nb= sp; But this is existing.

= ; Mr. Roger: So in your opinion we = should just address the height issue.

= ; Mr. Rafey: What the variance is a= nd what the hardship is, you should concentrate on those two issues.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Okay, thank you.<= /o:p>

= ; Ms. Gaudette: I can just tell you al= so with respect to other towns, other locations in other towns, it is not unco= mmon to have facilities located on apartment buildings, elderly housing faciliti= es, public buildings, some towns prefer to see even a tower, or a new structure built on a playground or something or a public area like that.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: That’s why IR= 17;m asking the question, because I’d like to have the . . . . there’= ;s public here that are concerned.

= ; Mr. Rafey: The smokestack on The = Siemon Company in the center of Town there are antennas around that too.

= ; Mr. Griffith: Sir, did you say you l= ive on Hungerford?

= ; Mr. Grahoski: Yes.=

= ; Diane Furlan, 21 Woodlawn Avenue, Oakville, CT&n= bsp; 06779

= ; Ms. Furlan: I have to say something cause I don’t think anybody is understanding my yard. This smokestack is equal to my property. It is not on my pro= perty, it is equal to it. The top of= that smokestack is equal to my property, so these panel antennas are going to be equal to my property. I am not going to be 20% to these rays. As she said, and what she said was, if you’re at the bottom you’re going to be 20%. As you get c= loser you have a greater chance of that raising your chances to be higher and that’s what she said the first time around, so you can check your tapes. If you’re farthe= r away you have less risks, if you get closer that 20% rises. That’s what she said.

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&= nbsp; So and those pictures are all nice, but no one came to our neighborhood to che= ck to see where the smokestack was. The smokestack is below. I can look from my property, look down, the smokestack is just about even, so these panel antennas are going to be in my back yard. My child will be out there playing= , and I know you don’t want to talk about the safety issue any more, but I = just wanted to tell you that because it is a concern to me. I’m going to be even, as wel= l as my daughter out there playing with these panel antennas and I’m not s= ure about that safety.

= ; Mr. Stewart: How far away are you?<= o:p>

= ; Ms. Furlan: I’m about 50 feet away. I’m not 100 feet = away.

= ; Mr. Griffith: What street do you liv= e on?

= ; Ms. Furlan: I live on Woodlawn Ave= nue or Woodland Avenue, cause it’s on some of the Watertown maps as Woodland Avenue. No one has come to our neighborhood to see. Nextel i= s not even named on the map.

= ; Mr. Griffith: Is it that little stre= et off of Hungerford?

= ; Ms. Furlan: Off of the top of Hungerford. I invite somebody= to come down to my property, meet me there and I'll walk you to the back of my property and show you that smokestack, because it’s not even. The top of that smokestack is in m= y back yard, and I am concerned about it, and I don’t understand these panels. I mean are they anten= nas or are they panels?

= ; Mr. Roger: They’re panel antennas.

= ; Ms. Furlan: So how far are they go= ing to extend from the top of that?

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: They’re not goin= g to extend at all.

= ; Mr. Roger: They’re going to= be even with the top of the chimney.

= ; Ms. Furlan: And she said they̵= 7;re going to extend beyond the diameter, because she can’t fit all the pa= nels she needs to have there, so they are going to extend from that.<= /span>

= ; Mr. Stewart: That dimension is not = on there, but it looks like it’s a couple of feet. What they’re doing is triangulating around that circle.

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= ; Ms. Furlan: Right, so she doesn= 217;t have the dimensions for that either so we can’t . . . . so we’re missing some facts here.

= ; Mr. Stewart: It’s not like it’s 10 feet beyond it or anything like that.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Actually it would look= like a ring that you would have around a chimney if you had a cover . . . .=

= ; Ms. Furlan: So that’s also g= oing to take away the site line of my property.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: No, you won’t ev= en notice it, it will look like wrought iron or something like that up there.<= o:p>

= ; Ms. Furlan: All right, well I invi= te anybody to come out and I’ll show you exactly where it is. I walk to the end of my property a= nd I can see that . . . . .

= ; Mr. Stewart: But again from your ba= ck yard you are 50 feet from that stack?

= ; Ms. Furlan: Well it’s certai= nly not 100. I’m guessing a= bout 50. I mean I didn’t go = out there and measure because I’d have to throw something to it.

= ; Mr. Roger: But you have to unders= tand if you have to throw it . . . .

= ; Ms. Furlan: Probably not, I’= m not that good of an aim.

= ; Mr. Roger: There’s 100 feet between every telephone pole that you see, so if you look from one telephone pole to the next, there’s 100 feet between them, so you have to understand that it may look like 50 feet, but I still find it hard to belie= ve that your back yard is 50 feet from that smokestack. 50 feet is from here to that side = of the room.

= ; Ms. Furlan: It could be, I’m telling you, it is not 100 feet. My yard ends and then it goes down to woods, and then there’s just woods, and the Oakville Pin Shop is right there.

= ; Mr. Roger: But at this point we’re looking at these pictures here, we’re looking toward the = back of your house beyond these woods, I don’t see any houses at all.=

= ; Ms. Furlan: No, cause my house isn’t there, my property is there.&n= bsp; I live at the end of Woodlawn Avenue. The house is, it’s very hard= to explain. You really have to s= ee it. The house is at the end of Woodlawn Avenue and then I own all the property at the end of Woodlawn Aven= ue, over down towards the right of way. It’s a very different setup.&= nbsp; You were there. Do you remember?

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= ; Mr. Rafey: Do you want to go for = a site walk to see this? You know where the smokestack is, but if you want to . . = . . .

= ; Mr. Stewart: To me the onus is on N= extel a little bit here to maybe find out which property is closest and redo their calculations to see whether anyone is going to have any harmful effects. I don’t know that we necessa= rily need a site visit for us to see it. Maybe they need to show that with their 20% emission at 100 feet, th= at if someone is inside 100 feet, that they aren’t going to be adversely affected by whatever is coming out of it.

= ; Ms. Furlan: You cannot go to the e= nd of Woodlawn Avenue and take a picture of this. You’d have to go onto my pro= perty, walk to the end of my property and take a picture.

= ; Mr. Stewart: That might be what the= y or us would have to do.

= ; Ms. Furlan: Right, I mean I know it’s hard to explain but . . . . .

= ; Mr. Roger: The height of the smok= estack is . . . .

= ; Mr. Rafey: 118 feet above ground.=

= ; Mr. Griffith: Is there any way that = you can emit a comparable amount of radiation from the site and measure say her property what the energy level is?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Are you asking without installing the facility?

= ; Mr. Griffith: Yea, there are instrum= ents that can do that.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: No, there isn’t anything comparable, short of that. If I could through, I think I could perhaps help to clarify some of this. If you look at the plot= plan that was submitted as part of the plans, behind Exhibit 1. That is your Town of Watertown Tax Map. If I understand what Ms. Furlan is describing I believe her property is the property designated 197-= 32.

= ; Mr. Roger: We don’t have th= at, it’s not in the packet.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: If I may . . . . Ms. F= urlan has confirmed for me . . . . = that this 197-32 this area, is her property.&nb= sp; Using this scale it appears to be in excess of 300 feet.<= /span>

= ; Mr. Roger: Right.

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= ; Mr. Sarandrea: An inch is 200 feet. Do you have a little scale?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: The graphic scale is r= ight here.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: An inch is 200 feet.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Not at this scale. This is (inaudible) full sized plans. You have to use the gr= aphic scale (inaudible).

= ; Mr. Rafey: What is the scale? One inch is what?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: In a full sized plan it’s one inch equals 100. This really is irrelevant.

= ; Mr. Stewart: The scale is probably = not accurate on this sheet.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: That’s why a gra= phic scale is included so that on reduced on plan . . . .

= ; Mr. Roger: Well this is reduced t= oo, I’m using the lines, not the numbers, but the scale is reduced.<= /o:p>

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: (Inaudible) you won= 217;t get it. We got your house, it’s right there. It lo= oks like you’re about 200 feet away.

= ; Ms. Furlan: (Inaudible). I’m looking from the top, not looking from the bottom.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: No, you don’t ha= ve to. Whether it’s the to= p or the bottom, it’s still the same thing, it’s still 200 feet away= .

= ; Mr. Stewart: Like I said, this proj= ect still has to go through Zoning, those issues still have to be addressed, so if abutters have safety concerns, etc., maybe they check (inaudible) for themselves and go to the Planning and Zoning Meeting.

= ; Mr. Rafey: This will definitely go before the Planning and Zoning Commission.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: But they do have these antennas on top of hospitals, this is how they get their communications, so= I mean you know, I mean you use your microwave, that’s what it pretty m= uch is.

= ; Mr. Stewart: When you say you have = them on apartment buildings, are there apartment buildings right across the stre= et from them?

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= ; Ms. Gaudette: Yes.=

= ; Mr. Roger: There’s some pla= stered all the way around the top of Waterbury Hospital, I mean they’re all over.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: We just want to addres= s your concerns, you know.

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Certainly in more heav= ily developed areas where high rise buildings are typical, there are buildings = in proximity to buildings that have wireless facilities on them.

= ; Mr. Stewart: Are there living units= in proximity or just buildings?

= ; Ms. Gaudette: Both, depending on the= area of the city that you’re located in, for example. Again referring to the plot plan o= n the Z1 drawing that we were just looking at, there are no properties other than= the Pin Shop property that would be located less than 118 feet from the smokest= ack area.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Any other questions? Thank you.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: When these panels emit= them, they emit them straight out. I think what our concern is, is here’s the Pin Shop, here’s our property, and here’s the top of the tower, so these panels are level = with our property. They’re n= ot 118 feet above our property line, they’re 118 feet above the Pin ShopR= 17;s property line.

= ; Mr. Stewart: But it’s the lin= ear distance that the calculations are based on. If you’re outside a certain = range (Tape #1, Side B ended – may have missed some). It’s the linear distance that matters. I mean they measured= the linear distance to the ground in that case because that was the closest poi= nt to anything on the property, but if it does emit sideways, if you’re inside that range, it’s still that 20% of the 100 at the same distanc= e, and you’re even further.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: And I understand what she’s saying. I’d= like to see something in writing, I’d like to see the federal regulations, I’d like to see if there are any other towns in our surrounding area = that have regulations that guide how far or how close towers can be to residenti= al properties.

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= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Well Planning and Zoni= ng will address that so the thing is if this gets approved tonight, the next s= tep is it goes to Planning and Zoning as an approved variance. Now that they have a vehicle that = they can drive, they’ll take it and they’ll ask all these questions before this thing gets approved to be put on the building. Although we’re charged with = safety also, our step here is to get to either approve or deny this application as= far as the height variance. Then = they go to the Planning and Zoning Commission and they will definitely, by the regulation, (inaudible) and they’ll go through the whole thing with t= hem and they’ll check everything, and at that time I would advise, if you have any concerns, to go to the Zoning meeting at that time.

= ; Mr. Rafey: And if you stop by the Planning and Zoning Office I will give you a copy of the regulations that we have for telecommunication towers or facilities.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: They’ll be looki= ng at emissions, sound level I would think, if there are any issues with that and something else . . . . .

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: But what she did state= , as Scott was saying, the further away you are from that 118 feet, it’s nothing, there’s nothing emitted.&nb= sp; It’s almost like having your, do you have a dish on top of your house?

= ; Mr. Grahoski: No.<= /p>

= ; Mr. Stewart: You don’t have a= TV either, do you?

= ; Mr. Grahoski: I’ve got a TV. You’re being a wise guy.

= ; Mr. Griffith: We’re just carry= ing the microwave thing another step.

= ; Mr. Grahoski: You ought to come out,= walk right down to my house right now, there is no microwave in my house. We’re good cooks, we don’t need that stuff.

&= nbsp; Mr. Sarandrea: Any other ques= tions?

= ; MOTION: (Mr. Griffith, sec. Mr. Roger) to Close the Public Hearing for Application #793 = of Nextel Communications request for a 7 feet height variance to permit the installation of panel antennas on an existing smokestack at 20 Main Street, Oakville, CT.

&= nbsp; Discussion: None<= o:p>

&= nbsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

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Public Hearing Closed at 8:46 p.m.

Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, called a Recess at 8:46 p.m.

Respect= fully submitted,

&n= bsp;

Enrico Sarandrea, Chairman

Zoning = Board of Appeals

&nbs= p; _________________= _________________

&nbs= p; Lynn M. LaForme, Minutes Secretary