LF_021617

LakeForestLeader.com news
the lake forest leader | February 16, 2017 | 7
Lake Forest Plan Commission
T-Mobile looks to add tower in LF
Igor Studenkov
Freelance Reporter
T-Mobile is looking to
build a new cellphone tower
in an area that doesn’t
currently allow any.
The Lake Forest Plan
Commission reviewed
proposed changes to the
City’s regulation on cellphone
towers, which were
suggested by the Wireless
Communications Ad Hoc
Task Force at its meeting
on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The changes were mainly
aimed at clearing up the
existing regulations and
putting more emphasis
on ensuring that any new
structures would fit with
the surrounding community
as much as possible.
While the commission
had some suggestions
for the proposal, they approved
most of it as is.
Richard Riley, head of
Wireless & Broadcasting
Citing Advisors LLC consulting
company, asked
the commission what legal
steps he would need to
take to put up a new tower
for his client, T-Mobile.
The company is looking to
fill a hole in its Lake Forest
coverage by putting a
tower at the intersection
of Waukegan and Everett
roads.
The changes were part
of the Plan Commission’s
ongoing effort to review
every part of the Lake Forest
zoning code. Catherine
Czerniak, the City’s director
of community development,
explained while this
part of the code was relatively
recent, many zoning
regulations haven’t been
updated in decades.
Most of the proposed
changes were designed to
clean up procedures and
clear up aspects of the law
that the ad hoc task force
thought was ambiguous.
It proposed expanding the
“purpose” section, adding
provisions specifying that,
when making decisions
about the towers, the City
should consider whether
this would encourage
high-quality service, as
well as whether it would
have any adverse impact
on the community. That includes
“protecting health,
safety and welfare of the
community, and protecting
and preserving community
character and property values.”
The task force also revised
and expanded official
definitions, to clarify
what it saw as ambiguous
terminology, while updating
some technological
terms.
They proposed adding
language clarifying that all
of the current towers and
antennas wouldn’t be subject
to the new regulations,
as long as they’re regularly
maintained.
The approval process
language went through
some changes as well,
specifying that maintaining
the structure only
requires a building permit,
while building a new
structure in the overlay
district – an area where the
antennas and towers are
allowed – requires a Special
Use permit. Creating a
new overlay district would
require an amendment to
Lake Forest municipal
code, as well as a Special
Use permit and a building
permit. And, when considering
whether to grant the
amendment request, the
City would look at whether
it minimizes adverse
impact on property values
and the community’s visual
character. The regulations
would encourage
mobile providers to look
for sites that provide benefits
for public agencies and
community institutions.
The task force suggested
cleaning up the criteria
section, getting more
specific about what standards
the City would use
when considering building
permits, special use
permits and amendments.
Most notably, if a company
wants to build a new
tower, it has to show that
co-locating on the existing
structure isn’t feasible.
It would also clarify the
language regarding what
documents the applicants
should submit.
Finally, the task force
suggested adding language
that would require
the owner of the structure
or the property owner to
notify the City if the structure
has been abandoned.
It also requires to owners
to maintain the structures,
and make the structures
available for City inspections.
The changes the commissioners
suggested were
slight. Timothy Henry suggested
notifying owners
of towers and antennas of
their obligations under the
code. Commissioner Guy
Berg suggested the mobile
providers should be required
to provide coverage
maps for the areas around
Lake Forest, so that the
City has a better context.
Riley told the commission
that his client, T-Mobile,
was looking to build
a tower at the intersection
of Waukegan and Everett
roads because it has a
gap in coverage in the surrounding
area.
“It has to be centrally
located [relative] to the
existing sites in order to
complete the network,”
Riley said.
The intersection isn’t
in any overlay zone, so
Riley came to the meeting
to find out how he and
his client should go about
putting one in place. He
emphasized that he understood
the concerns about
appearances, sharing possible
tower designs that are
designed to be less towerlike,
such as a clock tower.
Czerniak said that T-
Mobile would be welcome
to apply for the amendment
and the Special Use
permit at the same time.
Berg said that, when
granting amendments, the
City should look at more
than just T-Mobile’s needs.
Instead, the City would
look at the needs of all carriers,
and create an overlay
district based on that.
Riley wasn’t comfortable
with making two
applications at the same
time, he would rather have
an overlay zone in place
first.
“We try to follow zoning
code whatever we can,” he
said. “I really believe defining
the overlay district
ahead of time is a way to
go.”
“I would suggest [to my
client] that we file after
the overlay district was
established, so I can give
my client guidance,” Riley
said.
The Plan Commission
then voted to accept the
recommendations, with
suggested changes.
According to Czerniak,
the proposed amendments
will now go to the City
attorney for review. Once
the review is complete, the
Plan Commission will vote
on whether to approve the
final version, which will
then be sent to the City
Council for final approval.
NFYN
From Page 6
THE GLENVIEW LANTERN
Vacant Bess lot could
expand parking options
The Glenview Village
Board considered an
amendment to the municipal
code that would
allow temporary downtown
parking in the former
Bess Hardware lot
during the board’s Feb. 7
meeting.
Glenview purchased
the vacant property, located
at 1850 Glenview
Road, on Jan. 25 with the
intent to resell by the send
of 2018. In the meantime,
Village staff recommends
establishing a two-hour
parking restriction until
the new owner commences
redevelopment.
The new temporary
parking would include the
main Bess lot and a small
zone along Depot Street on
the west side of the building,
adding 50 stalls to the
downtown area. The recommendation
would allow
parking for a maximum of
two hours between 8 a.m.-
6 p.m. from Monday-Saturday,
without any restrictions
after 6 p.m. during
those days or anytime on
Sundays.
The suggested restrictions
are consistent with
the current code for streets
and downtown parking in
the same area, including
Glenview Road, Prairie
Street, Church Street and
Dewes Street.
Trustees unanimously
approved the first reading
of the ordinance,
which will appear on the
consent agenda at the
board’s Tuesday, Feb. 21
meeting.
After the final consideration
and passage of
the ordinance, the Glenview
Police Department
will enforce the parking
restrictions through
warnings and tickets.
Parking will no longer be
available for the general
public once the property
is sold.
Reporting by Chris Pullam,
Contributing Editor. Full
story at GlenviewLantern.
com.