Ordinance doesn’t affect Compass building project
OCEAN CITY — After consistent pressure from neighbors upset about cell phone towers planned for the roof of a commercial building at 34th Street and Haven Avenue, Ocean City Council unanimously approved a two-part resolution Thursday evening to limit future communication towers’ placement.
The change to the city’s zoning laws, which would have to go before the Planning Board for a consistency review, would have no effect on the project at the Compass Building.
That project, proposed by Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, seeks to install rooftop telecommunications antennae and supporting equipment on the building at 3337-39 Haven Ave. that faces 34th Street. Neighbors brought their objections first to the Planning Board and then to City Council, fearing harm from radio frequency waves from towers that are close to residential homes and at second-story height. Most cell phone towers are 50 to 200 feet high.
The Planning Board has yet to rule on the application.
City solicitor Dorothy McCrosson explained there are two parts of the ordinance. The first provides that any proposed wireless communications towers be permitted only on city-owned property. The second is any new wireless facilities would be permitted only on existing utility poles. She said the ordinance includes a lengthy procedure for a carrier to get permission to place equipment on poles.
Answering questions from members of council, McCrosson said the city would have the ability to decline permit applications if they don’t comply with the new ordinance, but it would not affect the permit application for the Compass Building.
McCrosson explained that the law says an applicant is entitled to rely on the rules in effect as of the date an application is filed, that the changes would not have an impact on the Compass Building permit application.
She agreed with Council Vice President Karen Bergman that this would stop future problems of that sort from arising.
Responding to Councilman Terry Crowley Jr., the solicitor said there are various specifications that have to be met, but the idea is to permit the facilities because the city needs the cell phone service while putting controls on where they can be located.
After questions from Councilmen Jody Levchuk and Bobby Barr, she said if there are applications already in the works, the law wouldn’t block them but it would limit them to their original applications. An application would not allow a project to add additional cell phone towers to a project unless that was part of what they applied for in the first place. If an application was for two antennae and had a provision to add two more, that would be permissible, but if the application was only for the two antennae, they would not be allowed to expand.
Bergman made the motion to approve the ordinance on first reading with Barr seconding. It was approved unanimously. A second reading and public hearing are scheduled for May 11.
The Planning Board has tabled the Compass Building permit application more than once, seeking more information about the potential effects of radio frequency waves on neighbors’ health. The application was supposed to be heard April 5 but it was again tabled.
Current zoning allows cell phone towers and equipment in that location. The permit application at the Compass Building seeks approval only on minor site plan issues.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff