TO: ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION
FROM: BRAD JOHNSON, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
DATE: APRIL 24, 2024
SUBJECT:
Title
ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE PLAN REVIEW #22-A14, REVIEW OF PROPOSED 73-FOOT TALL STEEPLE TOWER TO SERVE AS A STEALTH WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITY FOR AT&T MOBILITY LOCATED AT 1700 NORTH TOWNE AVENUE (#22-SUDP09, A STAFF-LEVEL SPECIAL USE & DEVELOPMENT PERMIT REVIEW IS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS APPLICATION) - APPLICANT: EUKON GROUP, LLC ON BEHALF OF AT&T MOBILITY
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SUMMARY
The applicant has proposed a new 73-foot tall steeple tower to serve as a stealth wireless telecommunications facility for commercial use at the subject property on the east side of Towne Avenue, which is owned and occupied by Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church of Claremont. The tower is proposed to be located in an open grassy area to the east of the existing church building and to the west of the existing parking area. The proposed steeple tower has been designed to mimic the existing cross tower found at the front of the existing church building near Towne Avenue. Specifically, the top of the tower features the existing cross tower’s distinctive geometry, with one triangular form set within another larger triangular form, and a shorter cross on top of the tower. The tower has a square, 10-foot by 10-foot building footprint. The proposed facility’s antennas reach a maximum height of 57 feet above grade, which is consistent with other recently approved wireless facilities in the City, and is a height that is necessary to maximize the range of the wireless signal emitted by the facility. The additional height beyond 60 feet is only to achieve the geometric design that is consistent and compatible with the existing cross tower on the property. The site plan, elevation, and detail drawings are provided in Attachment B. Photo simulations showing existing and proposed conditions are provided in Attachment C.
The Claremont Municipal Code (CMC) requires that wireless telecommunications obtain architectural design review approval from the Architectural Commission, pursuant to CMC Section 16.300 - Architectural Review, and land use approval pursuant to CMC Section 16.306 - Special Use and Development Permit (SUDP), a staff-level approval. Staff finds that the proposed tower is well-designed, and effectively conceals the tower’s wireless equipment in a manner that will not detract from the use of the property nor the overall character of the neighborhood in which it is located. Staff finds that the proposed project satisfies all of the architectural design review criteria and that all of the required SUDP findings can be met. Should the Architectural Commission vote to approve the proposed design plans, staff intends to issue approval of the associated SUDP.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the Architectural Commission:
A. Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE PLAN REVIEW #22-A14, REVIEW OF PROPOSED 73-FOOT TALL STEEPLE TOWER TO SERVE AS A STEALTH WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITY FOR AT&T MOBILITY LOCATED AT 1700 NORTH TOWNE AVENUE - APPLICANT: EUKON GROUP, LLC ON BEHALF OF AT&T MOBILITY; and
B. Find that this item is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
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Alternatives to the Recommendation
In addition to the recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Continue the item for additional information.
B. Approve the project with additional or revised Conditions of Approval.
C. Express intent to deny the proposal, specifically identifying the review criteria of
Section 16.300.060.A of the Municipal Code that cannot be met and continue the item to May 15, 2024, for adoption of a denial resolution as all of the necessary findings cannot be met.
Background
The subject property is located on the east side of Towne Avenue between Cascade Place to the north and Syracuse Drive to the south. The large property has a total of 83,838 square feet (1.92 acres) and is owned and utilized by the Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church of Claremont. The property has a zoning designation of Residential Single Family (RS 10,000) and a corresponding General Plan Designation of Residential 6. Churches are permitted in the City’s residential zones with approval of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The property features multiple buildings that were first built in 1965 and include additions that were made in 1968, 1971, 1974, and 2001. The property also features large surface parking lots on the east, north, and south sides of the property to serve the church.
The Access Village Apartments abut the subject property to the north. Single-family residences are located on the west side of Towne Avenue across from the property. The rear yards of single-family residential properties abut the subject property to the south and west.
The CMC requires new wireless telecommunication facilities to obtain staff-level approval of a Special Use and Development Permit (SUDP) pursuant to CMC Section 16.100.040.C as well as architectural design review approval pursuant to CMC Section 16.300.030.B. The Architectural Commission is tasked with reviewing the architectural design of the proposed tower. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sets standards for radio frequency (RF) emissions generated by wireless telecommunication facilities. Federal law prohibits the City from establishing its own standards for RF emissions or for denying wireless facilities based on health concerns. It is within the City’s purview to ensure that the proposed project meets the required findings and standards for wireless telecommunication facilities set forth in CMC Section 16.100.040 (staff), that the project meets the SUDP findings set forth in CMC Section 16.306.040 (staff), and that the project satisfies meets the architectural and site plan review criteria set forth in CMC 16.300.060 (Architectural Commission).
Project Description
The applicant, Eukon Group, LLC, has proposed a new 73-foot tall steeple to serve as a wireless telecommunications facility for AT&T Mobility. The tower would house 20 panel antennas, 48 Remote Radio Units (RRU), and two surge suppression systems, along with other minor equipment. The proposed facility would address an existing gap in cell phone (LTE) service that currently exists in an area roughly bounded by Foothill Boulevard to the south, the Foothill Freeway to the north, Mountain Avenue to the east, and the Thompson Creek flood control channel to the west, based on wireless service propagation maps provided by the applicant. The tower has a square footprint, with dimensions of 10 feet by 10 feet. The tower is proposed to be located in an existing grassy area between the church building to the west and a surface parking lot to the east. The proposed tower would be located over 75 feet away from the southern property line, over 60 feet away from the rear property line, over 150 feet away from the northern property line, and over 275 feet away from the front (Towne Avenue) property line.
Ground-mounted equipment would be located inside the 100-square-foot tower, obviating the need for an equipment enclosure around the base of the tower. Access to the ground-mounted equipment would be provided via a 3-foot-wide access door on the south side of the tower, and an 8-foot-wide double door on the north side of the tower. Low shrubs would be planted around the base of the tower to screen the doors and soften the appearance of the tower’s base. Two antenna arrays would be located within the body of the tower. The first would be 42 feet above grade and would have eight 8-foot-tall panel antennas. The second would be located 53 feet above grade and would contain four 8-foot-tall panel antennas along with eight air antennas that are 2’-7” in height. The top of the highest antenna would be 57 feet above grade.
Staff worked with the applicant to revise the design of the proposed tower from what was originally submitted to what is currently presented for review by the Architectural Commission. Generally, staff works with wireless applicants to achieve a design that has a minimal adverse visual impact on its surroundings. In the case of concealed wireless facilities such as the proposed steeple tower (as opposed to something like a concealed mono-pine or mono-eucalyptus), staff and the applicant look to existing structures on the property to key off notable design features that exist. In the case of the Good Shepherd church property, the main church building, with its angular, 48-foot-tall cross tower and distinctive geometry, serves as the most distinguishing architectural feature the design of the proposed tower could key off of. Staff directed the applicant to revise the initial design to mimic the form of the existing cross tower, with its two triangular forms, one nested inside the other, below a slender cross. After several iterations, the applicant presented the current design, which staff finds to appropriately relate to the existing architecture on the property so as to give the impression that the tower was always part of the church property’s architecture.
The entirety of the proposed tower would be textured and painted to match the beige color of the main church building. The tower would have a steel frame construction clad with EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish System) panels. The portions of the tower where the antennas are located would feature EIFS panels with RF-transparent fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) material and EIFS. The lower half of the tower would be relatively unadorned, consistent with the existing cross tower attached to the church building. The top of the tower is designed to resemble the top of the existing cross tower, albeit in a more compressed manner, given the slender character of the existing cross tower. To accomplish this, the top of the new tower features three interlocking triangular forms below a cross set at the apex of the highest triangle. The top of the first triangle would extend from the main body of the tower, reaching a height of 61 feet. 3’-5” above the apex of the first triangle is the bottom of the second triangular form, which also extends from the main body of the 10-foot-wide square tower, but is open, unlike the rest of the tower below. The members of the second triangular form would also extend downwards along the east- and west-facing edges of the tower to approximately 38 feet above grade. These elements would project six inches from the face of the tower, adding dimensionality and allowing for subtle shadow lines as sunlight hits the structure. This design feature further serves the goal of relating the design of the proposed tower that that of the existing tower on the site.
The planes that create the second triangular form would be 1-foot-wide, 6-inches thicker than the planes that create the next triangular form above, establishing a visual hierarchy moving up the top of the tower. The base of the third triangular form would be nested inside the open space created between the two triangles below, while its top would project above the triangular form below, reaching a height of 69 feet above grade. The topmost triangular form would be 6’-9” in width (from east to west), narrower than the 10-foot-wide main tower body. Similarly, the design leaves an open space between the apex of the topmost triangular form and the one below. The slanted members of all three triangular forms maintain the same pitch, making them parallel to each other. A 4-foot-tall cross would be installed at the apex of the topmost triangular form to reach the tower’s maximum height of 73 feet. Overall, the decorative elements at the top of the tower that make it closely resemble the existing cross tower extend 16 feet above the top of the highest antenna. The site plan, elevation, and detail drawings are provided in Attachment B. Photo simulations showing existing and proposed conditions are provided in Attachment C.
All of the commercial wireless telecommunication facilities approved in the recent past in Claremont reach a maximum height of approximately 60 feet. Wireless service providers indicate that antennas must be located high above the ground in order to maximize the range of the signal the facility’s antennas emit. With the precedent set by other wireless towers, City staff allowed for the proposed tower’s decorative elements to exceed 60 feet in height, given that the open design of the top of the tower would not be able to conceal the facility’s antennas. Staff felt this was appropriate in order to accomplish a tower design that was consistent with existing architecture on the site and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood context. Attachment B (Sheet A-1) calls out the height of trees on and in the vicinity of the subject site, showing a number of mature trees with heights in excess of 40 feet that can serve as a backdrop to mask the silhouette of the proposed tower.
Special Use and Development Permit Findings
As noted earlier in this report, new wireless telecommunication facilities are required to obtain architectural design review approval as well as approval of an SUDP. The five required findings for an SUDP are set forth in CMC Section 16.306.040. They require that staff find that the property is adequate in size and shape to accommodate the proposed development and that the streets that serve the property are adequate in size and shape to support the traffic generated by the proposed use. The remaining findings require that staff find that the project is compatible with surrounding land uses and will not negatively affect or be injurious to such uses. Additionally, they require that staff find that the project will not have impacts on the privacy of surrounding properties and that it will not have negative impacts in terms of public health and safety. Staff believes that the project meets all of the required SUDP findings. As noted in this report, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sets standards for RF emissions generated by wireless telecommunication facilities. Federal law prohibits the City from establishing its own standards for RF emissions or for denying wireless facilities based on health concerns regarding a facility’s emissions. When a facility complies with FCC regulations, local governments are limited in the extent to which they can implement standards for the placement and construction of wireless services facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of RF emissions. CMC Chapter 16.100 - Antennas and Wireless Communication Facilities includes both height and location standards for commercial wireless facilities that comply with Federal law. CMC Section 16.100.E.5 requires that ground-mounted wireless facilities be located more than 100 feet from any existing residential structure. The proposed tower is located no closer than 110’-6” to any residential structure (Attachment B, Sheet A-1).
Basis for Recommendation
The proposed church steeple tower satisfies then the intent of the CMC’s regulations for the architectural design of wireless telecommunications facilities in that it has been designed to have the smallest visual impact such a large structure can have. The proposed tower features a straightforward design that directly keys off of the design of the most analogous existing architecture on the site (cross tower) to create a structure that completely conceals the facility’s antennas in a manner that will not degrade over time (as is the case for faux tree facilities such as mono-pines) and harmonizes well with the development on the existing church site.
Staff also finds that all of the required SUDP findings can be made for the proposed project. Should the Architectural Commission approve the design of the proposed wireless facility, staff will issue approval of the SUDP request the following day and will send notice of the SUDP and architectural design review approval to property owners within a 300-foot radius of the subject property as required by the CMC.
CEQA REVIEW
The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15303(e) - Class 3 for new construction or conversion of small structures in that the project consists of the construction of a new structure that is accessory to an existing use at the subject property, one where all public services and utilities are available. Approval of the proposed project would not result in the removal of mature trees located at the property and would not result in an increase in traffic to and from the site. Further, the project would not result in impacts to biological or archeological resources, given the site’s location in a developed area.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
This item has been noticed through the regular agenda notification process. Copies of the submitted plans are being held at the Public Counter at City Hall for review.
Notice of this meeting was mailed to properties in the 500-foot radius of the subject property on April 11, 2024. A copy of this report has been sent to the applicant, the project architect, and other interested parties.
Submitted by: Reviewed by:
Brad Johnson Christopher Veirs
Community Development Director Principal Planner
Prepared by:
Nikola Hlady
Senior Planner
Attachments:
A - Draft Resolution
B - Site Plan, Elevations, and Details
C - Photo Simulations