Application Cover Letter 1-12-07
.
~ n nI,tj[ol)il~n
Get 1110Y'e fY'o111 lift'
January 12,2007
Sharmeen AI-Jaff
City of Chanhassen
7700 Market Blvd
7700 Box 147
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Re: Conditional Use Permit Application for a Telecommunications Facility to be Located
near 10,000 Great Plains Blvd, Chaska, Minnesota
Dear Sharmeen AI-JatT,
.
I am submitting this letter on behalf ofT-Mobile USA, which is applying for a
Conditional Use Permit for its planned construction, operation, and maintenance of a
communications tower facility to be located near 10,000 Great Plains Blvd, Chaska, MN
55318. This letter provides a general overview of the project, including its need and its
design.
I. Contact Information
Applicant
T-Mobile USA
8000 West 78th Street
Suite 400
Edina, MN 55439
Agent for Applicant
Steve Edwards
501 50th Street West
Minneapolis, MN 55419
Property Owner
Donald Halla
10,000 Great Plains Blvd
Chaska, MN 55318
.
Agent for Property Owner
Same as Applicant
.
II. Location and Description of the Property
The subject of the Conditional Use Permit application (the "Subject Property") is located
near 10,000 Great Plains Blvd, Chaska, Minnesota. The plat narne is Halla Maryanna
Addition. The Subject Property is zoned Agricultural Estate District. The property is
located west of Great Plains Blvd and north of Creek wood Drive.
III. Proposed Use
T-Mobile USA proposes erecting a 145' monopole to enhance T-Mobile's digital
network nationwide and particularly, in the area of southern Chanhassen. Specifically, T-
Mobile seeks to irnprove coverage along Pioneer Trail (Hwy 14), Flying Cloud Drive
(Hwy 212) and Great Plains Blvd (Hwy 101) for current and future T -Mobile subscribers.
In addition, T-Mobile USA intends to solicit other telecommunications carriers to locate
their equiprnent on the proposed monopole. This will reduce the need for other towers in
the area, while providing other carriers sufficient height on the proposed monopole to
enhance their networks. Cingular Wireless has subrnitted a collocation application and
requested to be added to T -Mobile's zoning drawings. I believe they are prepared to
install on the tower once approved and an agreement has been worked out for their
ground equipment.
.
IV.
Proposed Tower
The overall height of the proposed monopole will be 145' feet with a 4-foot lightning rod.
A monopole is a single shaft tower with no guyed wires, pursuant to zoning regulations;
the monopole will be able to accommodate four (4) carriers. T -Mobile will have
equipment at the base ofthe monopole (the "Facility"). The equipment will be enclosed
by a six-foot chain link fence, with three (3) strands of barbed wire around the top for
protection. There will be no advertising on the tower. Once the tower is constructed,
vehicles will visit the site for maintenance purposes approximately once a month. The
proposed Facility will be unmanned, and it will operate continuously. No sewer or water
service is required for operation of the tower.
V. Why and How This Location was Chosen
A. Process for Developing a Site
1fT-Mobile believes that there may be a need to increase coverage in a particular area, its
Radio Frequency (RF) Engineers first generate propagation studies using certain
predication tools to determine whether there is a need for a cellular site in a specific area
and how effectively a proposed cell site would provide coverage to a certain area.
.
If, based on the propagation study, T-Mobile's RF engineers determine that there is a
need for a new site, the RF engineers next identifies a Search Ring. A Search Ring is a
geographic area in which potential sites may be located to effectuate the maximum
amount of coverage in a service-poor area. RF Engineers identify a Search Ring based
on several criteria, including coverage and capacity needs, topography, and locations of
other T-Mobile sites.
.
After a Search Ring is identified, T -Mobile employs a site acquisition specialist to locate
possible sites within the Search Ring. Typically, a site acquisition specialist first looks
for potential collocation sites within the Search Rings, in order to minimize the cost of
new construction and to meet the spirit and intent of local regulations that encourage
collocation in order to minimize the number of towers in ajurisdiction. Ifno suitable
collocation sites can be identified within the Search Ring, the site acquisition specialist
next looks at options for building a new tower which would meet the local regulations
and provide the best location for future collocators, while also providing T -Mobile with
the coverage and capacity needed in the area
B. Technical Reason for Developing a Site
To address coverage needs, RF engineers separate the entire network into geographic
cells or coverage areas. The size of each cell varies depends on demographics, terrain,
and antenna limitations. At the center of each existing cell is a Base Transceiver Station
(BTS). The BTS consists of the antennas, transmitters, receivers, power amplifiers, and
signal processing hardware. Basically, the BTS is a network component that provides the
connection between a user's rnobile handset and either another mobile user's handset or
the traditional wired network system in our homes and businesses.
.
Wireless phones generally need to "see" a cell site for proper transmission and reception.
Thus, all ofthese technologies are governed by line-of-sight limitations. The distance
between geographic cell sites differs greatly depending on the demographics. For
instance, in highly populated areas, cell sites rnay need to be as close together as I/Sth ofa
rnile; whereas in rural areas, the sites may be as much as 5 miles apart because a given
site can handle a finite number of calls during peak hours. Thus, the more dense the
surrounding population, the smaller the service area will be for a single site. Other
factors to be considered in system design are the terrain, elevation, ground clutter, and
foliage.
C. Reason for Selecting the Subject Property near 10,000 Great Plains
Blvd
After generating a propagation study, T -Mobile's RF engineers identified a coverage and
capacity need in the Great Plains Blvd area in November of2005. The RF engineers then
identified a Search Ring that would improve the coverage, assuming a suitable location
could be identified. T-Mobile next asked a site acquisition agent to search the area for
existing towers that could be utilized for collocation. When none were found, T -Mobile
detennined that a new tower would have to be built to provide coverage and capacity to
the area The location near 10,000 Great Plains Blvd was selected as the best location to
meet the regulations of the City of Chanhassen and provide the best location for future
collocators, while also providing T-Mobile with the coverage and capacity need in the
area.
D. Consumer and Wireless Technology
.
Today, there are more then 205 million wireless subscribers in the United States
compared to just 24 million in 1994. Customers are taking advantage of cutting-edge
wireless content and service that help people stay connected to family and friends. Many
people are dropping their wire line phones altogether and using their wireless devices
.
exclusively. Wireless phones and data devices allow consumers to do so much rnore then
ever before. In addition to being vital personal and public safety tools, many wireless
devices can new be used to send and receive e-mail and text messages, make purchase
and even track a user's location during an emergency. While T-Mobile and other
wireless companies spend billions of dollars each year to improve wireless network
quality and provide the best possible service, there is more work to be done and
challenging obstacles to overcome. Coverage area must be improved and network
capacity expanded to handle the growing number of calls and wireless data usage. T-
Mobile and other cornpanies are working to improve services where consumers are
increasingly using their phone and data devices - at home and in their neighborhoods.
E. Conclusion
Since T -Mobile began developing its network in Minnesota in 1996, cell phones have
become a necessity, and in recent years have began employ a growing number of
applications, such as text messaging PDAs, email, photos, and video clips. With this new
growth, the need for new telecommunication sites has grown as well. If approved, the
proposed tower to be located near 10,000 Great Plains Blvd will provide the Great Plains
Blvd area with the quality of service T-Mobile's customers have come expect.
.
Should you have any additional questions or if I can be of any assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
.i:~i ---
Site Acquisition Specialist
T-Mobile USA
612-702-5065
.