DTI STATES FALL ZONE FOR STEALTH 120 FT CELL TOWER IS 100 FT

In a document dated September 29, 2014 addressed to former Growth Management Principal Planner Deanna Freeman regarding the engineering report for the 120 ft cell tower, DTI clearly states that this tower is designed to have a FALL ZONE OF 100 FEET. However his project design does not include the clearance to meet this design standard.  Martin County, by permitting the application to move forward, seems to think this is acceptable.

BACKGROUND

According to Martin County Codes Division 18 which deals with telecommunications towers, a STEALTH tower is the only tower permitted in vulnerable and environmentally sensitive areas. See blog post Is this a Stealth tower? published on 3/23/15.

Stealth is only a cosmetic feature, it is about aesthetics. Unfortunately Martin County conflates stealth with safety. In some cases stealth installations do not present a hazard to public safety.  A small installation disguised as a cactus would not be a hazard to public safety if it should fall. 

Large facilities by their very nature present a hazard.  If they fall, they can hurt people, destroy property, and cause a tremendous amount of damage. Large facilities require a fall zone, even if they are stealth such as the 120 ft tree at Sugar Hill in Jensen Beach.

If this 120 ft tower is permitted to be labeled Stealth the critical safety features of setbacks and fall zones will be ignored.

MC Code 4.798.B Tower separations and fall zones states that a tower shall have a minimum setback that is relative to its height. From a residential area zoning district (such as the Yacht and Country Club and Mariner Cay) that distance is equal to 400 % of the tower height. And fall zone means the calculated area of the land surrounding a tower or any of its attachments which may be affected by debris should the tower structure collapse.

However MCC 798.C states that the above requirements shall not apply to a stealth tower. So in the project design there is no setback, no fall zone, and the tower is set next to a boat storage building. This building, which pre-dates 1971, stores scores of boats filled with gasoline. A fork lift goes in and out of the building all the time carrying boat with a gasoline engine, so if this proposal goes forward the fork lift driver must maneuver around a steel tower base with a precariously balanced boat to enter the storage shed.

We do not understand why Martin County is permitting this application to go forward.  DTI clearly states that this tower is designed to have a FALL ZONE OF 100 FEET and given the circumstances at the marina, the fall zone should be exactly as stated in the MCC and be 480 feet.

Why is Martin County so keen to ignore this very important safety feature?

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