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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFTC RAM'S CROSSING, WTE (VERIZON) - BASIC DEVELOPMENT REVIEW - BDR180027 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - PLANNING OBJECTIVESLRK CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS August 13, 2018 Wireless-Telecommunications Equipment (Co-location) BDR Review: Planning Objectives FTC Rams Crossing located at 808 West Prospect Street, Parcel ID# 9714320001 OVERVIEW: My client, Verizon Wireless, wishes to submit an application for Wireless-Telecommunications Equipment that will be located on top of a three-story building along West Prospect Street and the south side of Colorado State University. The installation of this new equipment will provide critical 4G-LTE voice and data services to a location with increasingly higher pedestrian and vehicular traffic providing an immediate benefit to the general public, drivers along Prospect Street, emergency services, residents, employees, and students who attend the university. COVERAGE VS CAPACITY: Coverage and/or capacity deficiencies are the two main drivers that prompt the need for a new wireless communications facility (WCF). Most WCF provide a mixture of both capacity and coverage for the benefit of the end user. Coverage describes the existence or lack of wireless service in an area. The request for improved service often comes from our customers or emergency services personnel that have no service or poor service. Coverage used to refer to the ability to make or place a call in vehicles, however, as usage patterns have shifted, coverage is now determined based on whether or not sufficient WCF exist to provide a reliable signal inside of buildings and residential areas, as well. Historically, when wireless was still in its infancy, coverage was the primary means to measure the effectiveness of the network in a given area. Coverage is best shown via coverage maps. RF engineers use tools that take into account terrain, vegetation, building types, and WCF specifics to model the existing coverage and prediction what we expect to see with the addition of a proposed WCF. Coverage also changes depending on which frequencies are used. Most phones today use 3G at 800 MHZ or 4G at 700 MHz spectrum which are considered low frequencies. Low frequencies can travel further distances than then the higher 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz frequencies now being employed due to increased capacity demands. Operating at higher frequencies makes it necessary for carriers to install substantially more wireless facilities to achieve the same coverage as one tower operating on the lower frequencies. Capacity, on the other hand, is the metric used to determine if sufficient wireless resources exist and is now the primary means to measure how a community’s wireless needs are being addressed. “Five bars” no longer means guaranteed coverage and capacity because each WCF has a limited amount of resources to handle voice calls, data connections and data volume. When these limits are reached and the WCF becomes overloaded (meaning there is more demand than signal to service it), the user experience quickly degrades preventing customers from making/receiving calls or getting applications LRK CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS to run. A WCF short on capacity could also make internet connections time out or delay information to emergency response personnel. Capacity is the amount of resources that a WCF has to service customer demand. Verizon utilizes sophisticated programs and customer feedback to monitor current usage trends and to forecast future needs. Because it takes an average of 2-3 years to complete a WCF, we have to start the process of adding a new WCF several years in advance of when the WCF will be needed, although in most cases, we can already see the affects of over demand in certain areas. A good capacity WCF needs to be in the center of a user population which insures that traffic is evenly distributed around the WCF. A typical WCF is configured into three sectors (like a pie cut into three pieces), with each slice (sector) having 33% of the WCF resources. If one sector is under-utilized, it’s resources can not necessarily be diverted to another sector. Therefore, optimal performance is only obtained when all three sectors have an even traffic distribution. WIRELESS DATA GROWTH: Each year Verizon sees large increases in how much data its customers need. As the resolution of the pictures we send increases, the quality of the video we watch improves and the complexity of the applications grow, we commonly see tremendous growth year-over-year. Machine to Machine communications will also increase the data burden on wireless networks, as over the next five (5) years more and more services that improve our safety and make our lives easier will be available over the wireless infrastructure , such as: - Cars that notify 911 when an airbag deploys. - “Driverless” cars needing traffic data and maps to reach your destination quickly - Medical monitors that will alert us should a loved one neglect taking their prescription drugs. - Home alarms that notify you when your child arrives home from school. - Smart street lights that notify the city when they are not working. - City garbage cans that let people know when they need to be emptied. - Tracking watches will aid in finding lost Alzheimer patients. SITE OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this project is to improve capacity around the Sonny Lubick Field at Colorado State Stadium specifically between S Shields St and S Mason St, Hughes Way and Rolland Moore Dr. We chose this location since it's a very busy area with the new stadium and all the new and old residential and commercial establishments nearby that affect service. Our engineering data shows that this area is experiencing 4G data overloads. This is depicted in Exhibit A. The existing CSU East site with its coverage area shown in Red in Exhibit B needs to have some of the area it covers moved onto another site to allow it to keep performing well. This site does a great job of moving commercial traffic onto a more localized site, better able to serve the neighborhood wireless users including many of whom reside south of the building. LRK CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS DESIGN: Specifically, my client proposes the installation of the following equipment: • (16) Antennas, (16) Remote Radio Heads (RRHs), and (4) Over-Voltage Protection Units (OVPs) located behind a combination of existing parapets and 2 new screen concealments designed to match the architectural elements closest to them. • The first equipment concealment would be installed near the west side of the building in the section noted as EW1 in the Final Development Plan for “The Slab Property”. This section of the building has 4” nominal brick veneer (brownish red). Verizon intends to refer to those same architectural elevations to match the exact brick height, pattern, and color making the concealment appear as one continuous section of the building. • The second equipment concealment would be installed in the southeast corner of the building in the section noted as EW4 in the Final Development Plan for “The Slab Property”. This section of the building has cement fiber horizontal lap siding (blue-gray) with smooth texture and 6” exposure. Verizon intends to refer to those same architectural elevations to match the exact siding height, pattern, and color making the concealment appear as one continuous section of the building. • (2) Equipment Cabinets installed on the rooftop in the center of the building which will not be visible from street view because of existing and taller architectural elements. • Cabling from the proposed equipment cabinets to the proposed antennas within new cable trays placed along the rooftop membrane. • A 2’ X 3’ underground fiber optic cable vault located near the south driveway entrance. The vault is located in an existing landscape bed which will not disturb any existing trees or plants. This is where the local fiber carrier will tie into via separate ROW permits. • Underground fiber optic cables from the new vault to the building routed along the east side of the driveway to the north side of the building, up the exterior of the building to the roof in a conduit painted to match the building exterior, and along the rooftop to the previously noted equipment cabinets. • Electric services will be pulled from the existing electric room in the building. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN & WIRELESS CODE: In accordance with the Communications and Technology section of the City Comprehensive Plan, this new wireless equipment will provide citizens access to high-quality, reliable wireless service in a part of the city that faces significant coverage and capacity demands. Access to this improved service will continue to be a critical component for community interactions as well as economic growth now that LRK CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS 4G-LTE has become widely utilized and as the nation begins to transition into 5G capabilities that will usher in new smart city technologies. Furthermore, this design carefully took into consideration and meets the standards as outlined in Paragraph C Standards of Chapter 3.8.13 of the Municipal Code. Specifically, the proposed design does not exceed the height allowance, provides screening of proposed equipment through custom designed concealments, and relies on existing building textures, colors, and patterns for the concealments to be architecturally compatible. While the proposed concealments are not located in the center of the building due to equipment interference, Verizon has included concealments to blend in seamlessly with the existing building so that the intent of the code for setbacks is equal to or better as a result of this modification. SUMMARY: Verizon Wireless wishes to submit an application for Wireless-Telecommunications Equipment that will be located on top of a three-story building along West Prospect Street and the south side of Colorado State University. Verizon has issued this project based on capacity projections, actual use, and existing site thresholds. This is better depicted in Exhibit A enclosed. However, once this project is completed the installation of this new equipment will provide critical 4G-LTE voice and data services setting up Fort Collins and the CSU campus for much improved coverage and capacity as better demonstrated in Exhibit B. Verizon understands that this particular building has been in the spotlight in the past for various development concerns. This area has also seen other seen much higher developments obtain approval as the neighborhood continues to transition into the high density mixed-use district that it’s been designated. It’s important to note that his design does not increase the overall building height and uses similar patterns that promote the façade variation standards. Based on this history and knowledge of the neighborhood, Verizon will custom design this installation to utilize materials, textures, and color schemes from the Final Development Plan for “The Slab Property” with the intent to maintain architectural compatibility and integrity. While it is not common, I would gladly like to setup a site visit between the assigned planner, property owner, architect of record, Verizon Radio Frequency Engineer, and Verizon Construction Engineer so that we can walk through the design together. The locations of the proposed equipment were chosen for various, yet important reasons, and I believe that a site visit can help explain our intent with this site. Further, our architect along with the help of our custom concealment experts can help explain how this proposed design will seamlessly blend in with already present materials, patterns, and themes. I look forward to working with your department as Verizon Wireless continues to invest in reliable, fast, and strong wireless services in Fort Collins. Sincerely, Ryan Sagar Senior Site Acquisition Consultant, LRK Consulting LLC 350 S Jackson St, Unit 127, Denver, CO 80209 mrsagar45@gmail.com | 219-477-0099 LRK CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS EXHIBIT A: Summary: The existing CSU East communications site cannot support the data traffic in the large area it covers and is already frequently overloaded as shown above by the blue use line rising above the red exhaustion threshold. When this occurs 4G data speeds slow to unacceptable levels. The graph above shows ASEU (Average Schedule Eligible Users) which is a measurement of the number of users that this sector currently serves. The blue line shows the daily data use on this sector of the wireless facility site. The yellow line is a projection based on the last years usage to show when we expect to see our customers begin to see their data speeds begin to slow down. The red line is the limit where the sector becomes exhausted and service starts to degrade. The point in time where we see the yellow line go above the red line is when we will start seeing service begin to degrade. Service will quickly degrade after that point as usage continues to grow. To aid in resolving this, we ask to add FTC Rams Crossing communications facility as proposed to improve wireless service capacity in this area by offloading commercial traffic from this overloaded CSU East sector with the proposed site. LRK CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS EXHIBIT B: SUMMARY: The proposed site footprint on the right will improve both capacity and coverage in the highlighted area. The plots above show the best servers or sectors that cover this area with each sector shown in a different color. The left map shows what sectors currently cover this area with the overloaded sector showing in Red. The right map shows the area this new site will cover in. This project will improve service by providing necessary capacity to support the growth we are seeing in 4G data traffic. The Green area around the proposed site will see much better service. If the site is not built the area in red on the left map will see data speeds and new 4G voice service start to quickly degrade as the site overloads.