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01/25/2010: "Council & Public Hears From Wireless Providers"

(Council Chair Fralick poses a question to wireless experts)

A solid cross-section of the public from the three main islands listened to and asked questions last Friday as four representatives of the wireless industry sat on a workshop panel.

A representative of the Northwest Wireless Association, attorney Richard Busch, used the inevitable PowerPoint report to outline the current status of the industry, what wireless transmitters can look like, and more to the point, why San Juan County regulations disinvite an investment in improving service in the county.

Councilman Bob Myhr asked if the industry had analyzed the current county code to see if there were “aspects of the code that were good to have.”



Busch said “they” (the wireless industry) had analyzed the current code and they found eight main areas that “make it problematic for the industry” to obtain the necessary permits to not only install new utilities, but even to upgrade the existing systems with new technology.

In no special order, he said the problematic sections of the county code included the following:

• 500’ setback from residential property (ex, urban growth and activity center) Busch said this limited new installations to 20 acre or larger parcels.

• 500’ setback form property line (ex. Mt. Constitution or collocation on building in urban growth or activity center) Again, same problem of not being able to install due to setbacks that are unheard of in the rest of the country

• 50’ setback from facility for non-residential or mixed-use building, While the setback is less in commercial and urban areas, the total is again an impractical distance

• Cell site suitability map excludes most large parcels of land, including DNR land While much of San Juan County is DNR land, none of it can be used, and this also negates lucrative contracts with DNR that helps fund education in the state.

• Monopole can’t exceed 10’ above average tree height This results in many monopoles, one for each company, as opposed to collocating on one pole, since a greater distance is required between each unit

• Screen trees 150 foot radius Same problem as with the other setbacks, it is greater than normal or required to provide both service and safety.

• Underground vaults for equipment cabinets Expensive due to rock and high water tables

• Collocating is treated as a new site application. The expense of obtaining approval for one installation, has to be repeated again simply to allow the collocation for a new company to use the same site

Busch said the industry had worked on a general model code that could be used in addition to any existing code, which addresses design criteria, and meeting the specific design requirement would allow an application to be a permitted use.

Under some direct questioning from both the public and the council members, all four of the wireless experts said while there can be many reasons for “dead zones” in the county, the prohibitive regulations have discouraged providers from even making application.

He said “we learned early on years ago that it is very difficult to get a site permit here, so they ( the industry) just stopped developing…I have not seen any activity being planned up here because it is so hard” to obtain a permit.

Patty Miller of Orcas and Dave Cable had set up the workshop, and Miller asked if the industry would work together with the County as they drafted regulations that would protect the values of San Juan County residents while allowing better wireless coverage.

Panel member Michael van Eckhardt of AT&T Mobility responded “it is already happening in other places.” He sad the industry does work with many jurisdictions to review and make technical suggestions on how to improve coverage without large towers and to do so.

So many members of the County Council wanted to attend the work session on how wireless communication can be improved in the county, and what it would look like, that the Council had to hold their own special meeting, at the meeting, so they could attend without violating the open meetings act.

Council members Gene Knapp and Rich Fralick from Orcas and Bob Myhr from Lopez made the trip over for the meeting, but San Juan Island was represented only by Rich Peterson; with council members Lovel Pratt and Howard Rosenfeld not in attendance.