11/04/2008: "Council Splits Vote On Cell Phone Coverage"

Councilman Rich Peterson made a request to the county council to allow a committee working on improving cell phone coverage to proceed in drafting a new ordinance.

Receiving the votes needed to proceed almost did not happen, with Lichter stating he had read a study that “there is danger” from cell towers; and Myhr expressing concerns the process was moving too fast.

After much discussion, Councilman Gene Knapp said “most of the time things are dragging on too long, and here Rich and his committee have done an outstanding job, brought to us (a report) in the time that we asked for, and we are complaining because they did such a good job.”

Knapp then made a motion to allow the cell phone committee to move forward in drafting an ordinance to improve cell phone coverage in the county. The motion passed after much discussion, with Myhr and Lichter at first not voting for or against, and then after being pushed, decided to abstain from voting.

Improving cell phone coverage in San Juan County was one of the important issues the County Council identified in their first Council Retreat in 2007, and then again in 2008. But in spite of a number of requests from Public Works, the Sheriff, fire chiefs and EMTs, the council failed to address the problem.

That is, until Councilman Rich Peterson brought up the subject as another example of the council letting things slide. The Council response was to make Peterson the chair of a subcommittee charged with bringing back recommendations. ( Related story)

Peterson has done just that. Within a matter of a few weeks he brought together a citizens committee that after three meetings is ready to finalize their recommendations, and submit a draft ordinance for full Council review and discussion.

Peterson asked the Council to approve the moving of the existing regulations from a sub-area plan, into the county code, and to vote to continue the process of writing a draft ordinance. Councilman Bob Myhr was not in favor, and Councilman Alan Lichter soon joined in speaking against the request.

The problem is a simple one for the County. There are “dead spots” in the County where cell phones simply do not work. The issue is one of safety for county personnel, be they work crews or first responders being able to receive 911 calls. The Council has said the reasons to fix the problem are not driven by the desire of the public to make personal calls; but obviously this would be a side benefit.

The problem for the cell phone providers is a complex one. When the County wrote the current regulations they were put into a sub-area plan, which means it is difficult and time consuming to make changes in the regulations; regulations that are seen by some to be too restrictive.

The second problem is the conditional use permit that is required, which provides no clear and predictive criteria for the providers. The Task Force stated goal is to craft the protections necessary to address the concerns of the public, while providing a set of requirements that must be met by a provider. This allows an applicant to know in advance what they may, or may not do, without subjective interpretations.

For the public, this also will allow a quick fix if it is found there are loopholes in the regulations, since it will require a simple public hearing and a vote by the council to make necessary changes to the ordinance to tighten it up

Those who were around when the regulations were drafted recall one of the goals was to make the regulations restrictive and unpredictable. This was seen as a way to discourage providers from coming into the county. Councilman Kevin Ranker said he has been told the burdensome restrictions were an attempt to get around the federal law that prohibits banning cell towers based on health concerns.

And there were also concerns that large unsightly towers with multiple guy wires and blinking lights might pop up throughout the islands. The question asked then -and today- is “Do you want a big ugly blinking tower next to your house?”.

That was then, and many of the concerns remain. Members of the SJC Cell Phone Task Force told the Council the reasons for those fears have changed. There is now cooperation between the providers so that facilities and antennas are shared -thus reducing the number of them- and the technology has progressed beyond the need for the old radio style antennas.

With the split vote, the task force will now work on completion of a draft set of regulations that will begin the full public review, comment, modification, and perhaps a final set of public hearings; that is, if the council decides to move forward with a new set of regulations.