LAKE COUNTY - The Board of Supervisors turned down an appeal Tuesday to stop a cell phone tower installation near Upper Lake, then immediately placed a temporary moratorium on other wireless communications facilities until the county can reconsider its zoning ordinance.
The appeal, filed by Upper Lake resident, Cheryl Little Deer, had disputed the Planning Commission's approval of a US Cellular cell tower near Upper Lake along Highway 20.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said she couldn't support all of the conclusions in the 10-page finding of fact prepared by County Counsel Anita Grant.
Supervisor Rob Brown said the board had an exhaustive conversation in closed session about the appeal and that they tried to take into account all the needs and concerns expressed by community members. Brown said it was "impossible to find justification to uphold the appeal."
He said that didn't mean the community members weren't justified in their concerns, and that he hoped the proposed moratorium would help to address the situation. "They can at least take credit for the discussion that we're having."
Brown moved to deny the appeal and approve the finding of fact. The board voted 3-2 to deny the appeal, with Rushing and Anthony Farrington voting no.
The board postponed discussing the moratorium until later in the meeting, after Community Development Director Rick Coel supplied them with information on current applications for wireless facilities.
The moratorium would place a 45-day hold on applications to construct, modify or place wireless communications facilities in the county, giving the county a chance to amend the zoning ordinance to take into account residents' concerns about the towers. Grant's report on the moratorium said the board could extend it for 22 months and 15 days following a properly noticed public meeting.
Coel told the board there is an incomplete application from Metro PC for a wireless facility in the Shoreline Communities Plan area, which stretches along the Northshore to the south county. Coel didn't specify the proposed site's exact location.
This article is used with permission from LakeCountyNews.com
US Cellular has applied for another tower in the Middletown area, and Coel said that application is complete.
Board Chair Jeff Smith said he also knew of a plan to place a wireless tower in an area above Clearlake.
The board approved the moratorium 5-0, with no members of the public coming forward to comment on it.
The findings of fact
In the finding of fact report on the US Cellular cell tower appeal filed by Little Deer, Grant explains that Little Deer's appeal was denied based on several factors at the suggestion of Community Development Department staff.
In particular, Community Development said the Telecommunications Act of 1996 precludes local governments from regulating the placement, construction or modification of telecommunications facilities based on radio frequency emissions and their effects on the environment.
"A preliminary analysis performed by a radio frequency engineering consulting firm working on behalf of US Cellular indicates US Cellular is in compliance with FCC (Federal Communications Commission) radio frequency emission requirements," the report stated.
Emissions and their possible negative affects on the environment, humans and animals had been one of the main arguments Little Deer presented to the board at its two hearings on the matter, held in May and June.
According to the report, the Telecommunications Act doesn't allow the project's denial on the grounds that the emissions are harmful to the environment.
Community Development also argued against Little Deer's contention that the tower would interfere with the area's scenic corridor. "... Highway 20 has not been officially designated a state scenic route at the location relevant to this appeal," the report states.
The findings also dismissed Little Deer's contention that an environmental impact report should have been prepared. Community Development countered that an initial study was conducted and it identified both potential impacts and appropriate mitigation measures.
The county also found that the cell tower project in question is consider with the county's General Plan and Zoning Ordinance.
The findings of fact did, however, include three additional conditions on the project, namely:
That the tower not exceed 120 feet in height, and should be "only that height objectively necessary to meet the applicant's coverage objectives as specified in the Use Permit."
US Cellular must provide periodic evidence of compliance with FCC emissions restrictions to Community Development Director Rick Coel. "Failure of the applicant to maintain compliance with FCC emissions regulations will result in the immediate revocation of this Use Permit," the conditions state.
The tower must be camouflaged to blend into the surrounding area or be designed to resemble a tree "of a type indigenous to the siting area."
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