Council wrestles with height of wireless towers
April 6, 2010
By J.B. Wogan
City Councilmen John Curley and Mark Cross went on a fact-finding mission March 30, snapping photos of wireless communication facilities. In Sammamish, that means silhouettes of isolated steel cell phone towers, wood utility poles with power lines, water tanks with antennae, and large, latticed steel utility structures.
Their goal? To pick out what they did and didn’t like. Then they’ll help the rest of the council craft an ordinance that would prevent towering eyesores from sprouting up next to residential neighborhoods. The question they are trying to answer is, at what height can the city reasonably cap these structures?
“Nobody wants these 120-foot monsters,” Curley observed. “Can we go 60 feet on everybody? Can it be 70 feet?”
The city has regulations dealing with wireless communication facilities, but it dates back to June 2005, when the council passed its first and only ordinance on the subject. Since then, city staff has tinkered with the language by passing five temporary — or emergency — ordinances.
Under the current code, cell phone towers can’t exceed 60 feet in height in a residential zone. This applies to most of the city, aside from the three shopping centers. In those shopping centers, or commercial zones, the towers can’t exceed 120 feet in height.
But there are some caveats: Companies can make existing utility poles in a public right of way, such as the Puget Sound Energy poles, 40 feet taller to allow them to accommodate antennae. In most cases, that allows for those poles to reach heights of 70 to 75 feet. When the antennae would not reach above the tree line at 75 feet, the company could apply for a permit to go even higher.
Curley pointed out that cell phone towers haven’t been a major source of controversy for most Sammamish residents, at least not yet.
The city has issued permits for 42 wireless communication facilities since June 2005. In three cases residents have expressed objections to the city about those facilities, according to Emily Arteche, a city planner.
There were another 38 installed before 2005.
The new ordinance before the council, proposed by Arteche and the Community Development Department, would help avoid some height issues by preventing telecommunications companies from building antennae on top of light poles in the public right of way. They could still use utility poles.
Cross has mentioned capping poles in residential areas at around 60 or 80 feet in past meetings, but isn’t sure exactly what the appropriate height limit would be. He has not stated whether companies would still be able to apply for a permit to exceed that limit.
“It’s just so out of place with the surrounding community,” Cross said. “I really think 120 (feet) is excessive. It might be appropriate in a commercial setting but it’s certainly not appropriate on my block.”
The 120-foot figure sticks out for Cross because Tibbett’s Station was among the three neighborhoods who have protested such cell phone structures so far. In March, T-Mobile successfully argued before a King County Hearing Examiner that a 120-foot tower would not hurt neighborhood character or property values in the area. The tower replaces a 32-foot Puget Sound Energy pole in a public right of way next to the neighborhood.
Curley said he wants to make sure that the city doesn’t limit the structures to a height where the cell phone companies cannot provide adequate coverage.
He said residents’ desire for less intrusive structures may be at odds with getting cell phone service.
“People want cell phone service. They don’t want drop outs, but then they don’t want these towers in their backyards,” he said.
While Cross and Curley continue researching the issue together, they may vote differently when the matter comes before the council April 20. Cross said he wants to alter the heights. Curley said he would like the council to pass the ordinance as is, and then tinker with the height limits through amendments later.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
Other Stories of Interest: Sammamish Government
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