Item 3 - PH/Ord. on Cell Towers - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

.Jerome LIDZ - Amen .d...m. ents,,to Ceil T~){i ' ~r. dinance (E~ene Code Section 9.57~~ '~ : · From: "Evans, Pat" <Pat. Evans@T-Mobile.com> ".. } ' To: <jerome.s.I dz@harrang.com> .. Date: 7/27/2004 2:35:24.PM Subject: Amendments to Cell Tower Ordinance (Eugene Code Section 9.5750) Jerry: Here are the initial comments that I promised 'to you from T-Mobile on the proposed revisions to the · Eugene Code·. Please keep me posted as to the public hearing dates so that someone from our Office can attend and enter both written and oral comments into the record. Thanks. 1. Is there any scientific or even anecdotal basis for the setback distances proposed? What is causing this concern? While I can understand the desire to keep "adult" bookstores away'from schools, I must take umbrage to having wireless lumped into that same category without some valid, ,scientific or other reason being presented. Further if there is a desire to go forward with a setback distance, could not the same arguments apply to other businesses with whom the City (or lunatic vegetarians) might also have issue, e.g., fast food restaurants who would attract school children away from "healthy" meals in the school cafeteria? 2. If there is some scientific reason.for the proposed setbacks, please share, those with me. Otherwise I must assume that the distances are.not based in fact but rather on something else....perhaps the dreaded "EMF" which, as you are well aware, cannot, by Federal preemption be considered in either the . development or enforcement of local zoning code. 3. Has the City of EUgene done any GIS (Geographic Information System) study to determine the amount of land available for siteing of wireless facilities currently and what the impact would be if the proposed changes were enacted? Our recent experieince With another jurisdiction in Oregon has shown that these types of proposed changes, when subjeCted to scientific analysis using GIS, could result in a defacto prohibition against Wireless facilities within a large portion of the municipality. I Would strongly suggest that such an exercise be complete before these changes go any further. This analysis is at best a three hour', internal exercise that can .be readilY carried out by existing staff Lising existing data bases. And, when this study is complete, please forward us a copy of those results. 4. Has any' thought been given to the discriminatory nature of the statute against the wireless industry? Do similar types of setbacks or other prohibitions exist against other businesses in the City of Eugene? Or, as I suspect, is wireless being singled out for "unique" treatment based on the misguided fears of a "lunatic fringe"? 5.. The issue of being "...unable to provide service to a substantial portion of the City" (Section 9.5750(9(c)(1))...is likewise problematic for a number of reasons: First: there is no definition of what a "substantial portion" of the City consitiutes; Second: payment for our FCC license did not contemplate the ability Of a subservient judsdiciton being able to withdraw a portion of its geography from our ability to provide service; Third: The issue for mature wireless sytems is not to "provide service" but rather to provide additional services or capacity to areas allready covered. This proposed language allowS·the Oity to "second guess" the reasons a wireless provider would use to locate new or additional equipment..:without the City itself either having the technical resources.on staff to make such a review or without, again, subjecting similarly situated applicants under the Zoning code to equivalent scrutiny. 6. We strenuously object to the ability of the City to have open ended access to our corporate funds for the purpose of the City reviewing our application. If this is required there must be a reasonable and fixed limit to the amount of financial liability to which wireless providers can be exposed. You should be aware that short of a "Professional Engineer" (PE) designation, there is absolutely no criterion by which to. evaluate the knowledge 'or experience of the "so called" industry experts that'the City would hire. We have, in the past, objected to an organization thatthe City has engaged, which represents itself as ~ "industry experts" while in fact none of the individuals listed in the company's CV are credentialed as wireless engineers. And finally, IV-51