Glendale Telecommunications Wireless Facility Code Trumped by Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996
I saw Glendale City Councilman Bob Yousefian today at the Balboa Elementary School “I Love Reading” event (more about the event in my next post). Before he was on the city council, Yousefian told me, he served on the Board of Zoning Adjustment. We discussed the attempt Glendale made in 1996, when he was involved, to deal with increasing wireless facility permits and installations in the city, particularly in residential areas.
The city drafted a good ordinance at that time. Unfortunately, California state utility code section 7901, which dates back to the time of the first telephone poles, and the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (passed at the same time as Glendale’s new ordinance) have both made it fairly easy for telecom corporations to get around its restrictions. The main restriction applies to all residential zones listed in Glendale’s municipal code (Chapter 30.11):
• Residential Open Space
• Restricted Residential Zone
• Low Density Residential Zone
• Moderate Density Residential Zone
• Medium Density Residential Zone
• Medium-High Density Residential Zone
• High Density Residential Zone
Identical text in each of these categories states:
Wireless telecommunication facilities are disfavored from locating in this zone, permitting these facilities only when no feasible alternative site exists or when a denial would constitute a prohibition on the provision of the affected telecommunications service.
The problem is that the public right-of-way, even if it is the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street in front of a home in a residential area, can be claimed by for-profit corporations like cable and telecom companies through the public works process set up for utilities, effectively bypassing public hearing and public review. Even though the city code looks as if it will protect residential areas, it actually does not. Only if an applicant applies to build on private property in a Glendale residential area would this permit surface for public scrutiny against the language above, and against the design requirements set forth in the telecommunications wireless facility section (Chapter 30-34.170) of the municipal code.
This is one loophole that a new wireless facility ordinance for Glendale must correct.
You mean Bob was teaching our kids how to read? You don’t think that is a bigger story than the cell tower??
Bob Yousefian being invited to read to Balboa Elementary School children for their annual “I Love Reading” event is a bigger story than the old news about the 1996 Glendale wireless ordinance!
Students truly enjoyed the whole program, the school did a great job recruiting civic leaders like Bob to emphasize the importance of reading in life, and the cell tower conversation was very short.
Thanks to Bob and other guests for visiting Balboa classrooms and reading to our future leaders!
Dear Editor, you certainly have NOT heard Bob read. He has great difficulty. And if you think that he should be teaching our kids how to read then your judgement is highly questionable.