The Glendale City Council voted last night to retain outside counsel to fight a wireless industry petition before the FCC. Glendale will be joining a coalition of communities nationwide to oppose proposed limitations on local zoning authority as they affect cell tower siting, such as the CTIA “shot-clock” petition which imposes 45 or 75 day deadlines on any wireless permit application review.
Dave Weaver introduced the motion, saying the city’s purpose is to “advocate for the need to retain local control over issues which Congress has granted and which, if limited, could potentially have significant impacts on the quality of life for local residents.”
The city is close to finalizing an ordinance regulating placement of wireless antennae and towers. The wireless industry opposed the moratorium Glendale enacted to review its options for regulating such equipment. The current petition before the FCC asks that municipal moratoria be limited to six months.
City Attorney Scott Howard commented, “The wireless industry has been seeking for some time to… remove or limit local authority over the siting of wireless antennae in any number of ways.”
Mayor Pro Tem Laura Friedman concluded, “The wireless industry is trying more and more and more aggressively to undermine local zoning codes, to assert that they have a right to put their wireless equipment wherever they want to without any oversight. We are joining with other cities to advocate at the federal level for our right as a city to enforce our own city regulations and to be sure that our residents are well served and to ensure that cellular equipment is well-placed and safe.”
According to Christina Sansone, Glendale General Counsel for Public Works, a number of ex parte communications from the wireless industry on this subject is one reason this issue has moved to the forefront.
Dave Weaver needs to brush up on his constitution. All he would seem to need to say is that the Constitution does not give the FCC the authority to dictate to the local communities when and how they make their zoning decisions and then call it a day. Congress is not the basis of the local communities authority.
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