A major zoning update for regulating wireless communications facilities, like towers, is advancing through Petersburg’s municipal process. The Borough Assembly approved a heavily amended version of the ordinance on July 6, drawing criticism from residents and even assembly members who unanimously voted to continue moving the measure forward.
Another round of deliberation tonight, July 20, could send the regulations into Borough code.
Proposed tower regulations
The proposal is a 17-page zoning ordinance updating Petersburg’s regulations for wireless communication facilities.
Petersburg’s zoning code dates back to the ‘80s, before cell phones and broadband internet. Now, as telecommunications companies plan for more infrastructure in town, the Borough is trying to update its local regulations to determine where those facilities can go, and under what conditions.
Federal law — the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — limits how restrictive the regulations can be.
The ordinance, if approved in three readings, would establish new development standards, permitting requirements, and setback distances for the facilities.
But the proposed local legislation has undergone a number of changes.
Revising proposed regulations
An earlier version of the ordinance failed in June with a tie vote. It was rewritten, brought back, and amended five times. Then, during its second reading earlier this month, assembly members made 10 more amendments.
The plethora of revisions drew criticism from Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor on July 6.
“During my time on the Assembly, I’ve never seen 15 amendments on an ordinance. My take is, if we have to do 15 amendments, we should have not brought it forward until it was done,” he said. “It’s not a good piece of legislation.”
Stanton Gregor said the ordinance was “rife with issues and shouldn’t be before us right now,” and called the process “deeply flawed.” But even so, he voted to proceed.
The changes removed redundant language and eliminated a few technical development standards, requirements for tower removal, and the Borough’s direct say in ordering changes to tower design. Other amendments clarified previous revisions, added reasons for some required buffers, and also confirmed a contested 500-foot setback between the facilities and certain sensitive areas.
Competing concerns
The changes come as the Borough continues wrestling with a balancing act for the new regulations. Many residents are pushing for stricter rules on where towers can be built, while telecommunications companies argue some rules would make it harder to provide service or violate federal law.
Those competing priorities carried into a lengthy public hearing.
Petersburg resident Becky Knight said the amendments seemed to address companies rather than the community.
“I do not see any amendments that address public concerns,” she said. “WCFs (Wireless Communication Facilities) could be coming to any resident’s front yard and impact their privacy, their health, their property value, aesthetics and more. They deserve a voice in decision making.”
Knight urged the Assembly to add places back on the list of sensitive areas, which was reduced to just schools and licensed childcares in the revised version of the proposal; she also called for longer sensitive area setbacks, which shrunk from 1,500 feet to 500 feet.
Several other residents shared a similar position, including Judy Ohmer.
“There’s a lot [of people] out there in the community that care about these towers and where they’re located,” Ohmer said. “We know we can’t say just no towers. But gosh, give us the setbacks.”
She said the changes are leaving her to worry that Petersburg is becoming, “open season for the telecom companies.”
There are other distance requirements included in the proposal, beyond just the sensitive area setbacks. The ordinance requires towers to be a bit more than the structure’s height, at least 110%, away from roads and property lines. It also requires that towers are separated by a half-mile, or 2,640 feet apart.
Much of the public testimony also emphasized health concerns related to radiofrequency emissions. But federal law says local governments can’t regulate wireless facilities based on emissions that meet federal standards.
“Health is most important, not these communication companies,” said resident Kirsten Dupree. “We already have coverage. If you go out in the outlying areas, you don’t have coverage. Put your towers out somewhere where they will be useful to people. We don’t need them right here in town.”
Resident Nicole McMurren said she found a few parts of the proposal “wishy-washy,” questioning provisions for “confusing” height restrictions and “stealth technology” for aesthetically disguising towers, which she said are “kind of ugly pretty much wherever you put them.”
But one observation struck McMurren in particular.
“It seems to have departed so rapidly from discussion into loggerheads, and it seems like if you’re not on one side, you’re on the other,” she said. “I encourage us to really think about our community members first and foremost before trying to cover ourselves as a Borough, and see who we are serving.”
Assembly members move proposal forward to July 20 decision
Assembly Member Jeff Meucci said the whole ordinance “does not flow very well.” But he still defended the revisions, and the ordinance, saying they were trying to “thread the needle” between community concerns and federal law.
Meucci called the ordinance a “first step” for community protection.
“This might not 100% protect the community, but I think it’s going to get us to a point where we can continue to look at it,” he said. “If we need to make adjustments to it as we go along, I’m willing to do that.”
The Assembly accepted the amendments with a 5–0 vote before approving the measure. Assembly members Rob Schwartz and James Valentine were absent from the meeting.
The vote advanced the ordinance to a third reading on July 20, where assembly members are expected to make additional changes before a final decision that could send the new regulations into Petersburg’s zoning code.
The Assembly is slated to consider several other measures as well, including a petition to provide an age-70-and-up senior sales tax exemption, an ordinance to make a service area at Thomas Bay, another installing nepotism standards for elected officials, and whether to seek state loans for wastewater requirements.
The Assembly meets tonight at 6:00 in the Assembly Chambers. KFSK will broadcast that meeting live.
