April 6, 1998

Councilmembers propose cell phone tower moratorium

Metropolitan King County Councilmembers Brian Derdowski and Cynthia Sullivan today introduced a measure which would halt the construction of free-standing cell phone towers in unincorporated King County for the next six months.

"While we’ve been discussing this issue the barn door has been wide open," said Derdowski, a co-sponsor of the measure. "We need time to pull together a fair and open process to update our ordinances."

The ordinance was co-sponsored by Councilmembers Brian Derdowski, Cynthia Sullivan, Greg Nickels, Larry Phillips, Larry Gossett, Maggi Fimia, and Dwight Pelz.

According to Derdowski, a long-time community activist, the measure would protect residents from any land use impacts associated with the construction of the towers. Several cities have already imposed moratoriums of their own, forcing many companies to build in the unincorporated areas.

"A moratorium would give the county time to craft legislation which would be amenable to everybody," said Sullivan. "We haven’t been making enough progress thus far, and a moratorium would force good-faith negotiations by all parties, ensuring that we have a fair and equitable means to site these towers."

Councilmember Derdowski today moved to suspend the rules so that the moratorium ordinance could be considered. That motion passed by a vote of 9 to 4 (Councilmembers voting no were Louise Miller, Jane Hague, Chris Vance, and Rob McKenna). When the Council later considered taking final action, Council Chair Louise Miller moved to delay the ordinance until next week. Councilmember Miller’s motion passed by a vote of 8 to 5 (Councilmembers voting no were Derdowski, Pelz, Gossett, Sullivan, and Pete von Reichbauer).

The proposal was thus delayed for one week, and will be discussed in the Committee-of-the-Whole on Monday, April 13 at 9:30 a.m.

Mark Banks, President of Citizens First, a nationwide coalition of neighborhood groups opposed to irresponsible siting of towers said, "I am extremely disappointed that the Council delayed the ordinance. The citizens desperately need the time that only a moratorium can offer."

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