Title
Heritage Impacts of Proposed Code Amendments on Wireless Communications
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Move to provide agreed-on public comment from the Olympia Heritage Commission to the Olympia Planning Commission.
Report
Issue:
To discuss heritage issues related to AT&T's proposed changes to Olympia Municipal Code on wireless communications, and agree on a Heritage Commission recommendation to be provided as public comment to the Olympia Planning Commission.
Presenter(s):
Holly Davies, Chair, Olympia Heritage Commission
Background and Analysis:
AT&T has submitted a proposal to the City of Olympia to amend Olympia's Antennas and Wireless Communications Facilities ordinance. Attachment 1 is the text of the ordinance with the proposed changes identified in red. The proposal is tentatively scheduled for consideration by the Olympia Planning Commission (OPC) on June 16, 2014; there is a high likelihood that the date of this public hearing will be postponed until a later meeting of the OPC.
The Olympia Heritage Commission (OHC) will review and discuss the proposal with respect to its potential impact on the City's historic environment. The discussion will result in agreement on how the OHC wishes to respond to the proposal with public comment to the OPC.
Background:
The regulation of Wireless Communication Facilities (WCF) has increasingly shifted from local control and permitting towards more exemptions from the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), with greater control at the Federal level. Examples of recent changes to Federal and Washington State law have been to shorten the time allowed for local government to review permits, and to revise definitions that expand the ability to site or upgrade WCF on existing structures. The 2014 State Legislature passed a law to make it easier to site micro-cell facilities.
At the same time, some protections exist for nationally-designated historic districts and indiv...
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