HomeMy WebLinkAbout2872 RESOLUTION NO. 2872
A RESOLUTION of the City Council of the City of
Bremerton, Washington, adopting findings of fact and continuing a
moratorium on the acceptance of applications for any building,
land use, or development permit or approval for the purpose of
siting and/or development of wireless communication facilities
within the City of Bremerton.
WHEREAS, RCW 35.63.200 authorizes cities to adopt moratoriums, provided a
public heating is held within sixty days of adoption; and
WHEREAS, on July 24, 2002, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2867
imposing a moratorium barring acceptance for any building, land use, or development permit of
approval for the purpose of siting and/or development of wireless communication facilities
within the City of Bremerton until additional review has been completed and any necessary code
revisions have been adopted by the City Council on the issue of wireless communication
facilities within the City of Bremerton; and
WHEREAS, RCW 35.63.200 provides that a city adopting a moratorium shall
adopt findings of fact immediately after the public hearing held within sixty days of adoption of
the moratorium; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was held on August 14, 2002, before the Bremerton
City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has considered written comments and public
testimony and finds it is in the best interest of the City of Bremerton to continue the moratorium
for the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of the community; NOW
THEREFORE,
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WCF Moratorium Continuation
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BREMERTON, WASHINGTON
DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Recitals and Finding o_f Fact Incorporated. The recitals and
findings of fact set forth in this resolution are hereby incorporated as if fully set forth herein.
SECTION 2. Findings o_£Fact. The City Council hereby adopts the following
findings of fact:
1. The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 stat. 56,
31-136, hereinafter the "Act") was designed to remove regulatory barriers and encourage
competition among all types of communication companies; and
2. The Act ratifies the authority of local governments to regulate
telecommunications services and carriers, but also limits local government's authority in certain
respects; and
3. The City Council is currently reviewing its policies with regard to the zoning and
placement of wireless communication facilities as defined in RCW 35.99.010 (hereinafter
"wireless communication facilities" or "facilities") in the City of Bremerton; and
4. The City is facing an increasing number of applications for construction of
wireless telecommunication facilities within the City and the City has not yet adopted a
comprehensive telecommunications siting and design ordinance; and
5. The City must adopt ordinances, policies or plans for dealing with the inflow of
telecommunication facilities to the City that will potentially deal with issues relating to the siting
and development of these facilities, including, but not limited to, the following:
Zoning
Clustering of facilities
Collocation, development standards, visual impact mitigation, noise, tower
construction; and
6. In order to properly adopt the policies, plans and an ordinance to deal with these
facilities the City must have a period of time within which to research its options and prepare an
ordinance without the influx of new applications; and
7. Since the City does not currently have sufficient regulations to properly regulate
the siting and development of wireless telecommunication facilities, the enactment of a
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}YCF Moratorium Continuation
moratorium on processing applications prior to holding a public heating is necessary to protect
the public health and welfare of the community: and
8. Because the Bremerton Municipal Code does not adequately address the various
impacts that wireless communications facility uses present, and the protection of the public
health, safety, and general welfare would be jeopardized by the establishment of such facilities
prior to a review of the matter and possible adoption of new regulations by the City Council; and
9. The citizens of Bremerton would be well-served if the City more fully addressed
and understood the potential impacts in the form of health, safety, economics, hazards to traffic,
and aesthetics these facilities impose upon neighboring properties and the community as a
whole; and
lO;----2:he City needs time to review existing information on the effects of these
facilities and to review the Bremerton Municipal Code in a comprehensive fashion to determine
what necessary code revisions are necessary to addresses the impacts of such uses; and
11. The City Council finds that the protection of the health, safety, and welfare
supports imposing a moratorium on the acceptance of all applications for any building, land use,
or development permit or approval under the Bremerton Municipal Code for the purpose of
siting and/or development of wireless communication facilities within the city of Bremerton until
additional review has been completed and any necessary code revisions have been adopted by
the Bremerton City Council; and
12. RCW 35.63.200 authorizes cities to adopt moratoriums provided a public hearing
is held within sixty (60) days of adoption; and
13. A moratorium of the zoning and placement of wireless commtmication facilities is
subject to the limitations of RCW 35.99.050; and
14. The purpose of this moratorium is to provide time in which the City Council may
study its existing code, ordinances, and the impacts of such uses, during this moratorium period;
determine what, if any, reasonable regulation is necessary to mitigate the impacts; and prepare
for adoption of permissible regulations to regulate such uses.
SECTION 3. Continuation qfMoratorium. Based on the findings of fact
adopted in Section 2, the City Council hereby determines that it is necessary for the moratorium
enacted in Resolution No. 2867 to remain in effect for the entire six month period set forth in
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WCF Moratorium Continuation
said resolution. Accordingly, the moratorium shall not expire until midnight on January 23,
2003, unless the moratorium is shortened or extended by action of the City Council or until the
effective date of any ordinance establishing new regulations governing wireless communication
facilities, which ever is sooner. During said moratorium, no building, land use, or development
permit or approval shall be issued, nor shall any such permit or application be accepted for any
land use permit or approval for the purpose of siting and/or development of wireless
communication facilities within the City of Bremerton.
SECTION 4. Severabilit~. If any one or more sections, subsections, or
sentences of this Resolution are held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not
affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Resolution and the same shall remain in full
force and effect.
SECTION 5. Effective Date. This Resolution shall take effect and be in force
immediately upon its passage.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Bremerton, Washington this~
day of /r/',t,~,~,,_~ ,2002.
CAROL ARENDS, Council President
APPROVED AS TO FORM: ATTEST:
ROGI}~ A. LUBOVICH, ~ KA~'I-t~,EEN MCCL~Y, City Clerk
R:kLEGALkResolutions\WCF Moratorium Extension.doc
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I~CF Moratoriutn Continuation