HomeMy WebLinkAbout2868 RESOLUTION NO. ~__
A RESOLUTION of the City Council of the City of
Bremerton, Washington, imposing 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, 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
WHEREAS, the Act ratifies the authority of local governments to regulate
telecommunications services and carders, but also limits local government's authority in certain
respects; and
WHEREAS, 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
WHEREAS, 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
WHEREAS, 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
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WCF Moratorium
WHEREAS, 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
WHEREAS, since the City does nOt currently have sufficient regulations to
properly regulate the siting and development of wireless telecommunication facilities, the
enactment of a moratorium on processing applications prior to holding a public heating is
necessary to protect the public health and welfare of the community: and
WHEREAS, 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
WHEREAS, 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
WHEREAS, the 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
WHEREAS, 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
Moratorium
WHEREAS, RCW 35.63.200 authorizes cities to adopt moratoriums provided a
public hearing is held within sixty (60) days of adoption; and
WHEREAS, a moratorium of the zoning and placement of wireless
communication facilities is subject to the limitations of RCW 35.99.050; and
WHEREAS, 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; NOW
THEREFORE,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BREMERTON, WASHINGTON
DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Recitals Incorporated. The recitals set forth in this resolution are
hereby incorporated as if fully set forth herein.
SECTION 2. Moratorium. Due to the findings set forth herein and as authorized
pursuant and subject to RCW 35.63.200 and RCW 35.99.050, the Bremerton City Council does
hereby declare a moratorium on the acceptance of applications for any building, land use, or
development permit or approval (including variances and rezones), or any other permit or
approval required to site and/or to develop, install, or relocate any wireless communication
facility within the City of Bremerton.
SECTION 3. Duration. The moratorium established herein is established for a
period of six months from the effective date of this resolution or until the effective date of any
ordinances establishing new regulations governing wireless communication facilities, whichever
is sooner, and during said moratorium, no building, land use, or development permit or approval
shall be issued nor shall any such permit application be accepted for any such use within the City
of Bremerton.
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WCF MoraWrium
SECTION 4. Public Hearing. Pursuant to RCW 36.70A.390, the City Council
shall hold a public heating on this moratorium within sixty (60) days of its adoption.
Immediately after the public hearing, the City Council shall adopt findings of fact on the subject
of this moratorium, either justifying its continued position or canceling the moratorium.
SECTION 5. Severabili~. 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 oft/tis Resolution and the same shall remain in full
force and effect.
SECTION 6. Ratification. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the
effective date of this resolution is hereby ratified and affirmed.
SECTION 7. 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 ~,t_,~.~ ,2002.
CAROL ARENDS, Council President
APPROVED AS TO FORM: ATTEST:
I~OC~R A. LUBOVICH, City Attorney KA~I'HLEEN MCCLU'SKEY, City Clerk
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