SOUTH WHIDBEY RECORD: Crowd-funded wireless code gets council support (AUDIO)
Kira Erickson reports from the Langley City Council meeting on Mon., Aug. 1, 2022:
The city of Langley could be one of the first municipalities in the state to have a comprehensive ordinance capable of limiting wireless facilities.
A first reading of the ordinance passed during this week’s city council meeting. A second reading will be scheduled for a future meeting in September.
Langley resident Mark Wahl raised $8,800 through a GoFundMe account to help fund the creation of the new wireless code, which was written by Andrew Campanelli, a New York attorney who specializes in litigation based on the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
They Said It
Councilmember Craig Cyr asked about enforcement measures and the potential impact on an existing cell tower located on public right-of-way.
Councilmember Thomas Gill, who described himself as a computer engineer by education, was the most outspoken during the meeting.
“I actually do have some issues with the wording of the actual ordinance, simply because it makes a lot of assumptions that there is little to no evidence about, including wireless effects on life expectancy and health. And some information about 5G that can be contained is dubious at best,” he said, adding that he found some of the language in the ordinance to be “demonizing.”
He also took issue with the city being able to enforce the ordinance on its own and suggested that the three municipalities in Island County should come together over one common ordinance and enforcement agency.
“There is no way on God’s green earth the city could ever enforce this law, this ordinance,” he said. “We do not have the personnel, we do not have the people, we do not have the time resources.”
Councilmember Gail Fleming said she was impressed with the thoroughness of it.
“I’m on the same train,” Councilmember Harolynne Bobis said in agreement with Fleming. “I don’t know enough to ask specific questions, but I did read the ordinance and I thank Mr. Campanelli for his explanation why this ordinance is useful for the city because I didn’t get that from reading it.”
Councilmember Rhonda Salerno said she hoped that Langley’s ordinance could set an example for other cities.
