T-Mobile’s application to install a 59-foot cell tower across from the Assumption Catholic Church in Northeast Seattle has blindsided Father Oliver Duggan, reported KIRO-TV. Apparently, area residents were not notified of the tower plan. “We found out about it from a parishioner who happens to work for the state and checks these things all the time. Otherwise, we would have been blank on it,” Duggan said.
There are requirements in notifying residents, according to city rules. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections is required to post four large signs or placards at least 18 by 24 inches and is responsible for notifying residents living within 300 feet of a proposed site via mail.
Area resident and attorney Jessica Jackson investigated and found that one small notice, size 8.5 x 11, was stapled to the existing utility pole across from the church on December 15, 2016, beginning a two-week public comment period. However, both the school and church were on winter break during that time, so the window of opportunity closed before families could comment. In an email to KIRO, a DCI spokesperson said the city requirement of 64 mailed notices, compulsory signage postings and a community meeting were all performed as specified.
Despite residents’ concerns over health risk, the DCI has allowed Seattle City Light to make the final determination to allow T-Mobile to install the new tower. According to Sephir Hamilton, City Light’s officer of engineering and technology innovation, “We heard all of those concerns, waived them against the benefit of additional cell phone coverage in this area, and ultimately concluded that after looking at many different poles, this was the best location — or the least-worst location — that T-Mobile could find.”
June 19, 2017
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