2024-12-02 Debra Green #3 & #4 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Aloha Windward Commissioners, Thank you for your attention to the proposed telecommunications ordinances. I hold a PhD in Communication, and am the Founding Director of Safe Tech Hawaii, a grassroots, all-volunteer coalition, educating and advocating for safe technology across the islands. I'm writing in support of County Council Bill 194. We're asking for a favorable recommendation for Bill 194 because it represents an ideal balance between the needs of the community for connectivity, while providing important safeguards for tower and antenna deployments. People want cell phones but they don't want towers or antennas because they're unsightly and they emit wireless radiation. But there is a way to minimize exposure to them without compromising connectivity. That's what Bill 194 does. It accomplishes this by updating the definition of antennas and towers to stay current with these ever-evolving technologies. Hawaii County already has in place a protective Resolution regarding 5G deployments that was adopted four years ago. Bill 194 includes 5G small cell infrastructure, whereas the other bill doesn't. This is a major advantage of Bill 194 as small cells are a novel and untested technology that require regulation for the good of the public. The County Council's ordinance is a follow-up to their already adopted Resolution, and it accomplishes this while bringing County code into compliance with HRS 46-89. Further, it creates Application Requirements and standards including increased setbacks, and an order of priority for siting the wireless facilities. All of this is fully within the purview of Planning and is similar to ordinances already implemented in dozens of local jurisdictions across the country. Hawaii county has even more reason to regulate towers and antennas because of aesthetics. People value the beauty of nature here. They don't want towers and antennas everywhere, and neither do visitors. Another important difference between the two bills is that Bill 194 includes application requirements with provisions involving the Hawaii Fire department, a fire safety plan, and access easement for fire suppression purposes. In light of the increasing fire risks on Hawaii island and the devastating fires on Maui, these provisions provide essential protections. In July 2018, the Hawaii Wireless Fast Track Bill, HB 2651, was signed into law. One of the sponsors was then-legislator Cindy Evans, who wrote and introduced Bill 194 here. HB 2651 codifies Federal law and says that Counties can and should regulate. It lists 15 permitting requirements, and says that County regulation is needed before any of those requirements can be used. That's because Federal law grants local jurisdictions the authority to regulate towers and antennas. In the Telecommunications Act, Congress preserved local governments authority to regulate the placement, construction and modification of wireless facilities subject only to five constraints.