Will you please sign this petition?
Text of the petition (as adapted) follows:
To: Petaluma City Council
City Council, Get Reputable Expert Review for Petaluma Wireless Ordinance
Petalumans demand that our City Council hire a reputable legal expert with
- A solid track record of protecting municipalities’ rights and
- No conflicts of interest to perform a comprehensive final review of the pending Wireless Ordinance rewrite to ensure Petaluma is protected without compromise and to the fullest extent of the law.
In addition to reputable legal expert review, Petalumans also demand:
- Process transparency with regard to the legal expert selected
- Public’s Inclusion in scoping process to set objectives (e.g., minimize power output and requiring proof of significant gap in telecommunications service)
- Extended timeline for review — with full comment and presentation privileges given to the public, due to the highly complex technical subject matter (i.e., not a typical 3-4 days before a public meeting)
Why This is Important
Petaluma’s current Wireless Telecommunications Facilities (WTFs) Ordinance, including its 2018 changes to allow so-called “small” Wireless Telecommunications Facilities (sWTFs) only in industrial, commercial and mixed use zones does the job. Some additions are needed for Major Wireless Telecommunications Facilities (the larger macro towers), but no code changes are needed for placing, constructing or modifying sWTFs in Petaluma.
We want to ensure the addition of major WTF code provisions to our Muni Code respects all current City of Petaluma Implementing Zoning Ordinance Code and protects the aesthetics and quiet enjoyment of streets, particularly in Petaluma’s residential zones. The people of Petaluma want no cell towers that are not needed to close a proven carrier-specific significant gap in telecommunications coverage (a lack of ability to place outdoor wireless calls and texts).
Petalumans object to City Staff hiring the Cell Tower Developer and Telecom Corporation consultancy (Telecom Law Firm, PC) to rewrite our City’s Wireless Ordinance due to Telecom Law Firm’s well-documented problems:
- Conflicts of interest: their business with Cell Tower Developers and promoted focus on facilitating wireless infrastructure transactions (per their website and industry presentation videos; details here).
- Reputation of misguiding cities — not advising Cities to take advantage of their full legal rights in Telecom matters, resulting in less protective WTF ordinances, unnecessary WTF proliferation, and increased prevalence of lawsuits. (details here)
- Misguiding Petaluma already on the now abandoned Verizon Petaluma Creamery WTF antenna farm (16-antennas, capable of outputting 2.4 million Watts of Effective Radiated Power 24/7 details here).
Petalumans want a new Wireless Ordinance that protects Petaluma without compromise — and to the fullest extent of the law.