Council continues telecom ordinance after historic-preservation concerns; staff to revise language
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Summary
An ordinance updating rules for commercial wireless telecommunication facilities was pulled for revision after historic-preservation concerns and a staff request for more time.
Fort Myers City Council on Oct. 6 continued (pulled) an ordinance that would amend city rules governing commercial wireless telecommunication facilities after members of the public and staff raised concerns about historic-preservation review and code alignment. Council voted to continue the item to a future meeting to allow staff time to revise the language.
Gina Savison, who identified herself through her work with the Historic Preservation Commission, urged the council to prevent unintended consequences and asked that the ordinance be amended so that "towers and antennas within historic districts or on historic landmarks must receive a certificate of review from the historic preservation commission." She said ambiguity in ordinance language could allow staff-level approvals to bypass the commission's review for additions or alterations in historic districts.
City Attorney Alley cautioned that state and federal laws limit local control over wireless infrastructure but said that the council could draft the ordinance to require historic-preservation commission review. Alley told the council, "There is state and federal law protecting telecommunication towers... If we were going to require this to go before the HBC, we would need to, we should amend the ordinance to reflect that it goes to the historic preservation commission. There's nothing that prohibits it from going before the historic preservation commission."
Steve Belden, the community development director, recommended additional time to align the ordinance language with other code sections and with board recommendations: "If we're gonna entertain some additional language, it'd probably be prudent to continue this for another meeting. Just give a little more time just to make sure we're consistent with what we're doing." The council adopted a motion to pull and continue the ordinance to the next available meeting date.
The transcript records no final action on amendments to the telecom sections; the item will return for a future public hearing after staff prepares revised language to address historic-preservation review and other board feedback.