Haines committee backs stricter setbacks for wireless towers near schools, forwards amendment to assembly
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Summary
The Haines Borough GAS committee amended draft rules for wireless communication equipment to require a minimum setback of 1,500 feet from schools, day-care centers or youth centers (with narrow exceptions for coverage gaps) and agreed to forward the revised ordinance to the full assembly for consideration.
The Haines Borough GAS committee on a routine meeting voted to amend a draft ordinance regulating wireless communication equipment to add a more stringent setback from education and child-care facilities and forwarded the revised language to the full assembly for consideration.
Committee members said their priority is to balance industry requests to close coverage gaps — particularly at the airport and hospital — with residents’ concerns about towers sited near homes, schools or playgrounds. "The minimum setback distance from the base of the communication tower to a school, day care center, or youth center shall be 1,500 feet," Speaker 1 read into the record as the proposed amendment, which the committee approved to send to the assembly.
Industry representatives and staff described technical constraints that affect siting and height. An industry speaker said the proposed Sawmill Road site would "cover all of this, including the airport right there," pointing to an RF map showing improved propagation; the committee discussed alternate hilltop locations, existing towers and FAA height limits that may restrict tower height at some sites to about 90 feet.
Members also reviewed precedents in other municipal codes, including a Juneau code table cited as Article 9 for wireless facilities. Staff said the draft ordinance draws heavily from that text while recognizing federal limits under the Telecommunications Act, including exceptions when strict setback rules would cause a significant coverage gap.
After debate about percentage-based setbacks versus a fixed distance, the committee approved forwarding the amendment that sets the 1,500-foot buffer for schools/day-care/youth centers while preserving a process to allow reduced setbacks if an applicant demonstrates a significant coverage gap under the Telecommunications Act. The committee agreed to send the revised ordinance back to the assembly; staff confirmed the ordinance can be scheduled for the assembly packet with a public-comment deadline the day before the assembly meeting.
Next procedural steps: staff will prepare the revised ordinance for inclusion in the assembly packet; the assembly meeting date and the public comment deadline were stated by staff for inclusion in the official packet.
