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Residents urge tighter cell-tower rules; council sends telecom draft to planning for review
Summary
After multiple residents testified about health, environmental and fire-safety concerns, the committee voted to send Bill 194 (telecommunications antenna and tower standards) to the planning commissions and planning director for formal review and recommendation.
Dozens of residents and local advocacy groups turned out to urge regulatory safeguards for wireless infrastructure during public testimony Aug. 20.
Deborah Green, representing Safetec Hawaii, said the draft ordinance is a welcome step but asked the county to require uniform liability insurance for tower permits: "The liability insurance needs to be from a third party provider and must not contain a pollution exclusion," she said. Other testifiers raised public-health concerns about radio-frequency exposure, the proximity of small-cell antennas to schools and places of worship, and the need for clearer fire-safety plans.
Council response and next steps: Council member Cindy Evans moved to refer Bill 194 to the planning director and the county's planning commissions for detailed review and comment; the motion carried unanimously. Planning staff confirmed they are preparing parallel text for commission review and will provide a formal recommendation to the committee after commission hearings.
Why this matters: State law changes (cited in testimony as chapter 46-89) set a 60-day timeline for certain wireless applications, which shifts some processes from special-use review to plan approval. Council members said they are using the planning review period to establish local standards for siting, aesthetic mitigation, access and fire-safety procedures without attempting to ban wireless deployment, which federal rules would preempt.
Representative quotes and context: "We have the right to set standards and application requirements," Council member Cindy Evans said in moving the referral. Planning staff flagged similarities and differences between the department's draft and the sponsor's proposal; both will go to commissions in parallel so commissioners can recommend changes.
What to watch next: Planning commission hearings and a staff report will identify where county rules can add public-safety protections, whether the ordinance should specify insurance language and how to align county code with the 60-day state approval timeline.
