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Board weighs wildlife safeguards, FAA limits in draft cell-tower ordinance
Summary
City staff and a tower-company representative walked the Environmental Advisory Board through draft ordinance changes that add wildlife protections and vegetation-season limits; the discussion focused on reconciling those measures with FAA lighting rules and NEPA requirements.
Steve Belden, the city's community development director, updated the Environmental Advisory Board on a draft cell-tower ordinance that adds language to minimize adverse impacts to wildlife and requires vegetation clearing outside bird-nesting season unless the Board of Adjustment permits otherwise. "We did include under minimizing adverse impacts to wildlife," Belden said while showing the proposed changes, and he emphasized the need to avoid conflicts with FAA and NEPA reviews.
Jessica Ross, representing Tower Communications, told the board that lighting and clearing requirements in the draft must be aligned with FAA and NEPA practice. "Just say that FAA approval is required," Ross said, recommending the ordinance defer to FAA determinations rather than specifying a light color. Ross explained that lighting requirements depend on height, airport proximity and FAA determinations; sometimes medium dual lights flash white by day and red at night.
Board members urged staff to incorporate optional FAA-allowed measures that studies show reduce bird fatalities, such as flashing lights and aircraft-detection lighting, while keeping required intensity "the lowest possible" to address resident concerns. One board member advised the board to treat this ordinance as a long-term template, not just a site-specific regulation: it should improve wildlife protections across future applications.
Staff said legal will review the draft for internal conflicts (for example, a sentence that said "all towers shall be lit with white, flashing lights" vs. other language referencing FAA requirements) and committed to share the FAA circular/video a member offered. The board proposed amending the sentence to say, in effect, "If lighting is required, the light shall be white and flashing to the lowest degree possible," and to allow the Board of Adjustment to permit vegetation-clearing exceptions when a NEPA report or federal agency consultation requires different timing.
