Attorney W. Scott McCollough on What Local Jurisdictions Can Do
April 1, 2022 | Housatonic Live Episode 71.10 | wireamerica.org
McCollough: “Not withstanding all of the FCC regulations, a local jurisdiction can say ‘we don’t want these things [Wireless Telecommunications Facilities (WTFs) of any size or any “G”] in a residential area.”
Interviewer: “Petaluma, CA did that.”
McCollough: “That’s right. The only condition[/exception] is [that’ if the wireless provider can show [with substantial written evidence in the public record] that it must put the facility at whatever location they have chosen in a residential area — they must put it there because that is the only way they can provide the service.”
Interviewer: “The telecommunications service.”
McCollough: “You’re right — the telecommunications service piece. Unless they can prove it is an effective prohibition [of telecommunications service] — I am talking site by site — then a city can deny the WTF. So, an ordinance a city can pass is ‘We are saying nothing in residential areas. Indeed we are saying nothing within 1,500 feet of any residential area’.”
