Council to Discuss Wireless Moratorium

The City Council, at a public hearing and workshop next week, will consider extending a moratorium on wireless communications sites.

The moratorium could be lengthened another 10 months and 15 days if the council follows a recommendation by city staff at the public hearing Jan. 7.

The moratorium calls for a halt in accepting new applications for telecommunication sites while Dana Point revamps its regulations for wireless equipment. The city adopted the measure Nov. 26 in reaction to applications it received for microwave antennas in the past year.

“As proposed, the city’s pending regulations would establish more stringent regulations,” said Ed Knight, the city’s director of community development. The proposed rules would take advantage of the limited flexibility granted to cities through the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

With the Federal Communications Commissions allowing more firms to enter the wireless industry earlier this year, many Southern California cities have seen a sharp rise in the number of requests to build microwave antennas for cellular phones and pagers.

Dana Point received eight applications this year, and it’s expecting several more, said Michael Phillbrick, the city’s associate planner.