| Draft Environmental Impact Statement Shorts School Road Am Antenna Structures 5 1.3 Objectives of the Proposed Action The objectives of the Proposed Action are: To construct AM antenna structures in an area that will allow the station to increase its coverage to include all of Snohomish County, providing coverage in areas that currently do not receive coverage from other sources or only from an extremely limited number of sources, and to provide enough signal to allow Snohomish County residents commuting out of Seattle or Bellevue to scan for the signal on their car radio and pick it up, particularly in the pre-dawn and post-sunset hours when KRKO must turn its signal to the northwest. To locate a transmitting site that is an improvement over the existing site. To locate a transmitting site away from high-tension power lines, more densely populated areas, and in an area that is not encumbered by major environmental and technical issues such as tree clearing, wetlands, historic landmarks, and FAA issues. 1.4 Scoping of Draft EIS This EIS is limited in scope by the Decision of the Snohomish County Deputy Hearing Examiner dated July 31, 2002 to aesthetic visual effects of the proposal. The Examiner�s Decision was rendered following public hearings on an appeal of the Determination of Nonsignificance (�DNS�) originally issued by PDS for the proposal. The Examiner�s Decision concludes that �[t]he DNS is erroneous in its conclusion of the absence of probable significant adverse environmental impacts with respect to adverse aesthetic visual impacts.�5 The Decision found that the DNS was correct as to other SEPA issues with respect to the proposal. The DNS thus was vacated in part, and remanded for preparation of this Draft EIS on the single pertinent issue of the visual effects of the proposal on the area surrounding the project site. On April 5, 2003 Snohomish County Planning and Development Services issued a Determination of Significance limiting the scope of this EIS to this one issue. Although outside the scope of the Examiner�s decision, an informational discussion of land use and shorelines is also included with this Draft EIS. 5 Examiner�s Decision, File No. 00-107495, July 31, 2002, p. 28. |