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| Radio/TV Are Utilities In Snohomish County |
| SCC 30.91U.110 Here's how the code reads: �Utility� means any public or private entity whose principal purpose is to provide electricity, water, sewer, storm drainage, gas, radio, television, telephone and or other forms of communications utilizing the electromagnetic spectrum to the public When Did Radio/TV Become Utilities In Snohomish County? The original revision of SCC 30.91U.110 to include competitive wireless communication companies (radio/tv) as utilities occured in March 1982. The hearing to revise this ordinance was attended by three council members, one officer of the Community Planning Department and one private citizen. That citizen was Mr. Reid Shockey of Shockey Inc. who was a representative of Viacom Cable Vision. Mr. Shockey spoke in favor of the ordinance and the Council unanimously approved Ordinance #82-02 within a ten minute period with no recorded discussion about the validity of the contents. The defintion was adopted in April 1982 and was contained in subsection SCC 18.08.63 Utility. Washington State And King County Do Not Consider Radio/TV A Utility The Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commision (WUTC) which regulates publicly owned companies does not consider radio or TV to be utilities. WUTC says that in order for a company to be considered a utility they must provide a customer with gas, electricity, water or local telephone service from a single company who is obliged to serve all customers within its territory. Radio, TV and cell phone services are different in that they are not an essential service, and a customer can listen to any number of radio or TV stations or choose among many cell phone companies. Washington State code (WAC 480-80-030) and King County code (21A.06.1350) share this view in their definitions of utilities. Not Even The FCC Considers Radio/TV A Utility Even the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not consider radio/TV/cell phone companies as utilities. In fact, the FCC views radio/TV and cell phone companies in a very similar light. They are competitive companies unlike a utility. County Council Chair John Koster Is Modifying SCC 30.91U.110 County Council Chair John Koster is modifying the code to exclude cell phone towers from the definition of a utility. Here is Mr. Koster's new code revision: �Utility� means any public or private entity whose principal purpose is to provide electricity, water, sewer, storm drainage, gas, radio, television, telephone and or other forms of communications utilizing the electromagnetic spectrum to the public except personal wireless telecommunications services. Oddly, Mr. Koster is leaving radio and TV as a utility. Since radio and TV are similar, we believe these should be exempted as well. Leaving private interest companies like radio and TV to operate like utilities means they can get a conditional use permit (CUP) virtually anywhere they want. Please see our current action item on what you can do to help. |
| Snohomish County is unique in that it defines radio and TV companies as utilities. This allows radio and TV companies to obtain conditional use permits that would be prohibted in other counties in Washington State. Snohomish County Code SCC 30.91U.110 defines a utility and in this definition, a radio tower is considered a utility and utilities are permitted in agricultural areas. |
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