Residents raise concerns over proposed Leavenworth cell tower

LEAVENWORTH — A proposed cell tower in Leavenworth drew questions and complaints from residents during the Sept. 30 community meeting with Commissioner Shon Smith and county staff.

According to the permit application, the proposed 120-foot cell tower is located on private property approximately 130 feet off of East Leavenworth Road, across the street from the roadside access point for Icicle Creek. The project is led by Harmoni Towers and Verizon Wireless with the permission of a private property owner. Verizon says it needs the tower to address critical coverage gaps and “provide and enhance coverage” within Icicle Creek Valley.

Residents raised concerns about the tower’s impact on the area’s natural beauty, rural character and property values, and frustrations over the county’s permitting process.

“We are not against cell towers in general…In our view, this is a really poor location for a cell tower,” said resident Bruce Williams.

Williams questioned county officials on why they issued the permit if it was “inconsistent with the goals specified” in Chelan County Code 11.91.010. The code encourages the location of cell towers in nonresidential areas and in areas that minimize the tower’s adverse visual and general impact to the community.

“I can't regulate encouragements,” said Community Development Director Deanna Walters.

The community development director emphasized that she did not have authority to deny a permit if it met the regulatory requirements.

“So the code is not a code, right? It's just a poem,” Robert Ward rebutted.

Commissioner Smith acknowledged that his board was aware of similar concerns over proposed cell towers in other parts of the county, but maintained that he did not know about the Leavenworth proposal until concerned residents brought it to his attention.

He said the board moved to require a conditional use permit, but that the applicants were faster than the slow bureaucracy of code adoption by a matter of days. Residents pressed the commissioner on why the board didn’t consider a moratorium on cell towers if they were aware of the issues.

“The moratorium would have been a great idea. Sorry, hadn't even thought of it,” said Smith.

Residents questioned whether the applicant's description of the tower's visual impact in the SEPA checklist accurately reflected what residents would see, including its use of a photo depicting the tower at tree level. They pressed Walters on her verification of information.

“Even if I could verify that it was blocking views, there's no view protection regulations in Chelan County,” said Walters, noting that SEPA was a state checklist, and that other cities have view protections.

Others asked if the county could have alerted residents sooner. The county public information officer pointed to existing avenues of communication, such as newsletters, agendas and newspaper listings. However, Walters said she couldn’t warn residents about specific applications due to the regulatory nature of her office.

“So where do we go from here and how can you help us?” a community member asked.

Though the building permit couldn’t be appealed, Walters said she would look into the appeal period for the SEPA determination.

“That really is your avenue,” said Walters.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media