ENCINITAS — Shortly after proclaiming the month of June as Pride Month in Encinitas, the City Council voted on June 10 to unanimously adopt proposed amendments to the city’s small wireless facilities policy, as well as approve a template master license agreement and fee for cellular facilities with infrastructure in the public rights-of-way.
“We are reminded that this June we stand with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community in our own city, as they declare their own pride in who they are and who they love,” Blakespear said.
“Many of the residents, students, employees and business owners within the city of Encinitas, who contribute greatly to the enrichment of our city are a part of the city LGBTQ community,” Blakespear said, proclaiming the month of June as LGBTQ Pride Month, “inviting everyone to respect, honor and celebrate our diverse community and to continue building a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance of the LGBTQ community.”
The action Item on proposed amendments to the city’s small wireless facilities policy has been on City Council’s agendas continually since last summer.
On August 21, 2019, the City Council established standards and procedures for small 5G wireless facilities. Following the adoption, the council directed city staff to hold a community-wide workshop to solicit input and answer public questions, attracting nearly 200 residents.
On October 30, 2019, the council was presented with a resolution reflecting amendments discussed at the community workshop, including the restriction of wireless facilities in residential zones and dwellings, daycare and school facilities and high fire hazard zones.
On June 10, the City Council voted unanimously to adopt the proposed amendments and institute a $270 site licensing fee site, per year.
Immediately following, the council discussed the policy on the encroachment of fiberoptic cables responsible for the city’s internet bandwidth.
Councilmember Tony Kranz commented on the irony of discussing the connectivity issues back to back.
“Both are intended to provide a high-speed internet connection,” Kranz said. “One has the potential to have physical effects on people in [its] wireless vicinity [but] the fiber cables don’t have any of those impacts. I think it’s important that we encourage the deployment of more fiber cable.”
The City Council also unanimously voted to approve plans and open the bidding on construction of Trail 95 Project, a recreational trail off of El Camino Del Norte.
“This project is exciting,” Blakespear said. “[Sending this] out to bid, an improvement of public space that improves mobility for people in our community, is our top priority as a council and it’s great that we’re right here doing that now.”
Additionally, Fire Chief Mike Stein presented the results from an additional six months testing the city’s Rapid Response Pilot Program.
According to Stein, the data collected showed the program was not operationally required, as a combination of low utilization and repetitive services didn’t provide a positive return on investment. “We looked at the data exhaustively and it just didn’t pencil out.”
Deputy Mayor Kellie Shay Hinze commented on how she was initially in support of the pilot program, however, the report changed her mind.
“I was supportive of this pilot because we had the temporary space available without any cost… but it seems like the same conditions that made that a very interesting pilot to pursue won’t be there going forward and the data just doesn’t support it.”
The City Council also ratified letters in support of SB 793, the ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products in the state of California, as well as reimbursement for SANDAG from the state of California for expenses for an unfunded mandate to have auditors on staff.
