Here’s a new marketing idea for Oregon: Please, come to Oregon and take a ride through our wild and wacky land use planning system.
Sweet Home’s had two oddball things happen in its land use system over the last month or so.
First, there’s School District 55’s application for a conditional use permit to site a modular building at the high school. Second is the cell tower Sprint PCS wants to install right here in town.
On the School District’s permit, the Planning Commission decided a sidewalk along one of its driveways needed a handrail. The requirement evolved from a discussion about the district’s suggestion of a fence along that sidewalk to address commission safety concerns.
It was mentioned in a letter, a suggestion possibly even forgotten by district officials; then it showed up in the final permit.
With all due respect, the sidewalk is a silly idea, born of the same obsession for “safety” that afflicts us in so many ways these days. The sidewalk would run along the driveway off 18th Avenue across from the soccer field and parking.
The handrail would be in the way of those crossing the driveway. Openings spaced out along the handrail would force drivers to walk on the driveway longer than necessary, exposing them to the same dangerous traffic.
No pedestrians I am aware of have been hit on that driveway, and even if it is used by school buses during the day, it certainly seems no busier than last year at other times of day. The school buses, which travel slowly through there, surely present no real threat to safety.
To put this idea in perspective, consider a handrail along the Long Street sidewalks in front of the high school. That area has much more traffic, and teens cross Long Street in throngs at lunch time.
On appeal this month, the City Council should go with the Planning Commission decision but get rid of the silly handrail.
While appealing, the district asked the City Council to waive the appeal fee. The City Council rightly denied the waiver. After all, the district’s disagreement over process is exactly why the appeal process is available.
All who disagrees with the Planning Commission and appeals to the council do so because they disagree with a decision made by the commission. Anyone appealing should pay the same fee.
Of course, the idea of most land use fees is silly in the first place. Put simply, land use fees are a property owner paying for the privilege of asking the public for permission to use his property.
The regulations set in place, for example conditional use, are set up generally to protect the public good or the public interest. It is only in consideration of those rules, for the benefit of the public, a property owner must come before the planning system and ask permission. The public should pay.
On to Sprint. Commissioner Rich Rowley is right. Sprint hasn’t shown a reason that it cannot feasibly put antennas on the old Willamette water tower. Spring has been to Sweet Home before and heard the same objection. Sprint was asked why not before then withdrew its application. This time around it still hasn’t answered the question, offering only the flimsiest excuse.
Sprint’s answer is that it would violate one of its environmental policies. Okay, and driving under the speed limit violates my personal code – No more tickets please.
Sprint should come up with a good reason why not, or it should locate its new antennas on the water tower. That’s the rules.
The Planning Commission was split on whether to approve Sprint’s request to put a cell tower at Santiam Spray off 18th Avenue. Half wanted to follow the rule. Half wanted to go with the idea of free enterprise and accept the flimsy explanation from Sprint.
Dr. Henry Wolthuis hailed the free enterprise system and voted in favor of Sprint – In essence a vote in favor of a free market and against a bureaucratic rule that allows government to select who will receive a lease payment.
The irony is that the tower rules, in the name of protecting Sweet Home from some kind of ugliness associated with cell towers, short circuit the free-market process and act as a central planning mechanism for the market.
Central planning of markets is a key definition of socialism, the antithesis to individual freedom and the elimination of incentive. The existence of this rule is a bad move. It doesn’t matter if other communities have a similar law. It’s wrong everywhere.
Perhaps a case could be made to keep cell towers out of residential areas, but then again, cell towers are beautiful. They are part of our city landscape, which is largely concrete, asphalt and metal; and they are essential for a service most Americans now take for granted. Rather than consider them ugly, perhaps we should embrace them as tributes to humanity’s God-given ingenuity and spirit.