The city of Walnut plans to take a closer look at its policies for approving cellular phone towers and nominating appointees to commissions.

The City Council last week had a study session to discuss the two topics.  The council did not take action on either item. 

CELL TOWERS

Community Development Director Tom Weiner said that the city is getting more requests from cell phone carriers wanting to erect towers.  He said the city tries to work the new cell sites into the existing facilities at parks. 

Weiner said Verizon recently proposed to put a cell tower in Creekside Park.  The Planning Commission postponed the item, giving Verizon time to meet with residents.  The proposal will return to the Planning Commission soon. 

Although some residents have raised concerns about the proposed cell tower, mainly related to health, Weiner said the city only has control over the leasing aspect.  The Telecommunications Act and the Public Utilities Commission regulate the towers, so the city is prohibited from blocking the facilities from being constructed altogether, he said.

“The city can regulate, but not over regulate these things,” he said.  “We have to have areas where these are allowed.” 

Councilman Tom King said that the city has done a good job of constricting these facilities.  If Walnut restricts the cell towers on public property, the city is going to start seeing them on private property, he said.

“We need to exhaust our public sites and continue to look for streams of revenue for the city,” he said.

The leases for the eight cell towers generate around $230,000 annually, according to city staff.  

Councilman Antonio “Tony” Cartagena said the city staff needs to continue to keep the community informed about these telecommunications facilities and explain to the residents that Walnut does not have control when it comes to keeping the cell towers out.

Mary Rooney, the community services director, suggested a proactive approach.  The city should come up with a list of light-pole locations the cell phone carriers could consider for placing a cell tower, she said.

“I like to provide options ahead of their suggestions,” she said.  “Light poles are pretty benign.”

City staff will compile a list of suggested locations and bring them back to the Parks and Recreation Commission, Planning Commission, and City Council.

COMMISSIONER APPOINTMENTS

Also discussed at the study session were proposed changes to the way the council nominates appointees for city commissions. 

In October, the City Council passed an urgency ordinance that changed the approval policy for commissioners to require the majority of the council to agree.  Mayor Nancy Tragarz asked staff to put the ordinance on the agenda, adding that she wanted to return the policy to what it had being previously. 

That caused some tension because on the same agenda was Councilman Joaquin Lim’s Planning Commission nominee Michael West, a council candidate and frequent critic.  That nomination could not be done legally it turned out.  Last month, Lim nominated Eric Ching, who is now running for council, but his appointment was tabled.

The mayor had asked city staff to draft a more formal policy.

City Manager Rob Wishner said that staff researched the policies of 16 cities and found that most approve commissioners by majority. 

The proposed changes call for commission vacancies to be announced by the mayor at a regularly scheduled City Council meeting.  Vacancies due to a term ending would be announced 60 days before the end of the term.  In the case that a commissioner steps down, they resignation would be formally accepted by the City Council. 

Vacancies would be advertised, a 30-day application period would be instituted, and two members of the council the mayor appointed would conduct an interview. Interviews would be subject to the Brown Act.  The interview board would make a recommendation to the City Council and a formal appointment would be made by the mayor with the approval of the majority of the council.

King said there is a learning process in becoming a planning commissioner.

“When you’re a Planning Commissioner, it’s very easy to make a mistake,” he said.  “There are a lot of laws to follow.”

Mayor Pro Tem Mary Su said she felt that it is important for planning commissioners in particular have job experience in engineering or something related to planning.

Wishner said the new process would attract applicants with those qualifications.  The finished policy will come back to the council soon for a vote.

Su said commissioners need to have good attendance and respect the applicant’s time and effort to get projects done.

“If appointed to be a commissioner, you need to make a commitment to be there,” she said.  “Time is money.”