Santa Barbara County’s Board of Supervisors will consider streamlining permitting for small cell towers and other telecommunications facilities to comply with federal law, which has drawn opposition from a local group citing safety and fire concerns.

Recent changes to federal law limit the county’s ability to stop the installation of small wireless facilities and prohibit the county from making the process too long.

“Jurisdictions can regulate facilities on the basis of aesthetics, so long as any standards are reasonable and objective and not so onerous that they can have the effect of prohibiting a wireless carrier from providing service,” said Alex Tuttle, the deputy director of Planning & Development.

The amendments would change the permit requirements for small wireless installations in inland areas and coastal zones.

Adopting objective design standards would replace the need for the Board of Architectural Review to see and approve the plans beforehand.

A few members of the Safe Technology for Santa Barbara County group gathered outside the County Administration Building in Santa Barbara this week and said they want the supervisors to vote against the amendments at Tuesday’s meeting.

Opponents said they want bigger setbacks between cell towers and homes.

Katie Mickey, vice president of Safe Technology for Santa Barbara County, said she became interested in the topic after her former office had three cell towers placed around it. She claims that the signals from the tower affected her health and forced her to move offices.

Mickey said the wireless ordinances were being paired with housing ordinances. She claimed that combination made no sense and held up a pineapple and a slice of cheese as a comparison.

Another issue brought up by the opponents was the potential of cell towers starting fires or exploding.

Tuttle said the county does address fire risk, and all facilities require building permits and are inspected by building inspection staff.

He added that the units are usually mounted to existing power lines. Any fire risk is more likely to be caused by existing power lines rather than the new equipment, he said.

SafeTechSBC member Miriam Lindbeck said the group is trying to alert residents to the ordinance and convince them to get involved, whether by attending the meeting to speak out against the ordinance during public comment or by writing letters to the board.

“We’re hoping to sway them to either abstain or vote no. If we get three people that either vote no or abstain, then it’s a win,” Lindbeck said.

“(Then) we can take this ordinance back to the drawing board and put into it the safety measures and requirements that we need for a better ordinance for the people and the environment.”

Ordinance Amendments

Some of the aesthetic requirements the county is considering would cover how cell equipment is installed, how it must look and where it is placed.

The equipment would need to be flush against the telephone pole unless that wouldn’t be feasible, but it couldn’t extend out over a roadway. Additionally, equipment would need to be painted to match the base or building, according to a staff report.

Any equipment also would have to be installed as close as possible to shared property lines between adjacent lots and couldn’t be installed within 20 feet of a door or window of a home or other residential building.

Installations also would not be allowed directly in front of residential buildings or businesses, and they would be prohibited from being installed within 50 feet of streetlights, utility poles or similar support structures.

The topic is scheduled to be discussed at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday in Santa Barbara at the County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu St. The meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m. and will be streamed live on countyofsb.org.