PCIA Urges L.A. Mayor To Amend 'Burdensome' Ordinance on Communications Facilities

PCIA urged Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to reject, amend or otherwise closely revisit a new city ordinance imposing “costly and untested requirements” on above-ground communications facilities, said PCIA in a news release on the letter to Garcetti. Left unchanged, L.A.'s new regulation could “jeopardize emergency services and undermine access to mobile wireless broadband data -- and with it, economic growth -- throughout Southern California,” said Jonathan Adelstein, PCIA president. Adelstein is petitioning the mayor to reconsider his approval of Council File 15-0050, an ordinance that would amend the Los Angeles Municipal Code to define communications facilities as “Class III Structures.” Such a move would subject wireless facilities to unwarranted standards that would undercut their construction and possibly prohibit future upgrades, Adelstein said. Imposing Class III construction requirements would also mean projects would take longer and be more costly to complete, Adelstein said.