Opponents of KRKO radio’s proposed transmission towers south of Snohomish on Friday appealed Snohomish County’s environmental impact statement, saying the document downplays the project’s aesthetic impact on the area.
“It’s not a very satisfactory document,” said Lee Bennett, vice president of the group Citizens to Preserve the Upper Snohomish Valley.
The county recently released the final impact statement, allowing KRKO to apply for a conditional use permit.
The towers planned near Short School Road include an orange-and-white main antenna that will rise 349 feet and three gray towers, each 199 feet tall. The antennas would allow the radio station to strengthen its signal.
The project’s impact on the area would be primarily aesthetic, the county impact statement says. The towers, proposed for 40 acres of farmland, would affect the views of about 20 homes.
Bennett said the impact statement failed to adequately assess the project’s visual impacts. For example, the radio towers could ruin the rural view from nearby Craven Farms, which draws about 50,000 visitors each year for weddings and other events.
The appeal didn’t surprise Andy Skotdal, KRKO’s president and general manager. “None of this information is new,” he said.
The impact statement “is pretty thorough,” Skotdal said.
The appeal could delay issuance of the conditional use permit, Skotdal said. He said he expects the citizens group to take every opportunity to challenge the project, which was proposed five years ago.
“We knew this would take time. We’re comfortable with that,” he said, adding that he expects the construction to start in summer 2006.
In addition to visual impacts, the antennas impose other threats, Bennett said. They could threaten the migration of trumpeter swans and interfere with telephones, televisions and other electronic appliances, he said.
“Sometimes, it’s easily corrected. Sometimes, it’s impossible to be corrected,” he said of frequency interference.
Those issues were nothing new, either, Skotdal said.
“I am absolutely confident if those arguments are brought up again, they will be defeated again,” he said.
Skotdal said he expects the appeal hearing will be scheduled for May.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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