KRKO President Andy Skotdal, as quoted in the Jan. 11 Herald article, “Radio towers raise worries,” spoke volumes when he said, “I can certainly understand that people don’t want to look at a project like this … but the county code says we can go there.”
The public be damned. S-R Broadcasting and its owners in one fell swoop intend to wipe out the natural beauty of another one of the great river valleys in the Northwest. This should concern everyone in the county and the state. This resource is enjoyed by many. It is a regular occurrence for artists to be stationed along the valley road, painting, drawing and photographing the very area where the towers will be erected. It is also enjoyed daily by sightseers from within and outside the area.
This is not being proposed by a public utility providing essential services to the area. If allowed it will be a for-profit, private, multi-purpose antenna farm with the potential to expand to eight towers up to 425 feet high, ugly steel towers with lights that flash day and night. It may be the worst thing one could do to spoil a beautiful valley. There are plenty of properly zoned industrial locations that are technically and socially acceptable for an antenna farm. There can be no rationale or excuse for causing this type of environmental carnage.
Other issues are being argued – interference with existing radio and television reception, harm to the birds and other wildlife as well as loss of property value. Experts will effectively argue both sides of these issues but there is no argument with Mr. Skotdal’s statement. He is right without question; it will ruin forever the beauty of the valley.
Snohomish
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