Court Opinion

ID: 9547041
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:40:34.720359+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:17:13.675176
License: Public Domain

Donworth, J.
(dissenting) — I dissent. The majority states that “although a radio broadcasting station does not constitute a public utility in the ordinary sense, it is, nevertheless, a public utility in a limited sense impressed with a public interest.” I agree.
However, the above-quoted sentence is necessarily predicated on the premise that the term “public utility” can mean different things in different contexts. The question before us, then, is not whether a radio station can ever be called a public utility, but whether the proposed structures (which include a one-story building and three 240-foot radio towers) constitute a public utility within the meaning of King County Zoning Resolution No. 18801, as amended by resolution No. 18844, § 4.02, which section was amended by resolutions No. 19766, 20216, and 20432. (This section is codified, except for title, in Book Publishing Company’s “King County Code” as § 24.10.020.)
The relevant provisions of that section follow:
“4.02 Uses Permitted After Review by the Board of Adjustment and After the Issuance, by the Board of Adjustment, of a Conditional Use Permit.
“1. Public utility and governmental buildings or struc*534tures including art galleries, libraries and museums:
“(d) Public utilities must be shielded from abutting properties and highways by a sight-obscuring protective strip of trees or shrubs.”
The majority opinion states that the term “public utility” was not qualified in the zoning code. If a “public utility” cannot meet the conditions set out in the above-quoted section of the code, it is presumably not the type of public utility contemplated by that section. To that extent, the term “public utility” is qualified.
Other factors tend to confirm my belief that the radio transmitter facility involved herein is not a public utility within the meaning of the zoning ordinance. The station does not necessarily have to be located within an area zoned for single-family dwellings in order to serve that community. In that respect, it is unlike an electric power substation, a branch telephone exchange, or a sewage treatment plant. Furthermore, the purpose in establishing this radio station is only partly to serve the local community. Actually, the main radio station, of which the proposed structures are an adjunct, is located in Seattle. The primary motivation is commercial. Again, this is unlike the public utilities which are necessarily located in a single-family district for the purpose of serving that particular area.
In my opinion, the respondent’s proposed radio transmitter facility, with its 240-foot transmitter towers, is not a “public utility” within the meaning of the King County Zoning Code. Therefore, the Board of Adjustment did not have jurisdiction to issue a conditional use permit in this case.
Nothing stated herein is intended to apply to any situation other than the one before the court.
I would reverse and dismiss this action because of the board’s lack of jurisdiction.