The Deschutes County Planning Commission is asking countycommissioners to consider a moratorium on cell towers--aka wirelesstelecommunications facilities--to prevent any additionalapplications from being processed until the new code is adopted.Legally, though, the county must give the Department of LandConservation and Development 45 days notice to consider themoratorium. That window will give communications companies plentyof time to flood the city with additional applications that wouldbe "grandfathered" under the old rules. Even without themoratorium, companies have some time to get their applications inunder the wire. A public hearing on the revised code is scheduledfor Nov. 16, and a new ordinance wouldn't be passed until earlyDecember at the soonest.

American Tower Corp. is behind four of the nine pendingapplications for the 150-foot tall towers. Two of its applications,for a tower in an exclusive farm use zone and another in a surfacemining zone, are scheduled for a public hearing this week. Staff isrecommending both applications be denied because the county'sexisting ordinance does not allow companies to build cell towersunless it has a lease agreement with an FCC-approved serviceprovider. American Tower Corp. says it has letters of intent, andthat should suffice.