Comcast and Qwest have been operating without franchises in Santa Fe since 2004, when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a city ordinance requiring them to lease public rights of way for their equipment.

Qwest had challenged the city telecommunications ordinance in federal court as unduly burdensome.

But in the absence of a new agreement with the city for the past six years, Qwest and Comcast have continued to pay their leases at the old rates.

Two years ago, at the request of firms interested in building new systems in Santa Fe, city officials began looking at adopting a telecommunications ordinance similar to one in place in Albuquerque.

The proposed ordinance calls for formal franchises, instead of leases, with the city getting 5 percent of a firm's gross receipts, and expands available rights of way to include city sewers and storm drains.

The Santa Fe City Council was expected to approve the ordinance and two new franchises — for CityLink Fiber Holdings for a fiber-optic cable system and for NewPath Networks for a distributed antenna system — early this year.

But late on Feb. 10, the council voted unanimously to table the issue after an emotional meeting at which 28 people spoke against the proposals and the police were called to maintain order.

No one that evening suggested electromagnetic emissions are safe and that the objections are wrong. There was hardly any debate. Tom Johnson, one of the few speakers who didn't object to the ordinance, suggested the opponents confuse technologies. Wireless is only a "stop gap" that will be replaced in three to five more years, he said, by cable technology allowing "gigabit" speeds.

Councilors questioned Assistant City Attorney Maureen Reed about federal regulations requiring municipalities to respond to an applicant for a telecommunications franchise within 90 days. The two companies seeking franchises are both well beyond that deadline and are threatening legal action.

City jurisdiction is limited because since 1996, the federal government has banned municipalities from considering health and environmental impacts in determining where to locate a telecommunications system. At the end of the Feb. 10 meeting, the council unanimously passed a resolution asking the federal government to rescind that ban.

The telecommunications issue initially was postponed until the last meeting before the municipal election, then later postponed again until after the election. A showdown on Wednesday, however, is likely to be averted.

City staff plans to present an amended version of the ordinance with a "land-use provision" requiring public notice and hearings before any new telecommunications equipment can be installed. Even if health and environmental arguments cannot be raised, property values and historical aesthetics could be considered at these hearings.

Because a distributed antenna system uses dozens or even hundreds of small, low-key transmitters mounted on utility poles, traffic signals or other structures of moderate height — making them easier to vandalize — DAS builders have sought to avoid permitting of each transmitter.

The telecommunications ordinance, as originally presented, would have allowed the location of each antenna to be kept secret. But after Councilor Chris Calvert asked for that to be omitted, Todd Wells, an attorney representing NewPath Networks at the council hearing, said his firm would not insist on that provision and would abide by whatever land-use requirements are in place.

Councilors voted Feb. 10 to cut off further public comment on the issue. On Wednesday, they could vote the amended ordinance up or down, or determine that another public hearing should be held at a later date. Regardless, votes on the two proposed franchises are expected to be postponed until March 31 at the earliest.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.

Editor's note: This is the first of a series of stories about telecommunications issues before the Santa Fe City Council. The issue is on the agenda for the Wednesday meeting.