Idyllic setting imperiled by radio towers, farmer says

Since the pea and sweet corn processors moved out of this picturesque valley, Craven has turned to pumpkin patches, weddings, antique shows and company picnics to keep his family's farm afloat.

A protracted battle over four radio antennae that the Everett-based station KRKO-AM seeks to build a quarter-mile from Craven Farm has boiled down to one thing: They'll be ugly.

The aesthetics of the rural Upper Snohomish River Valley are now the central issue the Snohomish County Council will consider Monday in weighing whether to overturn a hearing examiner's decision to deny key permits for the antennae. The examiner described them as stark, garish, angular and incompatible with the surrounding landscape.

"They would wreck the character of this valley," Craven said. "You have this unique setting, and if you put towers out there . . . that will upset the view, the quiet and the ambience -- that's going to affect us."

KRKO-AM, Snohomish County's only local news-talk radio station, wants to increase its signal strength tenfold. Its current transmitter site was designed to serve the county's population in 1959.

Owned by an influential Everett family that has led the way in developing vacant downtown buildings for office space, the station has been championed by the city's Chamber of Commerce and power brokers.


		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Marc Craven takes a morning walk on his farm that he rents out for weddings and other events in Snohomish. KRKO-AM radio wants to install four antennae nearby.

Supporters also include local charities that get air time for public service announcements that Seattle stations won't run. Rural school district superintendents and the county's emergency management agency also want broader coverage for their announcements.

Opponents of the antennae include neighbors, fishermen, the Pilchuck Audubon Society, swan biologists, park supporters and recreation-based businesses near Snohomish. But most of their complaints were rejected by the hearing examiner.

He found little compelling evidence that the structures would pose a danger to migrating trumpeter swans, wildlife habitat, skydivers, scenic hot air balloon tours and neighbors by interfering with electronic equipment.

"You'll find that every allegation against us has been popped like a balloon," said Andy Skotdal, owner of S-R Broadcasting, Inc., the station's parent company. "We're now down to the only issue that ever existed. Our antennas are visible. Everybody knew that from the start."

KRKO's attorney has argued that hearing examiner Peter Donahue overstepped his authority by taking numerous trips to the proposed site, creating his own visual impressions and introducing them as testimony. Donahue stepped down from the case last year, but a second hearing examiner upheld his findings.

The station contends aesthetics alone shouldn't be sufficient to deny the permits. Its attorney also argues the see-through latticework structures wouldn't completely obstruct residents' scenic vistas.

KRKO has shortened the proposed height of the tallest orange-and-white antenna to 349 feet and reduced the number of blinking lights. Three 199-foot structures would be painted flat gray. "It's visible, but it does not block any view. The eye can see through it if the eye chooses to," said John Hendrickson, an attorney for S-R Broadcasting.

Ruining the escape

But Craven sees monstrosities that threaten the agricultural character of the valley.

He doesn't just sell pumpkins, squash, gourds and flowers. The third-generation farmer markets a bucolic landscape, offering tourists and city dwellers a respite from their urban lives.

Craven Farm's pumpkin patch remains the farm's best-known attraction, now drawing an estimated 50,000 visitors a year around Halloween. Children climb on antique tractors, pickup trucks and wooden boats sunk into a play area covered with soft mulch.

A renovated barn decorated with lace curtains, old farm equipment and dried flowers provides space for craft bazaars, weddings and company barbecues.

Craven's aunt runs a "you-cut" Christmas tree farm down the road, and a nursery just went in next door. A nearby family sells cut flowers, and others have eyed the valley for a winery.

There are a growing number of such "destination" farms in the area, and everyone needs an edge to survive, Craven said. His is an unspoiled location, at the end of a dead-end road with Mount Pilchuck, Three Fingers and Whitehorse Mountain looming over fertile fields.

"It's kind of an escape from the city. When you have radio towers right next to your farm, it's like they're not escaping that anymore. It followed them out here," Craven said. "It's hard to say you're going to lose this much business, but I guess it's the unknown that scares me."

Many opponents live in the neighboring Lord Hill and Kenwanda neighborhoods, where residents prize little things such as the ability to watch meteor showers undisturbed by blinking lights.

Local sportsman and historian Bob Heirman said a broad coalition of people worked to establish the 343-acre park in the valley that now bears his name.

Snohomish County spent millions of taxpayer dollars to create the wildlife park, which includes legendary steelheading spots. Birders, anglers and others who frequent the park say the antennae would destroy one of the last big patches of open space in the county.

"This is not some NIMBY thing -- these are a broad range of people," Heirman said. "There comes a time where private enterprise has to take a back seat to the public."

Many champion station

But those who support KRKO's plans say the expanded signal is a beneficial and badly needed tool for school districts, non-profit agencies, emergency management agencies and businesses that hope to use it.

When the county had to evacuate Arlington residents after an ammonia leak last year, some people were too far out of range to hear the emergency alert on KRKO, said Roger Serra, director of Snohomish County's Department of Emergency Management.

Countless charities have testified in favor of the expansion, calling the station a vital community resource giving them access to the airwaves.

Tim Hornbecker, executive director of Sherwood Community Services, which helps disabled children and adults in Snohomish County, said the only airtime most Seattle stations are willing to give away is at 2 a.m., when nobody except people leaving bars is listening.

The Rev. Paul Stoot of the Greater Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, which runs programs for at-risk children, said it's also difficult to compete for money with Seattle charities that are more widely known.

"We desperately need to have our Snohomish County voices heard over King County," he said. "KRKO lets people know we exist."

Bob Ulrich, whose family has farmed in the valley for 60 years, said he too has had to start looking for other ways of making money. KRKO has an option to buy his land if the antennae are approved, and he thinks claims about the structures ruining the neighborhood are unfounded.

He recently had no trouble selling another parcel to someone who wanted to raise horses and flowers and had full knowledge of the proposed project.

"I believe they're providing a needed service while maintaining the land for farming uses," Ulrich said. "I believe the valley will still be a beautiful place and a radio station will still be a good neighbor."

But Jennifer Dold, an attorney for the citizens group fighting the antennae, says the appeal pending before the county council isn't a popularity contest or a referendum on how KRKO benefits the community. It's a land-use hearing focusing on whether the proposed structures fit in with the rest of the valley.

That includes a highly scenic pastoral corridor, popular recreation spots, low-density neighborhoods and longtime farmers such as Craven -- whose ability to survive would be seriously undermined, she said.

"These antennas are no small intrusions . . . they were designed to be seen by aircraft," Dold said. "They will not just slip right in and be compatible with the tractors that you see and the farms."

WHERE THEY MEET

The Snohomish County Council on Monday will consider whether to overturn a hearing examiner's decision to deny permits for radio antennae in upper Snohomish County. The meeting is at 1 p.m. in the Henry M. Jackson Board Room, sixth floor, County Administration Building, 3000 Rockefeller, Everett.

P-I reporter Jennifer Langston can be reached at 425-252-5235 or jenniferlangston@seattlepi.com

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