Chairman Linda W. Cropp at the request of the
Mayor
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to
exempt from zoning the government’s use of a portion of the east campus of St. Elizabeths
Hospital as a facility to send and receive 911 emergency communications.
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the "District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984
Land Use Amendment Act Emergency 16 Declaration Resolution of 1998".
Sec. 2. (a) The Council of the District of Columbia, on December 27, 1996, approved a
multi-year contract to design, fabricate, and implement an 800 MHz trunk digital radio 911
emergency communications system to be operated by the Department of Fire and Emergency
Medical Services ("DFEMS") (Council Resolution, effective December 27, 1996
(Res: 11-687; 43 DCR 6874)).
(b) As a consequence of the Council action, the Federal Communications Commission
("FCC") extended the District’s authority to use eight 800 MHz frequencies until
December 31, 1998. This was at least the fourth extension granted for these frequencies
since 1984.
(c) The bunked system described in the approved contract required four transmission
sites, one in each quadrant of the City. The contract identified the transmission site for
the 5 Southeast quadrant as the former site of the United States Naval 6 Air Station
communications facility located on the northeast corner of the east campus of St.
Elizabeths Hospital. The transmission site, as described in the contract, would consist of
a base station, a 250 foot tower, and an antenna array. The FCC has approved only the use
of this site for the Southeast quadrant component of the DFEMS system.
(d) In November, 1996, the Office of Emergency Preparedness ("OEP") received
funding authority to implement its own trunked 800 MHz system using an additional 18
frequencies allocated to the District in 1984 and 1985. However, on November 28, 1987, the
FCC ordered the District to relinquish 10 of these frequencies to Howard County, Maryland,
as a condition for a further extension to complete the system by May 31, 1998.
(e) Although OEP completed construction of its system in time to meet the FCC deadline,
the loss of the 10 frequencies severely limited the system’s capabilities. Similar
limitations will apply to DFEMS’s planned eight channel system. The two agencies therefore
agreed to combine their allocated frequencies to create a 16 channel trunked system. A
design for the combined system was recently completed. On September 9, 1998, ANC 8A was
formally advised of the proposed construction of the St. Elizabeths’ emergency
communications facility.
(f) The District’s authority to use the eight DFEMS frequencies will expire if the
combined system is not operational by December 31, 1998. In order to meet this FCC-imposed
deadline, construction on the St. Elizabeths site must commence by mid-October, 1998.
Although the site was never zoned because of the prior federal government use, this
exemption from zoning cannot extend to the proposed District government use without an act
of Council. Without an immediate exemption from zoning, construction cannot begin in time
to complete the system by December 31, 1998. A further extension of the FCC deadline is
unlikely in view of the number of years the frequencies have gone unused, the number of
extensions already granted, and the probability that neighboring jurisdictions will claim
a need for these frequencies.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in Section 2 constitute emergency circumstances, making it necessary that the
"District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of
1998" be adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.