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| Submitted comments will appear below after staff approval. | |
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| Lydia Darby | 1/24/2006 5:18:49 PM |
| This issue was brought to my attention by friends who live in the South Addition. I am pleased to learn that it is being addressed of a Municipal level. I agree with the proposed ordinance. | |
| Deborah Seaton | 1/21/2006 9:20:03 AM |
| I strongly support the position of the South Addition Community Counciy (see coments by President Kathleen Weeks) to not allow the home based business for Albert Swank (318-326 W. 10th Ave) to build a cyclotron and produce radioactive isotopes in a residential neighborhood. We are embedded in a school (Denali Elementary and Chugach Elementary, Central Jr. High) and residential/park area. Nothing about his proposal is reasonable to want to conduct this type of high risk business in this area. Please support the ordinance put forth by Alan Tesche to not allow this type of business in a our residental area. | |
| South Addition Community Council President Kathleen Weeks | 12/17/2005 4:33:45 PM |
| South Addition Community Council Resolution A Resolution of the South Addition Community Council urging enactment of an ordinance prohibiting particle accelerators and cyclotrons in residential areas or in home occupations. ______________________________________________________________________________ WHEREAS, the Council has learned of plans to install a 30 ton, 16 million electric volt particle accelerator (cyclotron) into a garage at his private home in downtown Anchorage where he will manufacture and distribute radioisotopes to local hospitals for PET scans and WHEREAS, the owner claims he can operate this machine in a residential area as part of a "home occupation" under AMC 21 and if he prevails in that position, the door will open for the introduction of similar industrial operations in residential neighborhoods, and WHEREAS principle neighborhood concerns include safety, radioisotope production and handling, radioisotope transportation, power consumption, and neighborhood nuisances WHEREAS, particle accelerators, including cyclotrons used to manufacture radioisotopes for use in medical procedures are most commonly located in protected, vaulted areas of hospitals or in industrial areas where safeguards for security and radiation safety can be easily accomodated; NOW THEREFORE, the South Addition Community Council urges the Anchorage Assembly to adopt AO 2005-178, confirming the Assembly's intent to prohibit particle accelerators, including cyclotrons, in residential areas or as home occupations. The Council recommends that industrial cyclotrons used to produce radioactive materials be located in shielded and protected areas of hospitals or in industrial areas as they are throughout the world and urges a conditional use process for any such installation. PASSED THIS 15th day of December, 2005. | |
| Kathleen Weeks | 12/17/2005 4:30:55 PM |
| Re: Ordinance No.2005-178 (Also known as P &ZCase No. 2005-155), I urge you to pass this vitally needed zoning amendment. No cyclotrons (particle accelerators) are operated in a residential neighborhood anywhere in the United States. They operate in medical complexes and on major science campuses or industrial zones. No experienced operator has even suggested that they should be! This is a fundamental land use planning issue. These machines are typically housed in a concrete vault largely underground with extra-dense concrete walls, ceiling and floors, usually 9ft thick. This is largely because if the machine were to malfunction, the concrete vault would protect the health of the operator and others. These machines devour enormous quantities of electrical power. This matter came to our neighborhood’s attention rather abruptly when we learned of a neighbor’s plan to install a cyclotron in his home or garage (both wooden structures). All of the information that we have to date indicates that this cyclotron which is headed for our neighborhood is over 25 years old and it has not been operated in over 5 years. It is the original prototype positive ion variety. The newer GE PET Trace model is a negative ion cyclotron which poses fewer risks. It is a major concern that our neighbor, Mr. Swank, has not been forthright with our neighborhood, our Community Council, or the Planning and Zoning Commission. He insists nothing could be such a safe “home occupation” in a residential neighborhood. Anchorage zoning defines a “home occupation” as “incidental and accessory to the residential use” and something which poses no loud, smelly, toxic or annoying activities which might disturb the residential character of the neighborhood. If a particle accelerator which weighs 30 tons, consumes 16 million volts of electricity, needs its own air filtration system and water system and special safety staff and security can fall within the definition of “home occupation,” then it would be hard to exclude any small manufacturing commercial operation from our residential zones. There are 220 cyclotrons operating and each is housed in a facility which was built at an average cost of $10 million. Michigan State University operates several cyclotrons and they recently installed a new one. The cost to MSU for the newest cyclotron vault was $9.8 million. Please consider why MSU would waste $9.8 million on an unnecessary concrete vault if, as Mr. Swank proposes, these units may be operated safely in a wooden home built in the 1940's? The Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the passage of Ord. 2005-178. They also suggested that Anchorage consider the passage of a new ordinance to cover any future importation, installation, or commissioning of cyclotrons in non-residential zones by establishing a conditional use permit process for manufacturing of radioactive materials. This is also urgently needed. This is precisely what is urged even by those experts named by Mr. Swank (Triumph of Vancouver, Canada). This is a critical land use issue which impacts the health and safety of my neighborhood and I urge the adoption of Ordinance No. 2005-178. | |
| Robert Gill | 12/14/2005 8:01:41 PM |
| No cycletrons should be permitted in a residential area. A medical district with appropriate safeguards is the only suitable area for this type of activity. Many members of the Southfork community feel as I do. There are appropriate home businesses and there are inappropriate ones. Thank you for listening to my comments. Please pass this ordinance. Sincerely, Bob Gill President Southfork Community Council | |
| Bonnie Harris | 12/11/2005 8:47:04 PM |
| I strongly urge you approve and recomend to the Assembly that they adopt OA 2005-178 to make it clear that locating and operating a cyclotron to manufacture radioactive isotopes is not a "home occupation" consistent with the character of residential neighborhoods and that such an operation properly sited in an area zoned for residential uses. There is no possible way that a cyclotron can be properly operated or that radioactive isotopes can be safely produced in a residential neighborhood as a home business. Medical cyclotrons require much more space than the 500 square feet permitted for a “home occupation”. For example, a state-of-the-art GE PETtrace Medical Cyclotron requires a 12 X 12 square foot, interior dimension room, with 5 foot thick walls and ceiling just for operation of the magnets. Another 1000-plus square feet is required for the equipment systems, hot cell, hot box, quality control and clean area. These machines also require a huge amount of power. It is apparent by the radiation containment and safety requirements for cyclotron operations that they cannot be safely operated in residential neighborhoods as a home occupation. Medical cyclotrons, even the self-shielded models, require concrete or lead-shielded rooms (“containment vaults”) to contain radioactive materials that may escape into the environment during routine operations. They require reliable radiation detection and safety systems to protect the workers and environment from contamination by radioactive particles, and they must be operated in accordance with rigorous radiation standards and safeguards. This is why they are located in medical centers and not in residential houses or garages. It is not a question whether cyclotrons or the radioisotopes produced for medical use are good or bad, it is an issue of land use planning. In appropriate locations, i.e., hospital or medical center settings, it appears that properly installed and operated cyclotrons may present a relatively low risk of radioactive exposure to workers and the environment. A home in a residential neighborhood cannot possibly accommodate the radiation containment and detection features required to safely and properly install and operate a medical cyclotron. The sort of operation needed to support a safe cyclotron-driven manufacturing site is not an appropriate use in a residential zoned area, surrounded by homes, schools, churches and public parks and places. Thank you for your consideration. | |
| Bonnie Harris | 12/11/2005 8:46:07 PM |
| I strongly urge you approve and recomend to the Assembly that they adopt OA 2005-178 to make it clear that locating and operating a cyclotron to manufacture radioactive isotopes is not a "home occupation" consistent with the character of residential neighborhoods and that such an operation properly sited in an area zoned for residential uses. There is no possible way that a cyclotron can be properly operated or that radioactive isotopes can be safely produced in a residential neighborhood as a home business. Medical cyclotrons require much more space than the 500 square feet permitted for a “home occupation”. For example, a state-of-the-art GE PETtrace Medical Cyclotron requires a 12 X 12 square foot, interior dimension room, with 5 foot thick walls and ceiling just for operation of the magnets. Another 1000-plus square feet is required for the equipment systems, hot cell, hot box, quality control and clean area. These machines also require a huge amount of power. It is apparent by the radiation containment and safety requirements for cyclotron operations that they cannot be safely operated in residential neighborhoods as a home occupation. Medical cyclotrons, even the self-shielded models, require concrete or lead-shielded rooms (“containment vaults”) to contain radioactive materials that may escape into the environment during routine operations. They require reliable radiation detection and safety systems to protect the workers and environment from contamination by radioactive particles, and they must be operated in accordance with rigorous radiation standards and safeguards. This is why they are located in medical centers and not in residential houses or garages. It is not a question whether cyclotrons or the radioisotopes produced for medical use are good or bad, it is an issue of land use planning. In appropriate locations, i.e., hospital or medical center settings, it appears that properly installed and operated cyclotrons may present a relatively low risk of radioactive exposure to workers and the environment. A home in a residential neighborhood cannot possibly accommodate the radiation containment and detection features required to safely and properly install and operate a medical cyclotron. The sort of operation needed to support a safe cyclotron-driven manufacturing site is not an appropriate use in a residential zoned area, surrounded by homes, schools, churches and public parks and places. Thank you for your consideration. | |
| Bonnie Harris | 12/11/2005 8:18:56 PM |
| Laura Bottger | 12/11/2005 7:34:57 PM |
| I strongly urge you to approve the amendments to the zoning ordinances to clarify what should seem obvious: that running a cyclotron to manufacture radio-isotopes is not a "home occupation" consistent with the residential character of the neighborhood, nor is such an operation properly sited in an area zoned for residential uses. The issue is not whether cyclotrons or the radioisotopes produced for medical use are good or bad, the issue is one of simple land use planning. The sort of operation needed to support a safe cyclotron-driven manufacturing site has no place in a residential neighborhood, surrounded by schools, churches, and the city's answer to Central Park. Thank you for your consideration. | |
| Charlie Horsman | 12/10/2005 8:26:06 AM |
| Eagle River Community Council has presented this question to its members and directors via email. To date, the responses are unanimous that Title 21 should be amended to prohibit the placement and operation of particle accelerators and cyclotrons in residential zoning or near schools. Charlie Horsman ERCC President | |
| Leonard Lamb | 12/8/2005 1:29:43 AM |
| No way Jose... whats next... a nuclear generating plant next door. | |
| Steven Ellis | 12/5/2005 9:02:56 AM |
| This type of Activity doesn't belong in or near schools or residential areas. There should be a minimum distance of separation from radioactive material handling, storage or manufactur and the above uses. | |
| Lance Duncan | 12/3/2005 1:38:26 PM |
| I agree with banning radioactive materials and radiation-producing equipment (other than those normally found in household items and appliances) from residential areas. While the particular equipment at issue may or may not pose a hazard in itself, this is clearly an issue of a class of commercial activity that has potential for hazard to residents and also has significant potential of reducing property values for adjacent homeowners. Also, as technology advances, more and more devices and equipment containing nuclear materials or producing high-energy emissions are being developed and used, so this issue will become more controversial in the future. A suggestion - the ordinance phrasing should look ahead and fully address the issue, not key to just the one case currently at hand. Writing a general ordinance to permanently ban the intended classes of activity might as well be done now as in the future, and by making it a general hazard-prevention ordinance eliminates the high probability that the ordinance as currently phrased would be thrown out under state law as being a specific case law directed to affect one individual - generally held to be illegal. However, the ordinance list of exempted items should be subject to close review, to avoid prohibiting commonly used items that are not intended to be excluded. Also need to look at what regulations you want to include for non-residential areas ? Recommend that the ordinance prohibit all radioactive containing or producing materials and equipment, excluding a list of generally accepted consumer materials and equipment. Bear in mind that this would prohibit some activities that may currently go on in residential areas, including: dental and medical xray machines and lasers (including laser "skin beauty" treatments) in home-based medical offices (which would technically probably violate the home-business zoning code provisions anyway), in-home storage or at-home in-vehicle overnight storage of nuclear density machines (hand-portable machines used in soils, roofing, and paving moisture and density testing) by inspectors, and similar devices. Phrasing could be similar to follows: This ordinance prohibits from use or storage in residential-zoned areas and from all residential structures (including boarding houses, hotels, residential care facilities, residential institutional facilities, and other lodging facilities) any and all materials, devices and equipment that contain radioactive materials, produce emissions from radioactive materials, or generate or produce radioactive materials or radioactive or energized particles, ionizing radiation, or electromagnetic emissions. This prohibition specifically excludes the following uses, which are allowed provided they are in full compliance with all other applicable local, state, and federal laws including, but not limited to zoning and land regulations, and are also in full compliance with all applicable Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration (OSHA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations and licensing reguirements. - Storage of subject equipment or devices (disconnected from energizing power source if an emitter of energy or electromagnetic radiation), provided they contain no radioactive materials and contain and emit no detectable residual radiation as a result of a prior energization; - Transport of such equipment or materials in accordance with all applicable regulations, provided that radioactive materials in regulated amounts shall only be transported through residential areas as necessary for delivery within said area or where such transit is the only means of reaching a pickup or delivery destination due to lack of alternate route bypassing the residential area; - Transport by air or rail by established flight path or rail route as applicable, provided that any shipment with regulated amounts of radioactive materials shall not be stored or left standing (other than in an active train awaiting transit clearance) on a siding in a residential area; - Common household items containing minute amounts of radioactive materials and licensed (or exempted from licensing) by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission such as luminescent dials or indicators; lighting devices such as fluorescent, gas-filled or "black lights", and items such as luminescent decorations; ordinary electronic components such as diodes, rectifiers, and detectors; and smoke, gas, or combustion product detectors; - Common FCC-approved household or consumer items that produce ionizing radiation or electromagnetic emissions such as microwave ovens; communications, entertainment, computer and video display equipment; handheld laser pointers if used only for their intended presentation use; - Common detection, test, and similar commercial service or contractor equipment that, other than being of commercial nature would fall under one of the two exceptions immediately above, that is routinely kept in an individual's home or in a service or contractor's vehicle, that by regulation requires no special enclosure or protection, and is not reportable if stolen or misplaced; - Medical examination devices, materials, and medications licensed (or exempted from licensing) by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Drug Commission, being used by a licensed medical care provider for in-home medical exam or treatment of a resident of that location who is immobile and cannot readily or safely receive treatment at a medical facility; - Medical care equipment and supplies necessary for providing in-house medical services at residential medical care facilities, including hospitals, jails and prisons, and similar institutional facilities; - Governmental emergency services equipment and supplies, both while in transit or on calls and in-station storage; - Commercial licensed communications equipment; - Nuclear density/moisture meters, ground penetrating radar, xray, and similar construction quality control or inspection devices en route to or from or being used at proposed or current construction or maintenance sites, archaeological or geologic investogation site, or crime scene location; - Ionizing radiation producing construction equipment such as arc, plasma, particle beam and laser cutters or welders, thermionic heaters or fusion devices, and electromagnetic curing or treatment devices such as ultraviolet curing lights, but only for use in residential zoned area for on-site construction of permitted structures; for emergency repair of construction equipment being used for on-site building construction or repair; for personal hobby or on-site repair use; or for approved home occupation use provided there is no offsite indication (bright light, smoke, fumes, electrical or electromagnetic disruption) of such use; - Nuclear materials that are naturally occurring in on-site materials, or in minute and unregulated quantities as a natural constituent of the materials from which equipment or a device are constructed, provided that no radioactive materials have been intentionally added in the manufacturing or assembly process, except as otherwise excepted above. - The penalty for violation of this ordinance shall be a fine of ___(I suggest $500)___, plus ___($250)_____ for each day that the violation persists after notification of the violation. (Suggest initial fine be doubled or quadrupled if violation was willful). - In the event there is a dispute regarding whether a particular use or item is prohibited under this regulation, upon appeal under ______ a determination shall be made by the ________ Officer. (Planning to fill in AMC Code section and individual, presumably the head of Planning and Zoning, but perhaps better to be the City Engineer or Public Health Officer ?). Such determination may be appealed under the procedures for _________. (P&Z to fill in most closely related procedure). =========================== Other issues that could be, but you might not want to address in the same ordinance: - Lasers (related to use that could cause civilian injury or endanger transportation, outside of residential areas); - Registration of structures where radioactive materials are used, as a safety issue for firefighters / first responders. | |