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CATV impact
is debated
By SHARON KILPATRICK .
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
An application for a special exception subdivision and the decision to move the Hampton District voting place to the Washington Fire Hall sailed through with no objection at the Board of Supervisors’ public hearings Monday evening, but the cable TV ordinance and Potomac Edison’s upgrading of power lines ran into opposition.
“Will cable TV require a tower?” Tom Von Fange of Sperryville asked.
“It will require a tower or a satellite dish,” County Administrator John McCarthy said.
“You need to protect the county’s looks,” Mr. Von Fange said. “How much control do you have to keep the county clean of large, machinery-looking things bn top of mountains?”
Commonwealth Attorney Peter Luke told him the county could control this when a company came in and applied for a franchise. The franchise would stipulate what equipment would be put in. Also the zoning ordinance would have to be followed. A tower might not be needed, and satellite dishes could be screened, he said.
“My second concern is what cable can bring into the county,” Mr. Von Fange said. "Can Rappahannock County set up a community standard? I’m concerned about the Playboy channel.”
“The county does not have editorial control over what appears on cable,” Mr. Luke replied. “Except that the county does have the right to prohibit ‘obscene’ material. Also the county can require that a franchise put ‘lock boxes’ so that parents can prevent their children from watching certain channels. Beyond that we’re in a very hazy area.”
Noting that the School Board had just adopted a Family Life Education curriculum “to try to guide our young people so they’ll respect people,” Mr. Von Fange said, “The Playboy channel could destroy that in a few minutes. We’re not Las Vegas; we’re not Atlantic City. I’m all for clear reception, but we want to protect our children.”
“We’ve reserved to ourselves the broadest powers we can. We do have the maximum protection we can write into the law,” Mr. Luke said.
Mr. Von Fange wanted to know if the community could form a committee with a large representative group to try to “determine what is obscene.”
Mr. Luke said he was uncertain if the decisions of
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