A move to allow more public input into the hundreds of new cellphone towers going up in neighbourhoods has backfired, with wireless companies threatening to consult less with the city than they do now.
The spat, which goes to a city committee today, underscores a growing problem as residents feel they have no say on where the towers go or how high they stand — just as demand for them is exploding.
“It’s a huge concern,” says Wayne Frisch, a Rutland Park resident opposed to a 25-metre tower planned for his neighbourhood.
There was an open house on that tower Tuesday night, due to its height. But for many towers — such as any shorter than 15 metres — no public input is required by Industry Canada, which has the final say.
“The planning department is pretty impotent at saying no,” Frisch said of the city’s role in the process. “They try to say no and Industry Canada steps on them.
“It’s a national problem.” As cellphone use continues to grow, so does the demand for service, which requires towers, usually built on private land. While the number of towers put up in the city has varied from between 13 a year to 150 a year, new companies coming into the market are adding to that.
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One carrier wants to put up 240 towers right away, said Nick Makale, the city’s lead planner with the development and business approval’s planning implementation unit.
And while the city facilitates consultation where required and gives Industry Canada its opinion, it can’t veto a tower.
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Last December, city council passed a motion that widened the scope dictated by Industry Canada for when public consultation is needed.
Ald. Bob Hawkesworth, who requested the change, said an increasing number of shorter towers were going in without any discussion.
“They’re very ugly cell towers and the public live in these communities, see these scars on the urban landscape and react. There’s a backlash,” he said.
But some of the cellphone companies felt they were already going above and beyond what the rules required and threatened to return to only doing the consultation absolutely required.
“A decision to leave the policy as it currently remains implies that the city has no further interest in the processing of new telecommunications submissions,” a letter from Telus said. “Telus will be required to exclusively seek guidance from Industry Canada … and remove the City of Calgary from the process.”
Makale said some companies, such as Telus and Rogers, were good about bringing any tower to the city for input, even ones they didn’t have to. That allowed the city to make suggestions on improvements — such as moving the tower within the site, using a less obtrusive pole or suggesting a rooftop tower.
“We had a nice working relationship,” he said. “We got to see what they were doing and usually work out a solution.”
But the wider consultation encompassed sites such as those in industrial areas, and said there could be no concurrence from the city without that consultation.
Telus’s Chris Gerritsen said the company is willing to continue consultations “where it makes sense” but wants to be consulted itself on any changes in city policy.
Odette Coleman, Rogers’ director of communications, said in an e-mail that “in this case, we believe the City of Calgary has made their protocol more onerous. . . . We will continue to work with the city and Industry Canada to ensure that the city’s protocol addresses the city’s concerns without over-stepping Industry Canada’s default consultation process.”
kguttormson@theherald.canwest.com
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