A new city policy aims to protect residents from being surprised by telecommunications towers popping up in their neighbourhoods.
Council approved a new policy that outlines steps communication companies must follow in order to locate new cell towers within the city. The policy was needed to replace the current “ad hoc” procedures the city now follows, said senior long-range planner Martin Frigo.
“We probably will start to see more applications for some kind of developments like this in residential neighbourhoods,” said manager of planning Carol Bergum.
The city doesn’t have the authority to approve or deny the location of towers. That falls to Industry Canada. The city’s input is limited to providing the federal department with a letter of support or non-support for individual applications.
The current process for seeking city endorsement requires potential applicants to first try to place their installations on existing towers (called co-location) and do public consultation if their project has the potential to impact residents.
The new policy formalizes these processes by establishing requirements for co-location analysis and public consultation, the city says. It identifies locations the city considers to be preferred and discouraged for wireless towers. It also defines criteria for the design of new towers and criteria for municipal support or non-support.
The policy was formulated to be in line with Industry Canada’s requirements but didn’t seek input from local industry players, Bergum said.
This bothered Coun. Cam MacKay, who moved the city consult with the industry in case this turned up ways to speed up the approval process by removing some of the requirements.
“I want us to have a competitive advantage over all the other municipalities in the capital region,” MacKay said.
“If I’m a business in Campbell Business Park and I want to set up my own tower to communicate with my employees, I don’t want this to be an arduous process that makes somebody say I’ll just set up in Edmonton or Spruce Grove.”
MacKay’s push for more consultation failed and the policy passed 6-1.
The issue of cell towers has recently become controversial in Calgary where neighbourhood groups are complaining they weren’t notified before new towers were erected in their areas.
There are currently 14 towers in St. Albert, both freestanding and rooftop, Frigo said.
“Communications towers are a big issue for our residents,” said Coun. Len Bracko. “In the past they have spoken up and have made their perspective known. It’s good to have a policy that … puts everyone on the same page.”
Coun. Malcolm Parker felt the policy would be good for the business community.
“It allows businesses that want to come into our community to clearly understand what the expectations are,” he said, “and that’s what we want.”
