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PTC facing pressure for, against new cell towersTue, 02/02/2010 - 11:18pm
By: John Munford
Cellphone companies Tuesday night presented their case for the necessity of new cellphone towers to the Peachtree City Council and Planning Commission. The city is working with the cellphone companies to develop plans that limit the amount of new celltowers needed for the future, said Community Development Director David Rast. He said the work will likely be done within four to six weeks with a proposal then brought forward to the City Council for consideration. City Manager Bernie McMullen said the city may also want to look at its zoning ordinance to further restrict where cellphone towers can be located and also perhaps make it easier for carriers to locate on the same tower and thus reduce the need for additional towers in a certain area. Currently the towers can be built on land zoned for open space, agriculture residential, light industrial or general industrial use. Several cellphone carrier representatives told the City Council tonight that cellular service improvements are needed for residential neighborhoods in large part due to the proliferation of new wireless devices beyond “old fashioned” cellphones such as computer modems, smartphones such as Blackberry devices and iPhones. Also, across Georgia 20 percent of homes have ditched their landline phone service and thus exclusively rely on their cellphones for voice calls, said Liz Hill of American Tower Corporation. ATC is a company that builds and acquires cellphone towers and leases space on them to cellphone companies. Hill said she suspected that number is higher in Peachtree City. Hill explained pros and cons and presented photos of different types of tower structures, including one that looked like a pine tree. The antennas on top can be painted green to blend in with the trees, Hill said. In contrast, the other more traditional type of tower which has three support legs has a significant amount of capacity in terms of accommodating the equipment of multiple cellphone carriers, she noted. Attorney David Kirk of Troutman Sanders in Atlanta reviewed federal telecommunications regulations and explained that the federal law forbids the city from considering any potential health factors when making its decision on the location of any new cellphone towers. Mayor Don Haddix later explained that council is getting legal direction on the matter from City Attorney Ted Meeker, and Haddix pointed out several “grey area” words in celltower regulations that could be open for interpretation in the city’s favor. A recent proposal to erect a cell tower at St. Paul Lutheran Church near the Ardenlee subdivision drew criticism from residents at the meeting. In part the citizens’ frustration was due to Haddix cutting off citizens’ comments on several occasions because he insisted the meeting was not about any specific proposal but instead only about the technical issues of celltowers. Eventually some citizens had their say on the St. Paul tower anyway. The necessary rezoning for that tower was postponed last month by the planning commission with an eye on the city hosting this meeting with the cellphone companies. Haddix committed that the city’s future plan for handing cellphone tower requests would again be brought forward for public comment for residents at a future meeting. It was clarified that the St. Paul proposal has not been presented to the city as a formal application for a cellphone tower. But the church is pursuing a rezoning that would specifically allow the tower to be erected not only adjacent to Ardenlee but also near Crabapple Lane Elementary School. Haddix ruffled more than a few feathers when he claimed the city did not know what St. Paul’s plans were for its rezoning. One resident countered that a Verizon Wireless attorney represented the church at the rezoning hearing and the city also had a letter from Verizon that explains its intent for the property. Some residents were also on the offensive about a proposal from the fall in which a wireless carrier asked the city to consider leasing four or more different tower sites on recreation land near neighborhoods. But city staff noted that there are no formal proposals on the table for the city to consider in that regard. That proposal drew fire from residents who said they don’t want cellphone towers located in their parks or near residential neighborhoods. But the issue may put the city on a collision course for trying to balance the citizen’s wishes with the cellphone companies’ needs while also staying within constraints of federal law. Another issue in play for potential future cellphone towers is an oval shaped zone around the city’s Falcon Field Airport. The towers’ height is limited in those areas, which otherwise would be an ideal place for celltowers that could potentially serve the southside of the city. While some city residents said they don’t want celltowers in residential areas, local businessman Kai Wolter told council that his hotel in the Kedron Village area has 88 rooms which have no cellphone reception, and he would like to see additional cell service provided to cure that problem. login to post comments
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