By Adam Ophus

Antenna Policy

Clearwater County gives go ahead on new tower policy

Jan 29, 2020 | 1:19 PM

Clearwater County has approved the amendments to its Telecommunication Antenna System Siting Policy which dictates how, when and where a tower can be constructed within the county.

Much of the policy that will be used was taken from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association Template.

In that document it states that if there are no existing structures that can be shared or used, a company can begin the process of building a tower.

But first they must clearly notify and consult residents when a commercial tower of any height is planned and they cannot build any new tower within three years of consulting with residents.

“Any adjacent land owners that have concerns can send in letters or set up a meeting and then they (company putting up a tower) are required to try and mitigate those concerns and show us that they tried to do that,” County Senior Planner Kim Gilham explained of what residents can do in regards to issues with nearby towers being constructed or already constructed.

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What the County considers an antenna tower is a structure (e.g. tower or mast) built from the ground for the expressed purpose of hosting an Antenna System or Antenna Systems or if it were mounted on an existing non-tower structure, which could include a building wall or rooftop, a light standard, water tower, utility pole or other.

Anyone putting up a tower for personal use will have to register their tower with the county if it exceeds 15 metres above ground level, if it is below that height they will be exempt.

“Companies are not on the exemption list, only those towers for personal use,” Gilham said, describing that companies will be required to register regardless of the size.

In debate by Council was whether or not to charge fees to residents for registering their proposed tower, which hinged on how much time was spent by administration in dealing with the process.

Developments Officer Eleanor Pengelly informed Council that the total amount of time is usually no more than an hour, and rarely exceeds that.

Councillor Jim Duncan moved to waive the fees for now, but stipulated that it would stay that way on a wait and see basis.

The question arose if it even mattered, if the County did say a company was in non-concurrence would the government even listen or care.

“They take our recommendations seriously, they do look at our letter of non-concurrence and look at it in way of how we can fix this,” Gilham clarified.