The taller the tower, closer to homes, tougher the process, Vaughan cellphone tower task force says

Vaughan Citizen
January 29, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

A recently released city task force report recommends balancing the health and safety concerns of residents with the needs of industry when it comes to regulating the placement of cellphone towers in Vaughan.

“We’re trying to keep the public happy,” Christina Sgro, chairperson for the Telecommunication Facility Siting Protocol Task Force, said. “We’re trying to understand and hear their concerns, but we need to understand this is a growing city and we need to supply businesses and homes with what they need.”

The task force, formed in 2011 and comprised of residents, councillors and industry representatives, presented its report to the city’s committee of the whole in mid-January.

The report goes to council today for final approval.

If approved, the task force’s recommendations will shape the city’s policies about the location of cellular towers and the consultation process company’s must go through.

Among the report’s key recommendations is that the process should be more rigorous the taller the proposed tower is and the closer it is to neighbouring homes.

For example, if a company wants to erect a tower between 15 metres and 30 metres in height that is located between 200 metres and 300 metres away from a residential area, it simply has to go through a city staff review.

Same goes if an applicant seeks to “co-locate” its equipment on an existing tower.

On the other hand, a tower between 15 metres and 30 metres tall located between 150 metres and 200 metres of a residential area would have to be reviewed by city staff and then be approved by city council.

An even more robust consultation process would be required for towers 15 metres or higher located within 150 metres of residential areas and for towers 30 metres or higher located between 150 metres and 200 metres of homes.

“We’re trying to get carriers to co-locate,” Ms Sgro, a longtime Woodbridge resident, said. “Where they don’t, the process gets a little harder for them.”

Another reason for this approach, as opposed to a standard setback - 300 metres for example - for all towers, was to provide flexibility. 

“You can’t really apply the same standard to an area where there’s going to be a lot of stress on whatever facility is there because everybody is using their cellphones in an area where there’s business 24/7 or at least 9 to 5, five days a week,” Ms Sgro said.

The report’s recommendations are, in part, aimed at encouraging applicants to work with the city to find a suitable location rather than going straight to Industry Canada, which has the ultimate say when it comes to approving where cellphone towers can go.

“We were lucky enough to have really great industry representatives (on the task force) to give us the inside view of things and one of them said, ‘What you guys have to understand is 99 per cent of the time they want to go in and go out without a fight,” Ms Sgro explained. “They’re not in there to fight you, they will try to conform as long as they are pretty reasonable requirements.”

Other recommendations include encouraging applicants to go through a pre-consultation process with the city and incorporating street art or public furniture in the design, and, wherever possible, using existing infrastructure - such as utility poles and street lights - to mount equipment. 

“We’re trying to camouflage things as much as possible, not to hide them, but to make them look a little nicer,” Ms Sgro said. “We discussed, for example, in sensitive areas, like a heritage district, you could put it on the top of street lamps.”

The task force is also recommending improving communication with residents when a cellphone tower is being proposed.

“We really need to start giving proper notification to the residents,” Ms Sgro said. “They are really, really looking for some kind of heads up from the city. It is the duty I think of council and city staff to be able to warn them ahead of time.”

And since “the jury is still out” on health impacts of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic energy emitted by cellphones and cellphone towers, the task force recommends that the city encourage Health Canada to review its current standards for safe levels of exposure.

It also suggests the city ask York Region’s medical officer of health to provide the city with regular reviews of current research and updates, at least, annually and ask that Public Health Ontario conduct regular testing of cellphone tower sites and report the findings to city council.

“What the residents wanted, and what we agreed with, was that if there’s nothing to hide and there’s nothing that’s hurting people, which is the assumption we’re going under, then you should be able to do (tests) at random sites and at random times and make sure that you’re totally transparent with council,” Ms Sgro said.

To view the full report, visit Vaughan.ca.