Municipalities - Reviewing Cell Tower Applications

A few facts:

1. The number of cell towers is expected to climb from 175,000 to 260,000 by 2010. This represents an increase of 48%.

2. Many carriers are starting to add additional sites in urban areas to provide infill areas of weak coverage. Some experts believe that only 35% of necessary sites have been built.

3. New data services require sites to be closer together to provide ubiquitous coverage. New areas will need new coverage, and we are starting to see anecdotal evidence of the need to rewrite antiquated ordinances.

These facts illustrate an important point. Many municipalities are already suffering an onslaught of new zoning applications or permit request for new cell sites. The carriers will need to add new sites in previously unavailable areas to provide consistent coverage, specifically in denser residential areas where opposition from community members will be high.

These applications will be based on your current zoning code requirements which, more than likely, will require a determination of the technical adequacy of the application. Does the carrier sufficiently demonstrate "need?" Has the carrier evaluated all possible alternatives? The answers to these questions can not be determined simply by looking at your zoning map and asking the carrier to tell you where the existing sites they reviewed are located. In most cases, the maps maintained by the municipality of the locations of existing cell sites are woefully inaccurate.

If you can not answer the questions of where existing infrastructure is, how can you hope to know if the proposed structures are needed? How can the average planner or board member understand if the carrier has shown sufficient radio frequency evidence of need for a new site if they have no formal training in radio frequency propagation?

Steel in the Air, Inc. has teamed up with Cityscape Consultants to offer municipalities an engineering review of proposed cell sites. Collectively, we can provide you with Existing Cell Tower and Cell Site Location data and substantive review of the proficiency of any zoning application for a wireless communication facility. Cityscape's president, Rick Edwards, is an expert in radio frequency propagation and municipal regulatory issues. He has written countless wireless facility ordinances and is recognized within the industry as an expert.

The costs for these reviews can often be passed on to the carrier making the application. Steel in the Air, Inc. and Cityscape Consultants can answer you and your constituents' questions; we can protect you from litigation and appeals by establishing a sufficient record that meets the requirements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its subsequent defining case law.

Please contact us for more details.