Kings County council endorses proposed Eastlink cell tower site in Cambridge
Kings County council has given its endorsement to a project that aims to improve cellphone and data service to residents and businesses in the Cambridge area.
At the November session, council voted unanimously in support of a proposal from Eastlink, which involves the installation of a 55metre or 180-foot monopole style telecommunications tower.
The tower would be sited on a leased portion of a vacant 30-acre property off Taxiway Court that is owned by Annapolis Valley Aggregates Ltd., located in the municipal industrial park. The subject site is zoned for heavy industrial use.
The municipality requires a setback distance of at least two times the tower height from the nearest home, hospital or school. The proposal satisfies this requirement with a setback distance of approximately 260 metres from the nearest home.
The leased area for the tower measures 12 metres by 12 metres. Access to the tower would be a gated, private driveway along the north edge of the subject property. The tower base and equipment shelter will be surrounded by six to eight-foot-high wire fencing and the tower would feature an anticlimb apparatus.
Eastlink entered the telecommunications market in 2013, relatively late compared to other providers. The company was left with a higher frequency in the spectrum allotted for telecommunications, meaning their towers have a shorter range. For this reason, Eastlink is installing towers on the Valley floor.
Although the County of Kings has a public consultation policy regarding the siting of telecommunications towers, final approval is under the federal jurisdiction of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
Applicants must demonstrate it isn’t possible to co-locate equipment on an existing tower. This is the case with the Cambridge application, with the closest existing towers located four to six kilometres away.
Eastlink has attested that the proposed tower would generate radio frequency electromagnetic fields well below emission limits set by Health Canada’s Safety Code 6.
Because council has supported the application, Eastlink is eligible for a development permit. The council resolution will be part of Eastlink’s application to the federal governing body. Pending federal approval, it will likely be four to five months before the tower is erected.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
A public meeting on the application was held at the Cambridge Community Centre on Sept. 9, with 48 property owners within 1,000 feet of the subject property being notified. Six citizens attended the meeting.
Municipal staff made a presentation about the proposal. Eastlink wireless site planner Logan McDaid and site acquisition specialist Stephen Banks answered questions.
In response to a question from John Foote about how the towers work, Banks pointed out two towers closest to the proposed site are barely connecting. They don’t overlap enough to provide reliable service, necessitating an additional tower.
Michael Keith, who was on hand representing the Cornwallis Square Village Commission, asked if there would be a light on the tower.
At the time of the public meeting, Eastlink was waiting to hear from Transport Canada with regard to whether or not a light would be required. It would be unlikely, given that the proposed location is far removed from 14 Wing Greenwood and the Hillaton aerodrome.