No new cell towers will be built north of Pensacola.
The Pensacola City Council on Thursday night unanimously rejected a request to build a 90-foot cell phone tower near Walmart on Clayton Road.
Boca Raton-based SBA Communications had sought a conditional use permit to build a cell phone tower that could house up to four cell service providers, with Verizon as the lead tenant.
Company representatives told Congress that the area needs a tower. Data released by the company showed that 5G networks are becoming congested as high-bandwidth devices and applications become more popular.
The company believes that indoor cellular service in the region is particularly depressed and the need for coverage is increasing due to increased use of home broadband internet delivered through cellular signals. We presented data showing that.
Additionally, the tower provides coverage equivalent to approximately 30 small cell antennas, according to company representatives.
In 2019, installing small cell antennas across the city sparked protests because the city had little authority to regulate where they were installed.
Residents of the nearby Dunmire Woods neighborhood attended the meeting and voiced their opposition to the request, saying it did not meet city permit requirements and would be a nuisance to neighbors because it would require a red light. . Go to the top of the tower.
The tower would occupy a 40-foot by 60-foot area along the eastern edge of the Walmart parking lot.
Site developer Harold Timmons of SBA Communications told Congress that normally the area is surrounded by a 6-foot fence topped with barbed wire, but because Walmart objected to the barbed wire, an 8-foot fence was added. He said he is planning to protect it. .
City Councilman Charles Baer, whose district covers the area, asked Timmons to clarify that it was Walmart that had asked him not to put barbed wire on the fence, and Timmons confirmed that was the case. .
“They (Walmart) have already proven that they are not good neighbors to our city,” Baer said.
Baer said he was concerned that without the barbed wire around the fence, it would be easier for someone to trespass into the tower and do something dangerous like try to climb it.
“A tower will be put up there with an 8-foot fence so someone can easily climb up and get on top of that tower,” Baer said. “I think that’s a bad idea as well. It doesn’t seem like Walmart is going to protect people from that kind of behavior either, so I’m not going to support it tonight.”
City Councilwoman Jennifer Blahier also expressed concern about the impact on natural habitat areas, such as nearby Dumile Park, and questioned why a park could not be located along Interstate 10.
Timmons noted that before building a tower, builders are required to conduct an environmental study under the National Environmental Policy Act to assess the potential environmental impacts of the project.
From the archive:Pensacola Mayor defends city’s response to 5G small cell antenna deployment
City Council members were also concerned that the tower’s location was in the flight path of the Pensacola International Airport runway.
Airport Director Matt Coughlin told Congress that the airport defers to the Federal Aviation Administration when it comes to determining whether cell towers interfere with airport operations. Coughlin said the FAA has determined there are no concerns with the tower regarding current operations and the airport’s future growth.
Councilor Teniade Broughton said he couldn’t support it if the neighbors didn’t support it.
“The neighbors don’t want that,” Broughton said. “That’s it. That’s the end of the discussion for me.”
However, a permit hearing is a quasi-judicial hearing, meaning that decisions to approve or deny must be made solely on the basis of the criteria set out in the Land Development Act and the facts presented during the hearing.
Councilwoman Alison Patton said she understands the concerns of neighbors, but also understands the need for more cell phone towers as demand for the technology increases.
“Where do we put these towers if they’re not in an area where there’s a Walmart or another shopping center?” Patton said. “This is the future. This is where we are headed, for better or worse.”
City Attorney Adam Cobb said a conditional use permit must meet six criteria set forth in the Land Development Act, while a cell tower conditional use permit requires the applicant to operate wireless service in the area. He pointed out that the seventh criterion must be met, which is that it cannot be provided. the town’s.
Blahier noted that wireless service is already provided in the area and believes the applicant also fails to meet other criteria.
Mr Patton said he thought the first six criteria were debatable, but agreed that the seventh criterion was not met because cell phone service was available in the area.
“It may not be as good as everyone wants it to be, and certainly not as good as it could be, but it’s there,” Patton said.
