Home »
Telecom tower gets regional board support
Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board of directors March 4 unanimously voted to support a proposed 45-metre-tall wireless telecommunications facility in the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort area.
“The premises is comprised of a large property with a resort located on the west side of the premises. It is proposed to install a 45-metre tower with antennas at the top. The equipment shelter will be placed beside the tower. Access will be from a logging road located on the east of the premises. Power will be taken from Fairmont Resort Road. TELUS seeks to maintain and improve high quality, dependable network services in the town of Fairmont. In order to improve network performance, TELUS is seeking to add the proposed communications tower at the proposed location,” described Cypress Land Services, on behalf of TELUS, in a Dec. 2, 2015 letter to the RDEK planning department.
Despite the height of the proposed tower (190 feet including the top antennas), regional planning staff reported to the board they have no concerns about impacts to aesthetics.
“The proposed location is considered to be appropriate given its immediate surrounding (forested area with access) and is well setback from a majority of the community. Both of these will network requirements. Painting the tower to match the existing tree colours may be effective in this instance to further reduce the visibility of the top of the tower about the tree line,” the RDEK planning report noted.
“Rezoning is not required to accommodate the proposed land use due to federal jurisdiction over telecommunications. However, the location is not zoned for the proposed use,” planning pointed out.
The Electoral F and G Advisory Planning Commission also supports the tower.
“The Commission inquired into how the residents felt. The directors supplied that the Fairmont (Hot Springs) Resort was in favour and that it is a balancing act between the needs of users and aesthetics,” planning related.
For reference as to how tall 45 metres/148 feet is, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour is 151 ft. from the base to the torch, not including the pedestal and foundation that pushes it to 305 ft.
e-KNOW
