By David Fleet

Editor

Atlas Twp.- An additional cell tower may be heading to the township.

Skyway Towers, LLC has proposed building a 165-foot Monopole Communications Tower in the 8000 block of East Baldwin Road. The company, which has more than 480 towers nationwide.The planning commission will take up the issue at 7 p.m., May 18 at the township hall, 7386 Gale Road, and make recommendations to the board of trustees.

The cell tower will be approximately 1,200 feet from Baldwin Road and will require a conditional use permit in the residential district.

“It’s my understanding that Verizon is considering the site on Baldwin Road for the tower,” said Rick Misek, township planning commission chairman. “Wireless communication companies, like Skyway Towers, provides giants like Verizon and Sprint a way to stay out of the picture on the construction of new towers until the community renders its decision. They do that for legal reasons and often towers are not popular for aesthetic reasons.”

Misek added that while the proposed Baldwin Road site is the first tower proposal in a few years.

Once the application is made the tower location will go through the process so planners can determine if the use is compatible with the township ordinance. The township cell tower ordinance requires, if possible, to construct the tower on township property first, unless the tower must be built on private land for coverage reasons. The Baldwin Road site is about 2 1/4 miles from the Gale Road township hall tower and even closer to the Horton Cemetery, which could also be a site.

“We have a good communication ordinance, the current tower on the township Gale Road property has gained about $1 million in revenues for taxpayers every 25 years,” said Misek. “The cell tower is needed for 4G LTE so you can stream the Big Bang Theory on Baldwin Road. Connections will be better, too, fewer dropped calls.”

According to Verizon, the term 4G LTE is really two terms. 4G means the fourth generation of data technology for cellular networks following 3G, the third generation. LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and is short for a very technical process for high-speed data for phones and other mobile devices. Together, they make 4G LTE.

Misek said the proposed additional cell tower was the result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that allowed anyone to enter any communications business and compete in any market against any other.

“The act made communications across the country from sea to shining sea,” added Misek. “However, the act also includes guidelines that took some of the communities’ rights away and gave them to the federal government.”