Developers Scrap Cellular Phone Tower Neighborhood Opposition Means Antenna Will Go Elsewhere

Developers have scrapped a controversial plan to build a 150-foot cellular telephone antenna in a suburban Post Falls neighborhood.

After meeting with Post Falls officials and learning of 250 signatures on a petition, representatives of AirTouch Cellular agreed this week to seek a new site for their tower - this time in a commercial area.

“We sat and visited and decided if the neighbors didn’t want it, that’s not where it should go,” said Post Falls City Administrator Jim Hammond. “They (AirTouch) didn’t want to create a problem for Post Falls or for themselves.”

The wireless phone company had proposed building the tower and an adjacent support building at 21st Street and Idaho Avenue.

But opponents, led by resident Janice Hussman, complained the tower would be ugly and inappropriate near their homes.

Hussman badgered city employees and collected 250 signatures in support of her push to block the tower from being built near homes.

While pleased with news that the tower won’t land in her neighborhood, Hussman said Thursday she was disappointed the proposal was yanked before she was able to share her thoughts with city officials in a public hearing.

“I didn’t get to say what I wanted to say, and the issue is still at hand,” she said. “I was fighting for my corner, yes, but what I really want is for these things to be regulated. They’re going to put it someplace.”

But Hammond said the new site would be in a business area and added that city planners were looking into regulating the towers - an increasing phenomenon throughout the West.

In recent years, a boom in wireless communication has led to a proliferation of cellular phone towers in even small cities. Post Falls and surrounding areas now have six of the antennas, the oldest of which has been around less than a year.

As a result, many cities facing the same conflicts as Post Falls have turned to land-use regulations to control where and how the towers are erected.

However, cities’ control is limited by last year’s passage of the Telecommunications Act, which was designed to help encourage more competition among telephone companies.

Hammond said the two central issues Planner Gary Young is researching are: How much leeway does Post Falls have in limiting where towers can be erected, and what kind of design standards can the city place on future towers? , DataTimes