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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Environmentally friendly cell tower has 2nd job as tree

Jeri Mccroskey Correspondent

Question: When is a tree not a tree?

Answer: When it’s a cell tower.

The “tree” in this case stands on a hill directly across from Interstate 90, near the southwest entrance to Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Beauty Bay.

It’s hard not to notice what appears to be an old-growth pine with a crown of thick, bunched branches, a thick trunk and the typically reddish bark of a mature ponderosa. Towering 100 feet or more above second-growth timber, the “tree” is easy to accept as a natural part of the surrounding environment—as intended. Sometimes such giants have survived logging operations, left as seed trees.

Jim Gilliard, who owned the knoll, recognized that he had a perfect and profitable site for a cell tower to serve the boom in cell phone usage. So, in 2000 he began the process of finding a construction company interested in leasing the hilltop and building the tower. He also applied to the Kootenai Planning Commission for the required construction permit. County commissioners approved the permit in March 2001, and the tower was erected in November of that year by Columbia Wireless, one of a number of companies whose business is to lease land from property owners and build the cell towers, called “wireless communication facilities” in technical jargon.

The concept behind a cell tower is much like building and leasing apartments or office space. A land owner leases land to a company that will construct and own the building. Then, the construction company in turn can lease out the apartments or business space.

This is the same pattern followed in developing a cell tower site. Once the tower is complete, the company that has leased the land and built the tower then leases space on the tower to providers of cell service. Kootenai County requires that cell towers be no more than 150 feet in height providing space for four providers.

During the period when Gilliard’s application was under consideration, the county was in the process of upgrading requirements for any new communications tower construction.

Rand Wichman, Kootenai County building and planning director says, “No one wanted to see aerial junkyards.”

The new requirements work to prevent excessive and unwelcome impact on both rural environments and urban neighborhoods. Wichman explains one overall rule to prevent overbuilding is the “stealth” concept, incorporating towers into existing buildings, such as church steeples and tall buildings. This has become an integral part of tower management with the result that few people are aware of their presence. Several “stealth” installations are in Coeur d’Alene.

Churches and even historic properties in other communities have found this approach to be a welcome source of much needed revenue for maintaining buildings.

Besides limiting height and number of cellular providers, a partial look at the most recent conditional use standards shows requirements that include setbacks, fencing, no outdoor storage of equipment or vehicles related to the facility, landscaping prepared by a professional landscape designer and preservation of existing, native vegetation. Also, there are to be no signs, graphics or attention-getting devices.

In planning his hilltop cell tower, Jim Gilliard was way out ahead of even these standards. Even though he made his application under the old, less-progressive rules, he had his own ideas that took into consideration the environment and the beauty of the lake and viewshed.

In less than a month, the seedling tower sprouted and grew quickly to the height of 150 feet. Except that it stands alone like an exclamation point above a young forest and is clearly visible from the freeway, State highway 97 and points along the Lakeshore Drive, this particular cell tower probably would go largely unnoticed.

Many people know the true identity of the pine. Some do not. And here have been bets won and lost. Numerous people have told of taking visitors out to see the “tree.”

“People seem to think it’s a bit unusual but agree that it is a tree until they look at it through binoculars,” says one local.

While our local cell tower/tree may seem unique, a search of the Internet reveals all kinds of imaginative stealth treatments found all across the country. If you look, you will find pictures of towers successfully masquerading as palm trees, flag poles, water towers and even a huge boulder in the middle of a landscaped park. The “boulder” is hinged like a clam shell and opens to reveal the communications equipment inside.

Jim Gillard proved that a potential eyesore can be made environmentally friendly while making a tidy profit and, at the same time, provide a little fun and entertainment on the side.

One other thing to remember: Things may not always be what they seem.