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_- - ~ ~we..a~ C'~L TOWI~IL~ 190 providers have already i=stablished service.~ Bm towns can- and usually ' In addition, towns can require monitoring to make sure that aH do -- require the new Company to co-locate on an existing tower. That is facilities meet the maximum FCC emissions 8uidelines m no matter how reasonable discrimination m allowing them both to cover the same area many providers are co-located at a particular site. Very few people at the from-the same location. You might hear carriers arguing that they want a local level understand that the responsibility for compliance monitoring better location, or'to provide better service -- but your town is not has shifted to municipalities. required to provide the carriers the absolute best possible location -- just a reasonabl location. If another carrier is already providing service from an Hiring E.r. pem existing location, then it is probably good enough. In addition, your community must act within a reasonable period Telecommunications regulation and application-review is one of of lime in dealing with applications. Towns Cannot put service providers the most complex forms of land-use law today. Done correctly, it is unlike off indefinitely. State ,statutes establish precise timelines on land-use anything that most planners and zoners have been called upon to do. Many applications. In some .states or municipalities, a permit is automatically shy away from it because of the complexity. But what individual board granted if a de~ision-making board does not act within a specified time members are unfamiliar with.can -- and should m be provided by hiring frame. It's a decision by default, outside expertise. One ofthe most vexing clauses in the Telecom Act ~ for citizens One of the first things you will need to know is what in p~ticular who are worried about health effects -- concerns the telecommunications coverage already exists in your area. It is not enough restriction on considering the environmental effects of RI*. Municipalities ~ to speculate that a company "ought" to be able to provide coverage from canno~ uso the environmental effects of radio frequency radiation -- somewhere else. Wireless coverage is a function of tower height, signal which is widely interpreted by many, though not all, to include health strength, .frequency, antenna direction, topography and several other effe~s in humans -- as a basis for making a siting decision "to the extent factors. You need to know with precision if another location can work. that such facilities comply with the Commission's regulations concerning And to know, you need expert assistance from an independent RI: such emissions." engineer who is working for the municipality -- not the Although towns cannot regulate for RF, it is important to know telecommunications industry. Such an RF engineer will be. familiar with ther~ are Other concerns that parallel environmental and health concerns the systems and technology of radiofrequency communication and will that can be. used as a basis for zoning. Examples include the use of large . help the town'determine if the information on an application is accurate, or setbacks and vegelafive screening. This will prevent facilities from being if other solutions would be better for the town's interests. sited ~oo close to dw~inss, reduce visual impaCts,' and help protect ~ A telecommunications engineer can be helpful Whether an p~ values. Large setbacks will also reduce the potential damage if a t application is pending or not. One proactive approach used by tower collapses or has ice fall from it. Another important avenue is the fact communities is to hire an engineer to help create a telecommunications that lms, era can create an "attraCtive .nuisance" -- especially to students ,~ master plan or overlay district, where facilities can be placed to provide' who may dare each other to.climb them. All, active nuisance is a legal term * adequate service -- while still protecting the town's vital interests. By that could come in handy when denying applications near schools, i having an expert do a few radial or tile plots ~ diagrams that .model RI: All such provisions can result in the tower being located at a } coverage patterns ~ of likely sites, it can help town officials, as well as · reasonable dislance fro.m residential areas and schools, thereby reducing ~ interested citizens, understand how toposraphy and demography work as a RI* exposures, but without directly depending on that rationale to do so. , whole. If a town can anticipate what the carriers want and do their own ; prior assessment, rather than passively wait for the industrY to define its' ~ own goals in town, a win~win situation may result. The town will have to front money for an RF engineer but the ~ The~ is rec~i c~so law on lhis point tl~_ _ appears to be in direct conflict with the ~ expense is worth, it. A master plan will help with better siting decisions · ~ :~ Act. ~/ames Hobson, Cl~pler 9, l~Senla~ion, APT Pitcst,~h v. Penn