The Town of Olds’ Municipal Planning Commission has given Rogers Communications the go-ahead to build a 30-metre telecommunications tower in town.
The Town of Olds’ Municipal Planning Commission has given Rogers Communications the go-ahead to build a 30-metre telecommunications tower in town.
And a second tower could be built in the future due to the 30-metre reduction in height from an earlier proposal for the tower.
Calgary-based developer Cavalier Land had originally filed a development permit application with the town on May 30 to build a 60-metre tower for Rogers Communications on a property at 6102 46 St. (Highway 27) between the highway’s intersections with Imperial Way and 65 Avenue.
Town staff, however, had expressed concerns about having such a high tower fewer than 800 metres from the Olds Hospital and Care Centre and in the path of air ambulance traffic.
The developer informed the town in early August that it would agree to reduce the height of the tower to 45 metres and this proposal was discussed at the commission’s Aug. 15 meeting.
Town staff were still wary about the height of the tower, however, and asked the developer about dropping the height another 15 metres.
A decision on the proposal was deferred to a special meeting on Aug. 29 to give the developer time to determine if a 30-metre tower would meet Rogers’ cellphone coverage needs in the community.
Werner Fischer, the town’s planning manager, told the commission on Aug. 29 the developer had agreed to the further reduction in the tower’s height and town staff are "great with that."
He added Rogers will likely need a second tower in town to meet its coverage needs and the town will work with the developer to find a site for such a tower, likely in the southeast part of town, should a development application come forward in the future.
"With the decrease in height to the proposed tower, there is a greater possibility of another tower being proposed for Olds in the near future," said Cody Greenough, a surface land agent and telecommunications site acquisition specialist with Cavalier Land. "They can’t specifically say when. Of course it would all be determined with a user component."
Before the commission unanimously passed a motion approving the development application for the 30-metre tower, Imperial Drive resident Ellen Sych was given an opportunity to express some of her concerns.
While she said she and other residents living in the area near the site of the proposed tower are more comfortable with the reduction in the project’s height than the original proposal, she suggested the commission consider placing a "limitation" on the number of towers allowed in the community for future generations.
"Telus, Bell, Verizon, Rogers, at least three other small carriers, are now active in that telecommunications market and they’re all looking for market share and they don’t want to piggy-back off one another’s towers," Sych said. "So the proposed tower near a residential area sets some sort of precedent here and all areas of Olds are going to be left open to similar requests in the future."
Sych also told the commission her main concern with the originally proposed 60-metre tower was how it might affect medical assist helicopters operated by Stars Aviation Canada Inc. coming in and out of the hospital.
Nearly a dozen other residents in the area had expressed similar concerns to the town when the development application was first made public.
Despite the concerns from residents and town staff about the tower’s proximity to the hospital, a town staff report on the proposal presented to the commission stated Transport Canada has approved the project, Nav Canada, a private corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system, does not object to the tower concept and Stars Aviation Canada Inc. stated it sees no risk to helicopter operations in and out of the hospital. Other concerns from residents living near the site of the tower included worries that the project could have negative affects on health and property values.
The developer has informed the town it plans to begin work on the tower as soon as a two-week period where the commission’s decision could be appealed ends.
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