Plans by Telus to construct a cell tower near the intersection of Stewart Road and Highway 101 in West Howe Sound encountered no opposition at a public open house last weekend that drew about a dozen people to Eric Cardinall Hall.
“They were pretty much all Gambier Island residents, and all supporters,” Area F director-elect Ian Winn said. “There wasn’t anyone there who had any negative concerns.”
Telus is proposing a 45-metre tower for 1196 Stewart Road to improve service north of Gibsons, at the Langdale ferry terminal and on the western parts of Gambier and Keats islands.
It would replace one of two wireless antennas installed on utility poles in the area, Telus government affairs manager Chad Marlatt told Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors at the Nov. 13 community services committee.
“It’s in a fairly good location to screen it, given the large trees in the area,” Marlatt said.
The property is zoned industrial and is “not adjacent to any intensely developed residential area,” he added. “The closest home is several hundred metres away.”
The improved coverage will be “fairly drastic,” he said.
Telus originally proposed locating the tower with a 50-metre setback from Stewart Road, but was also considering a less visible site — 250 metres east of Stewart Road — at a lower elevation that would mean 10 to 15 per cent less coverage to the area.
As a result, the Area F advisory planning commission expressed a preference for the original site and Telus presented it as the sole option at last Saturday’s open house.
The SCRD’s review of the proposal and a development permit application are expected to go to the board in January, when it could recommend approval to Industry Canada, which regulates telecommunication facilities.
During Marlatt’s appearance on Nov. 13, directors identified other areas on the Sunshine Coast that needed improved cellular service, including the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper site, Hillside Industrial Park, Egmont, Middlepoint, Highway 101 near Madeira Park, and parts of Secret Cove and Halfmoon Bay.
Marlatt said Telus has recently installed 126 microcell transmitters between Langdale and Welcome Beach to improve service in the most populated areas of the Coast. Asked about possible health impacts from the pole-top installations, Marlatt said microcells are far below Health Canada’s safety standards.
On tower placement, he said the most common concerns are health risks, visibility and impact on property values.
“There’s always going to be people who have health concerns,” he said. “They don’t trust Health Canada.”
