Abutting land owners and local zoning boards have fewer opportunities to weigh in on proposed cell towers under the state's new telecommunications law.
The 2007 General Assembly passed Act 79, which created the Vermont Telecommunications Authority and put the state on the fast track to improve broadband Internet and cell phone service.
One of the provisions of that law authorizes the Public Service Board to make decisions on cell tower applications.
The provision was developed so phone companies would not have to go through multiple hearings when applying for the right to construct cell towers.
The law has not been tested yet, and T-Mobile's application to put up a tower in Putney will end up being one of the first in the state to go through the new process.
Cell tower applications would be considered in the same light as power lines, explained Corey Chase, acting director of the telecommunications division of the Department of Public Service, and the Public Service Board would consider how the cell service contributes to the public good when ruling on the applications.
The board would weigh local zoning rules and environmental laws, said Chase, but he made it clear that the local boards and land owners would have diminished roles in making decisions on proposed cell towers.
"The telecommunication bill was passed to provide universal cell phone service and you can't do that without a few tools," Chase said. "One of those tools was to give the Public Service Board the authority to adjudicate tower cases."
Under the new rule the tower would have to be one of at least a three-tower system to bypass local zoning hearings and be considered by the Public Service Board.
Chase said that since the law is untested, he did not know if the Public Service Board would hold local hearings in towns like Putney that have applications pending.
In the past, companies would have to argue in front of local zoning boards and cases could go before the Environmental Court if there was an Act 250 dispute.
Those hearings will now all go before the Public Service Board and be considered as a single application.
"It is not more slanted toward towers, but it does allow the Public Service Board to contemplate the role of the public good," said Chase. "These towers can now be installed without local approval."
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, who lives in Putney, said the issue was considered in the Legislature when the telecommunications bill was debated.
Shumlin said he expected the Public Service Board to work closely with neighbors and zoning boards around the state, but he said the provision was necessary to make the application process easier and quicker.
"If you want to have universal cell service across Vermont you have to balance the need for the tower with our stewardship of the environment. I am confident the Public Service Board will find that balance," Shumlin said Tuesday. "You can't ask for universal service and not have towers. It's a compromise, no question. When ever you make a public policy choice you are never going to make everybody happy."
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New regulations may shut locals out of cell tower decisions
Source: Brattleboro Reformer
Date: 06/21/2009
