A proposed moratorium on the construction of cell phone towers will be voted on next week, which will give the city’s Community Development Department a chance to draft regulations for the cell towers.
Laura Leigh, director of the department, said the city has received multiple inquiries to build new cell towers within Green River. Leigh expects more interest in cell towers in the coming years; however the areas where the towers have traditionally been constructed, such as Mansface, are getting more crowded. As a result, Leigh anticipates more interest in building towers in other areas within city limits. The city currently does not have regulations that are specific to cell towers. In the past, towers have been located only on publicly-owned land or industrial-zoned land, and were permitted as antennae. Cell towers can range in height anywhere from a 4-foot roof antenna to a tower that can exceed 100 feet.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 limits what local governments can regulate, however the regulations can set height restrictions based on zoning districts as well as setbacks to ensure when the structure would not cause adjacent property damage in the event the tower were to fall, referred to as a fall zone. The department is researching similar ordinances passed in Evanston and Rock Springs and plans to have an ordinance ready for the Planning and Zoning Commission to review at its April 12 meeting.
Once receiving a recommendation by the commission, the ordinance would have to be read three times by the City Council before final approval.
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