A motion from Coun. Sandra O’Connor is pushing for updated telecommunications regulations in Niagara-on-the-Lake, with a focus on cellphone tower construction.
Brought forward at council’s last general committee of the whole meeting, the motion directs staff to revise the town’s telecommunications facilities protocol and update the 2015 comprehensive telecommunications plan.
O’Connor told The Lake Report she sees two priorities as especially important.
First, she said NOTL lacks a minimum setback distance for cellphone towers from residential areas — unlike other municipalities such as Hamilton, which requires a minimum of 150 metres.
Second, she said the town needs clearer rules for how applications to build cellphone towers are processed.
O’Connor pointed to the controversial Signum Wireless project from August as an example. She said the town told her the proposal followed a “preferred assessment process,” which applies to towers proposed on municipal land.
“I think we need more criteria than just on municipal lands,” she said. “Because for example, what if they wanted to put a cell tower to where the clock tower is in the middle of Queen Street?”
She also emphasized the need to include environmental considerations in the town’s regulations, including impacts on wildlife and natural heritage.
O’Connor said she hadn’t realized the town’s telecommunications plan hadn’t been updated since 2015 and believes an overhaul is overdue.
The motion references the Signum Wireless proposal near King’s Point and the Greystone Residences, which was withdrawn in August following strong public opposition to the planned multi-cell tower.
Council approved the motion at its meeting last Tuesday. Staff are expected to present the updated protocol by the end of March next year.
