A plan to install 11 cell towers along a 56-kilometre stretch of Niagara Parks Commission land between Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie includes three sites in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Niagara Parks is partnering with Shared Tower Inc. on the project. The proposal calls for a 35-metre monopole at the McFarland North parking lot near the Niagara River Parkway and East-West Line intersection, a 35-metre monopole near Brown’s Point, and a 30-metre monopole at Queenston Heights Park.
Niagara Parks Commission chief operating officer Marcelo Gruosso said the tower at Queenston Heights Park is “not visible at all” because it’s “back into the work yard” and not in the middle of the park.
The project has been in development since 2023. At that time, Niagara Parks said Shared Tower Inc. would install and own the infrastructure, while Niagara Parks would “develop, manage and maintain policies around the standards and aesthetics of the towers to ensure they are minimally intrusive.” Gruosso confirmed that arrangement remains in place.
He said construction in NOTL is not expected to begin until 2027 and possibly 2028.
Niagara Parks and Shared Tower Inc. say the towers aim to address spotty cell service in the area.
“Lack of Canadian wireless infrastructure has caused poor cellular service issues in the surrounding areas. The current existing structures do not provide adequate coverage for the areas, specifically for Canadian users,” Niagara Parks said in its communications.
Gruosso said improving coverage for emergency services is also a concern.
The nearest towers to the McFarland North parking lot are 2.72 kilometres northwest and 1.72 kilometres southwest, Niagara Parks said.
Gruosso said regulations require carriers to sign on before construction to avoid building unused infrastructure. He said he does not yet know which carriers will participate.
In an information booklet about the McFarland North proposal, Niagara Parks and Shared Tower Inc. said the design could reduce the need for additional infrastructure.
“To address this major gap in coverage, the proposed tower is engineered to accommodate initial and future loading for three cellular service providers and additional fixed wireless equipment as required, thereby limiting the need for additional infrastructure to service the area.”
Some residents have raised concerns about the proposal.
Catherine Cornell and Don Dinnin, NOTL residents who live near Nelson Park, said they do not oppose the towers but question placing them on park land. They also opposed a now-withdrawn cellphone tower proposal for Nelson Park last year.
“That fact that they’re on park lands raises in my mind the question of: why would the Niagara Parks Commission want that type of infrastructure on park land? And more importantly, what alternatives did they seek? Because I think preserving the park land as parks, is important,” said Dinnin.
Cornell said existing towers near park land in NOTL are far enough away that they do not affect park users.
“You don’t even see them,” she said.
Dinnin said telecommunications towers “weren’t the end of the world if they were on park land,” but added Niagara Parks has a mandate to preserve park land and should consider alternatives.
“That’s not in any of the material that’s certainly available to the public,” he said.
Cornell and Dinnin said the towers could affect tourism in NOTL, noting the proposed sites are in “highly used” areas valued for being “so beautiful, and it is so peaceful.”
“To me, preserving that is important,” Dinnin said.
Gruosso said Niagara Parks has spent several years assessing locations to ensure the towers are unobtrusive while addressing coverage gaps along the Niagara River Parkway.
“I think we’ve done the best we could with the situation,” he said.
Public consultations began this year. A public open house for all three towers is scheduled for April 1 at Queenston Chapel from 6 to 7 p.m.
Last year, residents opposed a proposed cellphone tower at Nelson Park by Signum Wireless. The project was later abandoned.
