Two weeks ago, Crown Castle proposed that it would like to erect at least 90 towers in locations throughout Ocean City, MD. Some of the distributed antenna systems would be 38-feet tall, and some would be housed in residential areas. The ad said that the towers are needed to “expand bandwidth and improve internet accessibility” in the densely populated resort town, according to The Dispatch.
The new ad comes after Crown’s 2015 proposal that included installing hardware on existing structures in the town. During that time, the mayor and city council were willing to work with Crown on the project, but they are now completely against the new proposal. City Engineer Terry McGean shared the new proposal at this week’s mayor and council meeting, and said “they [Crown] went through a couple of different consultants and this spring they came back to us and their proposal was substantially different than what we had previously seen,” The Dispatch reported.
There are towers on Ocean City’s taller structures that provide revenue for the city, McGean said: “While the large towers provide adequate coverage, they’re not able to provide adequate bandwidth in areas with high concentrations of users,” he said at the meeting. He agreed that more technology is needed, but that the city was “strongly opposed to a plan to install 90 towers throughout the resort including its residential areas,” The Dispatch said.
McGean called for a more responsible approach and said that the city is working with legal experts regarding regulatory rights. Additionally, the city is working with Crown Castle to come up with a solution that brings technology without harming residential areas.
Crown Castle, according to McGean, has submitted permit applications for the new towers, but they have been rejected by the city. McGean told The Dispatch that other wireless carriers and builders have applied as well, but they have been approved by the Public Service Commission “as a public utility.” He said that the opposition lies in poles in neighborhoods.
However, The Dispatch noted, Ocean City may not have legal regulatory means to oppose Crown Castle, since it falls under the Maryland Public Service Commission at the state level and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the federal level. McGean urges residents and visitors who are in opposition to speak out against Crown Castle’s new ad by contacting the Maryland Public Service Commission.
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