Shreveport, LA City Council members are working with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to better understand 5G infrastructure as they work to finalize a new telecommunications ordinance for both macro and micro towers. Drafted last month by Shreveport’s City Council Infrastructure Committee, the ordinance aims to set zoning and siting requirements, but also includes language to protect neighbors from potential adverse impacts as it manages public health and community aesthetics.
Addressing committee members at last month’s meeting, Shreveport City Attorney, William Bradford said, “How do we regulate what goes into our public right-of-ways? And how do we make sure that those pieces of infrastructure that are deployed by the industry are congruent with the aesthetics of the City of Shreveport and continue to make our city beautiful?”
The draft ordinance addresses these concerns through several approval processes. In addition to approvals by the City Engineer and/or Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC), the ordinance also requires permit applications, proposed findings, and conditions to be reviewed by a third-party consultant.
John Settle, resident and local columnist expressed concern over the MPC’s role in the approval process. According to KTBS-TV, Settle said the agency is currently under public scrutiny for “not being efficient and business-friendly.”
In favor of the ordinance, Councilman Jeff Everson said, “They can always revise the ordinance in anticipation of whatever changes may come to the city’s zoning and planning procedures.”
The new ordinance is scheduled for vote in early May.
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