Bossier Parish (Louisiana) has organized a police jury committee that will assess building codes and build out options for small cell providers, according to an announcement issued by the Parish Police.
“We’ve been experiencing in the last few months, an increase in requests for off-premise cellular towers,” Director of the Metropolitan Planning Commission Sam Marsiglia told jury members. “There are no comprehensive ordinances in the Benton zone for these uses.”
Marsiglia said no ordinance is in place in the Benton area that determines height or numbers on cell towers, and more requests for permits are coming into his office. He also pointed out that with no regulations in place, the height of those towers can’t be defined.
Bossier City does have ordinances in place and Marsiglia said he could refine that for use in the parish. Police jury President Glenn Benton agreed that a consistent regulation would be best and he asked the jury’s road/subdivision committee to take up the issue.
“We kicked this can down the road some time ago,” Benton said. “I don’t want to see us in the parish, have one ordinance for the towns and one for the city.”
During his report to the police jury, Parish Engineer Butch Ford, said cellular towers also present another problem that needs to be considered.
“One problem caused by cellular towers is the need for fiber optic cables. That puts another cable underground in our right-of-way; that is creating a lot of havoc with our street and road dedication,” Ford said. “There’s not enough room for them all. These have to be 18 inches from another utility and we may have to widen the road right-of-way,” he said.
May 8, 2018
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