The FCC recently announced a plan to help roll out 5G technology quicker and cheaper, seeking to use public rights-of-way for towers, antennas and accompanying infrastructure, reported iBerkshires. Inside Towers reported the agency plans to vote on the proposal September 26.
“When it is finally rolled out, the theory is you are going to have a pole every three homes. It is going to be a lot of infrastructure,” attorney Anthony Lepore of Cityscape Consultants Inc. told the Community Development Board, members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and staff members of the Office of Community Development.
To combat the installation of a lot of bulky equipment, Lepore helped craft 14 pages of local legislation to guide the development of wireless infrastructure. “They want to put it up cheap and fast. That is their goal. What we tried to do is create roadblocks to cheap and fast,” he said.
The city does have the ability to control new towers and that’s what Lepore is focusing on, since legislation backed by the tower industry has not yet been adopted in Massachusetts.
iBerkshires reported the proposed regulation of the city puts a focus on aesthetics as well as builds a hierarchy of preferred options. Some of the new facilities will require both a special permit from the Zoning Board of Adjustment and a site plan approval from the Community Development Board.
“You will have some flexibility when it comes to new infrastructure in terms of having approval or denial rights,” Lepore said.
While 5G rollout hasn’t hit yet, city officials are looking to fine tune the regulations. There isn’t a timeline in place for the proposed regulations to be given to the City Council for approval, reported iBerkshires. Comments? Email us.
September 12, 2018
