The recent lifting of a 20-year-old ban comes with the proviso that towers should be less conspicuous in the residential sections of Walla Walla, WA. While there are still guidelines in place, the Union Bulletin reports that with a 5-to-2 vote, the City Council approved the camouflage measure. Under the revised rules, constructing cell towers in formerly forbidden zones is now allowed, but the antennas must be disguised as trees, water towers, or steeples, or attached to existing buildings as subtly as possible.
“It’s doing what you can to conceal these things,” stated city Development Services Director Preston Frederickson.
The newly adopted qualifiers delineate what can, and can’t, be erected in Walla Walla’s residential neighborhoods. Concealed cell towers are now permitted in residential zones but only on non-residential parcels like businesses and churches. A cell tower must also be located away from other structures with a distance equal to at least the tower’s height, separating the tower from its nearest residential neighbor. An existing building can host an antenna, if the building is at least 35 feet tall, and the attached antenna is no more than 15 feet tall over and above the height of the structure.
City Council members have said the camouflage technology vote will keep Walla Walla connected, but in a way that reduces the visual impact on the city.
“I don’t think we’ll be seeing any palm trees in Walla Walla,” city attorney Timothy Donaldson told the Bulletin. “That’s one they would probably throw out the door when it came in.”
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