Cellular towers could be coming to a Safety Harbor street near you
By 
The recent approval of state legislation regarding wireless and broadband deployment means communication antennas may be installed on power poles and on the ground, including in right-of-ways.
According to the terms of the Advanced Wireless Infrastructure Deployment Act, which went into effect on July 1, 2017, it “provides for the collocation of small wireless facilities on government owned poles and other poles and structures located in the right-of-way, installation of ground mounted equipment in the right-of-way, installation of new poles in the right-of-way, and installation of micro-wireless facilities.”
In short, it means the government and/or private entities could construct wireless communication towers in the middle of downtown Safety Harbor, and there’s nothing the City could do about it.
“What (the bill) will do is it will allow telecommunication companies to put wireless single towers in the right-of-way throughout the City,” City Manager Matt Spoor told the Commission on Monday, March 6, prior to the bill being passed.
“Whereas before, cell phones have utilized larger communication towers that have been set on private property in most cases, and then they’ve comingled their wireless infrastructure on top those towers. They would now be able to contract with third party vendors and put single poles, anywhere, almost like light poles, in town, and those poles would have wireless infrastructure in them.”
Spoor said the legislation “severely limits the government’s authority to legislate and dictate where those poles can and cannot go, and it also would fly in the face of everything that small communities have done over the years to put infrastructure underground in certain neighborhoods, in particular in downtown Main Street.”
Spoor added the new legislation would allow companies “to put a 65 or 70-foot pole right in the right-of-way, right next to a tree or plant.”
“If that passes, who knows what towers we could have up, and where, around town,” he said.
The bill was one of a handful of measures deemed detrimental local governments’ ability to legislate their communities, including the regulation of vacation rentals and local businesses.
Despite protests from local lawmakers, House Bill 687 was ultimately signed by Governor Rick Scott on June 23 and went into effect on July 1.
Following the passage of the bill, Spoor related the City’s position on the topic.
“The City is disappointed that state legislators felt the need to dictate how local public rights of way’s (ROW’s) are utilized by private, for profit, cellular providers,” Spoor told Safety Harbor Connect via email. “We would have preferred they left those decisions up to local elected leaders who are closest to their constituents.”
“With that said, we hope to work within the framework of this new legislation to provide the least intrusive cellular poles and utilities so that our residents do not see or feel the impact of this new law.”
According to Spoor, the City hasn’t received permit applications for any towers—yet.
However, he heard the process has begun in other municipalities, and he said city officials are working to come up with solutions to the situation.
“In Pinellas County we have begun discussions with Duke Energy,” he wrote. “Ideally the private providers and Duke could work out an installation where they can be installed on existing Duke Energy light poles, i.e. collocation.”
“We would like to avoid as many new poles in the ROW as possible, especially in our downtown, scenic McMullen Booth Corridor and Neighborhoods, so pretty much everywhere.”
How do you feel about this issue, Harborites? Let us know in the comments below.
Related content:
- Mayor Ayoub floats idea of open container policy for downtown Safety Harbor events
- Latest study determines no traffic calming measures needed downtown
- SHCC agrees to increase setbacks in downtown district
They are not towers. They are Small Cell antennas which serve an area of 1,000′ to 1,500′ radius.
If you use a cell phone, then you are the reason these installations are coming. To serve you.
Please don’t jump to conclusions. Talk to people in the Telecom industry to gain some insight.
There are enormous health issues that are becoming well established relative to cell towers in communities. All citizens should note the many publications on the topic. There has also been many construction projects blocked in the state of CA and basic constitutional rights have been used in the agruements. I encourage all citizens to thoroughly review this risk. Heart disease stroke, cancer, extreme physical effects such as headaches are very typical of local exposure at FCC energy levels. You cannot escape this once the tower is active. The issue is real and becoming widely addressed at an international level. Cell phone radiation is only one aspect of the risk. Paul Batcho Ph.D.
Dan. Thanks for the rude attitude. I am not opinionated or uniformed. There are other sites that say totally different things. I have been to conventions and heard very educated speakers. You can post your opinion without attacking others but in this town i shouldnt be surprised.
Please give your name to the city so they can make sure this is put in your backyard.
I urge residents to actually look at factual information, such as that from the American Cancer Society which has an article at http://www.emfexplained.info/?ID=25821 when evaluating the above comments. Opinionated, uninformed rhetoric only serves to inflame people.
why do we need more communication lines? These things r proven to be health hazard . This place is beautiful and we would like to keep it that way. It is sad enough to watch families and friends walking around looking down at thier phones! The value of this place is in keeping it simple and not letting big corporations take advantage.
Jeff thank you for posting this article. These towers will bring down property values. They are not safe and should not be alllowed near peoples homes. Autism and children with disabilities is at a high. Families with these problems will umderstand. Why should we risk our health and property values for private companies to make money at privaye citizens expense.