WEST Vancouver residents opposed to a trio of cell towers need to make their voices heard, says one district councillor who spoke on the issue at recent council meeting.
Rogers has proposed three 36-metre cell towers be erected over a two-kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway in West Vancouver. The thin, white towers house microwave and radio antennae designed to improve the municipality's spotty wireless service.
Because Industry Canada has the last word in the event of an impasse, West Vancouver's municipal government is left with few options, but Coun. Michael Lewis said residents who don't want the towers shouldn't stay silent.
"At the end of the day we have very little control, but that doesn't mean there is not an opportunity to make change," he said. "The way the change is going to be made here is basically by burying the proponent in public input suggesting you don't want to see this happen. I think you need to talk to your MLAs."
Lewis suggested shorter towers, but the district's natural beauty makes that challenging, according to Rogers engineer Marc Draper.
"Doing smaller towers here would be great if we could," he said. "The trees in this area are enormous. Some of them are upwards of 100 feet, and that of course will cause severe blockage to our radio signals."
Approximately 17 per cent of West Vancouverites don't have any wireless service, according to Draper. However, the new towers still won't get everyone online.
"If we went ahead. .. it would probably bring the number down to about 10 per cent of the community still being without service, so it doesn't solve all our problems."
Without the new towers, bandwidth will become scarce in the district and Internet users will see a 25 per cent reduction in data speed, according to Draper.
The towers would run along the highway near Taylor Way and 26th Street, with another tower at 15th Street obliterating the view of homeowner Ivan Marks.
"Towers will ruin our beautiful West Vancouver scenery," Marks said.
With the tower about 100 metres from his front door, health effects were a major concern for Marks. His concern was echoed by Coun. Bill Soprovich, who compared the government's nonchalance regarding radio waves to the inaction that once permitted the use of DDT and asbestos. "Why should we be treated as guinea pigs?" he asked. "If the new pollution is electromagnetic radiation frequencies, then for goodness sake let's get to the bottom of it."
Radiation caused by cell towers is too insignificant to cause health problems, according to Health Canada.
While the cell towers would be built on provincial land, the federal government can approve the project through the Ministry of Industry.
"What's clear to me is the constituents are ill-informed about the proposals," said West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MP John Weston. Weston's wife, Donna, is one of those who wrote to West Vancouver council opposing the project, something Weston said he was informed of "after the fact."
Weston, who lives in Dundarave when parliament is not in session, said West Van residents need to know more about the project.
"I'd like to know that there's minimal effect on health and safety, that the proposed coverage is needed by the citizens of my community," he said.
While the higher elevations of West Vancouver may be at risk of being forced offline, the community should not be obliged to improve its cell service, according to Coun. Craig Cameron.
"I don't believe any community should have a certain level of cellphone coverage shoved down its throat. Ultimately if the residents of a community want to have inferior cellphone coverage because of the possible health effects and the esthetic effects and the rest, they should be able to do so," Cameron said.
