Environmental Impact Requirements. As noted above, many citizens maintain that the aesthetic impact of cellular towers lowers their residential property values, but there are other concerns involved in such installations as well. According to Crowell (1996), there have been a number of concerns voiced about the potential health and environmental problems that electro-magnetic radiation from cellular communications towers and their supporting facilities may create. In an effort to protect the aesthetics of these communities as well as to ensure public health and safety, local governments have increasingly applied zoning powers to regulate tower installations by requiring setbacks from residential or commercial structures, imposing height restrictions, and requiring safe zones in the event the tower collapses or debris falls from the tower; in fact, some municipalities have specifically established setback requirements for towers based on health and environmental concerns (Crowell 6). Still other local governments have imposed moratoriums on issuing facility permits to allow time for the crafting of land use regulations that balance community concerns and the needs of service providers. In this regard, though, the studies to date have found that the air quality impact of a 300-megawatt peaker power plant required to operate a cellular communication tower is approximately the same as three residential gas furnaces (Czerniawski 15).
Conclusion
The research showed that the United States is rapidly becoming the land of wireless communications, but many parts of the country, particularly rural areas, remain without wireless coverage. The lack of wireless...
The research also showed that it may be feasible to develop a strategic partnership with a private carrier that would provide for the installation of the requisite communications towers in western Massachusetts at no cost to the affected municipalities, with the potential of actually being paid by the private carrier for the privilege of locating such communications facilities on public lands.
Works Cited
Cellular Tower Installations through Public/Private Partnerships." (2005). WEL Associates, LLC. Available: http://www.welutz.com/cell_tower.html.
Clark, Martha L. (2005). "Massachusetts: The Land." In Encyclopedia Britannica [premium service].
Crowell, Anthony. (1996, June). "Local Government and the Telecommunications Act of 1996." Public Management, 78(6):6.
Czerniawski, June. (2000, March 19). "Fence Post: Police station needed." Daily Herald, 15.
Gozzi, Raymond Jr. (2000). "The Stealth Metaphor." ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 57(2):240.
Gutierrez, Daniel. (2001, September). "Ribbon cutting celebrates cell tower installation." The Voice, 189.
Hazlett, Thomas W. (2003). "Is Federal Preemption Efficient in Cellular Phone Regulation?" Federal Communications Law Journal, 56(1), 155.
Schneiderman, R. A Manager's Guide to Wireless Telecommunications.…
