MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - The county’s municipal planning commission (MPC) has approved a development permit for the construction of a communication tower in Water Valley.
The move came by way of motion at the commission’s recent regularly scheduled meeting, held in person and online.
The 60-metre, self-supporting tower will be built on the north side of Highway 579 about eight kilometres west Highway 22, at SE 27-29-5-5.
The applicant is Rogers Communications Inc. c/o Evolve Surface Strategies, with a project value of $500,000.
It is located on a one-acre local commercial district parcel, which currently features the Water Valley Saloon and a Telus communications tower.
“The proposed installation will be located at the rear of the subject property to mitigate the impact on the existing development,” administration said in a briefing note to the commission. “Access to the proposed installation will be via the existing access into the Water Valley Saloon parking lot on the north side of Highway 579.”
As required, the applicant conducted community consultations by circulating the proposal to adjacent landowners within one mile of the proposed site.
In all, 222 adjacent landowners were circulated, with one letter of support and one letter of objection received.
The letter of objection was from an adjacent landowner who voiced concerns with the tower’s location, design, and height.
The writer also voiced concerns that the proposed location “does not match the western theme and is not aesthetically pleasing as per what’s intended for the neighbourhood commercial/community centre of downtown Water Valley.”
The applicant responded to the concern, “advising that the proposed location was selected to address local deficiencies in coverage and capacity for wireless traffic due to inadequate tower-to-user ranges, the hinderance of signals due to physical obstacle, and a growing user capacity.”
The development permit approval comes with a number of conditions, including that the tower will be engineered to accommodate future co-location with additional carriers and to minimize any potential negative effects on the adjacent residence.
The MCP is made up of county councillors and appointed members of the public.
