ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 6, 1996 TAG: 9612060006
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-18 EDITION: METRO
ONE BY one, as applications for wireless communications towers are filed, localities are waking up to the need to plan where these towers will go - and where they must not go.
Botetourt and Roanoke counties are starting to wrestle with the issue, which is good. How much better it would be, though, if their work could be part of a regional planning effort to locate towers where they would be least noticeable, without regard to political boundaries.
Lovely mountain views and valley panoramas are not cut off, after all, by lines drawn on maps to mark municipal jurisdictions. A regional strategy is needed to manage visual impacts generally. The prospect of proliferating communications towers could prove helpful if it serves as an impetus for localities to begin planning together.
The proliferating-towers prospect has, in any event, prompted Valley Beautiful to send a memo to top elected officials of the Roanoke Valley's four political jurisdictions. The memo asks local governments to appoint a task force of citizens, industry representatives and government officials to help develop guidelines and a joint plan that would assure adequate cellular coverage "with the least visible impact on the surrounding area."
The Valley Beautiful volunteers have an excellent idea, which should be expanded to include Botetourt County as well. Municipalities should consider enlisting the technical assistance of the Fifth Planning District. But the emphasis should be on creating a framework for true regional planning.
The valley needs a seamless plan for protecting its natural face, particularly the ridgelines that present such a distinctive beauty to all who live in or pass through the region. Planning for tower placement and design could be a place to start.
And today wouldn't be too soon. The 25,000 antennas now beaming calls to 38 million American cell-phone users are expected to grow to 118,000 antennas serving 89 million subscribers by 2005. With the possibility of also sending data and video via airwaves, the wireless revolution is just getting under way.
Surely, with all the lines of communication already open out there, and so many more to come, the valley's jealously independent governments should be able to answer Valley Beautiful's call.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB