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BY SEAN PEARCE sprarrr®yrmg.wm Cellphones represent an interesting conundrum in York Region and in many communities We all love the technology â€" the ability to connect wherever we are at any time â€"â€" but we sure do seem to hate the infrastructure. such as towers. that makes it possible. A quick search of any news website will reveal numerous examples of towns. cities and citizens fighting against the siting of cell towers in their vicinities. To be sure. there have been a number of examples of this phenomenon in York Region. Last spring. a group of Aurora residents rallied against a (SO-metre tower being erected within view of their homes near Bathurst and Wellington streets. just a stone's throw west of the town's boundary with King Township. In their opposition to the Bell tower. residents cited concerns of diminished property values. a marring of community aesthetics and a lack of notification. Issues pertaining to potential negative health effects were also raised. A couple of months earlier. in Febru- ary 2013. King Mayor Steve Pellegrini and councillors made it clear they weren't thrilled at the prospect of having a tower built in their municipality predominantly to serve neighbouring communities King council made its position known to lndus~ try Canada. but there was just one resident present at the council meeting to object to the tower owing largely to the sparsely- populated nature of the area surrounding the tower site. King had hosted a public consultation meeting in August 2012 and asked Bell to notify residents within 250 metres of the site. It's not clear how many King residents were alerted to the plan. but it seems just 10 on the Aurora side of the border were given a heads up We love our cellphones, just n0t”their towers ‘ M? \T HP Oak Ridges-Markham MP Paul Calan- dra is holding a public meeting of his own at the Stouffville Creek Retirement Residence, not GET CONNECTED CALL NOW! ADVE R “Sf MEN’ Aurora’s input was also sought. but the town declined to comment. Fast forward to last spring and per- turbed residents packed the council cham- ber to demand action from their munici- pal representatives Aurora oouncil initially agreed to pursue an injunction against the tower. but legal opinions obtained indi- cated that pursuing such a legal avenue could be costly. up to $100,000 and prove. ultimately. fruitless Instead. the town opted to go through Industry Canada's dispute resolution pro- cessinaneflorttocallonthebodyto implement higher public consultation requirements rather than try to topple the tower in question. Aurora CAO Neil Garbe later apologized on behalf of the town and an unidentified town employee who turned down an opportunity to comment on behalf of the town. Another Bell cell tower eyed for the cor. net of Bayview and 16th avenues in Rich~ mond Hill raised the ire of residents and council members in that community last March and talk of new towels has elicited a chilly response from residents and munici- pal councillors in various municipalities The list just goes on and on. Earlier this year. Industry Canada intro- duced changes to its cell tower placement policy intended to ensure municipalities and residents can play a more active role in the process The new rules require cell providers to consider utilizing existing structures before pursuing a tower. con~ tact all local stakeholders who may have an interest in any new towers. seek comment from impacted homeowners and report any input received to Industry Canada. among other rules In addition. if an impasse should occur between a municipality and a company. industry Canada will get involved and either refer the parties to mediation or look closely at the facts and issue a deci- sion. Such instances are me. according fat from the controversial proposed towev sue in downtown Stouffville, Saturday between 2 and 4 pm. M]. ‘ ANALYSIS to Industry Canada. which suggests it gets involved in fewer than 0.1 per cent of Beyond those measures. the federal government will also launch a new out- reach plan this summer aimed at bet. ter guiding residents. municipalities and companies thro the tower placement process This include new online resources. a function to track tower issues and increased communication with resi- dents most affected. Despite the new rules in place. not all goes smoothly on this issue. Whitchurch- Stouffville council raised eyebrows last month by receiving a staff report about a new Rogers cell tower proposed for 20 heel Lane in the community's downtown. Conservative Oak Ridges-Markham MP Paul Calandra is one of those disappointed by the town's lack of comment. especial- ly with the new Industry Canada rules in plaw'lhechangesputakitofpowerinthe hands of municipalities he adding he's not certain why the town felt it had no say in the matter and opted not to comment. especially when the law otherwise. on the weekend before our (March 18) meeting if he had so many issues with the tower. We could have refened the motion. which was a receiving motion, to our next meeting to allow him and other residents time to speak to us. We do that with all residents if more time is needed on any issue ...." the mayor told The Sun-"Iiibune via email last month. (Ioncemed about the impact of the tower both on residents and the efforts to revitalize the downtown. Mr. Calandra intends to hold a public meeting of his own at the Stouffville Creek Retirement Residence. not far from the tower site. April 5 between 2 and 4 pm. Go toyomegoon.com forthewholestory â€" with files from Sandra Bolan