While many cities across the nation have been caught off guard by the number of towers wireless providers want to construct, the city of Greensboro, N.C., forecasted the onslaught nearly two-and-a-half years ago.
After the A- and B-block auction of personal communications services licenses was completed, carriers began asking the city for information concerning the local zoning laws. That was when the city’s planning department knew something was about to happen.
“We wanted to be on a proactive side so that we could provide [the carriers] the best service we could,” said Susan Rabold of Greensboro’s planning department. “We try to be very customer friendly. Customer service is what our management staff has really tried to improve.”
The members of the planning department knew nothing about the needs of the wireless industry so they invited the local carriers to educate them about the business and the then-proposed telecommunications act.
To aid carriers in tower site planning, the department began locating and recording existing wireless towers, water towers, city property and school property. It color codes each carrier and produces a geographic map locating all the towers and potential tower sites along with spread sheets that identify each location, the property owner and height of an existing tower. The department also maps out X and Y coordinates and longitude and latitude so carriers could plan out radio frequency needs.
“Our goal is to try and first have the carriers work amongst themselves to collocate. If they need to build a new site, we would like them to go on the public property first,” said Rabold. And if locating on public property is not possible, the city requests carriers locate their towers in the general vicinity of other towers. Operators are not forced to keep their towers a minimum distance from each other.
“We don’t mandate that they collocate,” Rabold added. “We don’t require them to locate on city property. We have found carriers have been very good to work with and have been so glad that we want to work with them.”
The city set leasing prices for towers based on what frequency a carrier is using as not to discriminate among carriers. “PCS is different than cellular. We catered the pricing and lease fee structure to the [frequency] so that we weren’t being more pricey on one. PCS uses less antenna than cellular. There is a base fee on how much cable they have to run,” said Rabold. Pricing also is determined by the height of a tower and whether the tower can accommodate collocation.
“The city has realized a revenue opportunity,” said Tia Murphy, marketing director for BellSouth Mobility DCS, which launched PCS last August in Greensboro. “They have offered all municipal buildings, structures and raw land for lease. To look at the public property instead of private goes beautifully with the way BellSouth does things … We still have to meet all the setback obligations and all regulatory [laws], but if we can meet all of that, we get automatic approval.” Murphy noted that Greensboro’s zoning laws are stringent concerning where towers can be erected, but the public properties are areas carriers most want to serve.
Towers are not permitted in residential areas, said Rabold, but are allowed provided carriers construct them on an existing tower or a water tower.
“That is an area we’re going to have to address. We have not amended the ordinance. We’ve got some areas right now that are inaccessible,” she said.
Greensboro also struck deals with carriers to improve the community and avoid certain expenses on taxpayers. When BellSouth requested a tower site that was adjacent to a police firing range, it agreed to pay its first three years of rental use up front so the city could use that revenue along with bond money to relocate the firing range away from residential areas. “They’ve been able to go back and fund relocation at no incremental expense to taxpayers with a nice contribution to the community. That’s a win-win situation,” said Murphy.
Word of Greensboro’s program is getting out, said Murphy. “More and more communities in the North Carolina area and throughout the country are calling the city and trying to put together this package. No one wants their tax base to increase.”
