WASHINGTON-Bell Atlantic Mobile late Thursday received consent from the National Capital Planning Commission to site two towers inside Rock Creek Park here, but the carrier is expected to continue to push legislation that quickly would grant the necessary permits to build the towers.
“Our objective in the process has been the issuance of the permits. The legislation simply requires the National Park Service to issue those permits. When the permits are issued, we will communicate [that to Capitol Hill]. This process is riddled with delay and we will not relax until we get the permits,” said Howard Woolley, vice president of government relations specializing in wireless for Bell Atlantic Corp.
BAM’s victory at the NCPC was not easy. This is the third time the company applied to the planning board to be granted permission to site the towers inside the national urban park. In April, the NCPC rejected the application because of insufficient data. In July, the NCPC put off a decision until an independent consultant could evaluate the application.
Rock Creek Park is the nation’s oldest urban national park and is used for recreation. Additionally, thousands of commuters travel through the park. BAM says it has many dead zones in the park because it has been trying for five years to site antennas to improve coverage.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has cited Rock Creek Park as an example of park service foot-dragging since December 1996, when CTIA sent a letter to President Clinton asking him to spur the NPS and other federal agencies to site wireless facilities on federal lands.
Following the July decision to hire an independent consultant, NCPC hired Comp Comm Inc. of Voorhees, N.J. Comp Comm was formed in 1975 as an engineering firm for wireless companies but has focused lately on helping towns develop antenna-siting strategies.
Comp Comm recommended only one tower was necessary instead of the two requested in the BAM application. The NCPC staff agreed and urged the commission to only approve the siting of one 130-foot tower at the maintenance yard and reject the application for a 100-foot tower to be sited on a light pole at the tennis center.
Additionally, the staff suggested-but the NCPC rejected-the park service be required to study what additional towers would need to be built so competing carriers could maintain coverage. Opponents of towers at Rock Creek Park fear the park will become an antenna farm. Bruce David Levitt believes Thursday’s vote may lead to many more towers inside the park.
“I am disappointed in the lack of integrity in the process. [NPS] misrepresented the information [about the number of towers to be built.] The information I presented demonstrates categorically that other [firms] want to build towers inside Rock Creek Park,” he said.
Before the vote, the NCPC heard from more than 50 witnesses-many of whom had testified at the two previous meetings. According to a witness list (which listed 63 witnesses) 28 were in favor of the towers and 35 were opposed. Also, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams sent a letter opposing the towers.
BAM is not sure when NPS will grant permits for the towers so it plans to continue to push for legislation included in the D.C. spending bill that would facilitate tower siting on park land. At RCR press time, the bill was in conference but the Rock Creek Park language was not expected to be in dispute.
On another budget matter, language that would allow the government to take back licenses from bankrupt operators was stripped Friday from a bill to revamp the satellite TV industry.
