Planning commissioners OK ordinance on phone towers

Mathis Winkler

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

North Las Vegas planning commissioners unanimously approved a new law regulating cell phone towers on Wednesday.

The ordinance will likely get final approval from City Council members in April.

City officials hope it will keep cell phone towers out of residential areas by making it easier for companies to locate antennas on city-owned property and in industrial and commercial areas.

Companies can get administrative approval for towers in these favored areas instead of going through a more elaborate approval process before the planning commission.

To get administrative approval, towers cannot be taller than 100 feet and must keep a distance of at least 200 feet from the nearest home. They also have to be located at least 750 feet away from an already existing tower.

Cell phone industry representatives, who collaborated with city officials to draft the ordinance, said they preferred to have guidelines in place rather than take every new tower before the commission for approval.

"It gets things done," said Don Cape, a senior project manager with Spectrum Surveying and Engineering, who represents several cell phone companies.

The idea to regulate the location of cell phone towers has already been adopted in other parts of the Las Vegas Valley.

Clark County officials, who adopted a similar law in 1998, said companies now try to set up towers outside of residential zones and only a few seek special permits to do so each year.

Las Vegas City Council members also approved a similar ordinance on Feb. 20 that makes it easier to erect towers designed as clock towers, flag poles or palm trees. Towers in Las Vegas have to be at least 600 feet from the nearest home.

Henderson officials, who previously said they preferred to give residents a chance to comment on every new application at planning commission meetings, now are also looking at adopting a similar ordinance. They will hold an initial workshop to study the issue on March 12.