UScellular and the City of Lawton reached an impasse over a small ce ll wireless telecommunications tower, so the City Council ordered the company to move it within 30 d ays.
City Hall reportedly issued revocable permits last September for 24 small ce ll wireless facilities, and two of them ha ve been erected in unwanted locations.
The City Council voted June 25 to issu e a stop work order on a small cell wireless tower installed in the 6400 block of Northwest Arrowhead Drive, in Wyatt Acres. UScellular was given 90 days to move the metal pole; that deadline is Oct. 9, Comm unity Services Director Charlotte Brown told Southwest Ledger.
The council on May 28 discussed another tower that was placed near 7990 Micklegate Blvd. That tower was not constructed according to the approved plans, Brown said. The metal tower would need to be moved almost 2 feet west and 3 feet north “in order to be in compliance with the plans, according to our inspector,” she reported.
Additionally, city staff received various complaints from residents in the neig hborhood “regarding the proximity of the facili ty” to their homes .
“I have been talking to them but have been unable to get a timeline” as to w hen they intend to move the tower to an alternate location, Brown said. UScellular “said they would remove the tower” but instead “they have bolstered the base of it ” with concrete, she told the council.
Meanwhile, Brown received a mulish letter from a UScellular official who asserted that the city ’s notice of revocation of the Wyatt Acres tower “provides no specifics as to the r eason for … or any information … which describes the City Council’s deliberations which resulted in the permit r evocation.” Therefore, he asserted, “Until we receive such additional information, we do not consider the notice valid nor will we be able to take measure(s) to cure any violation of ordinance if such violation occurred.”
Patty Anderson, whose residence is adjacent to the Micklegate tower, said UScellular employees have entered her property time and time again, unannounced. “They have had a to tal disregard for any agreement they have made,” she said.
The company has exhibited “a defiant attitude,” City Manager John Ratliff said. If UScellular won’t remove the Micklegate tower, he asser ted, “We will remove it and send them the bill.” Furthermore, he recommended imposing a 30-day deadline for removal of the tow er, rather than the typical 90 days.
Councilman George Gill made a mo tion to revoke the Micklegate Boulevard tower permit “for cause” and order its removal within 30 days; his colleagues concurred in an 8-0 vote. The city sent official notice to UScellular on Aug. 14, Brown told the Ledger.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, small wireless facilities “use components that are a fraction of the size of traditional cell tower deployments and can often be installed on utility poles, buildings, and other existing structures.” They can be “deployed to provide coverage in targeted locations up to 1.2 miles b y moving radios closer to users, and to provide additional capacity in areas with higher demands for wireless voice and data services.”