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Borough officials are investigating an antenna without a permit (left). Photo by Allen McInnis
Borough investigating antenna without a permit
'Will they start installing antennas all over the place?'
Max Harrold
The Gazette
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Borough officials are investigating an antenna without a permit (left). Photo by Allen McInnis
It’s a sign of technological progress, but a new cellphone relay antenna in Pierrefonds is also a sign of poor neighbourliness, a borough councillor says.
Catherine Clément-Talbot, who represents the Cap St. Jacques district on the Pierrefonds/Roxboro borough council, says the borough is checking into how a Videotron antenna that seems high enough to require a permit was installed without one. The borough requires structures over 15 metres high to have a permit and the antenna, installed on the property of a commercial garage on Gouin Blvd. W. near the Cap St. Jacques Nature Park, is just over 15 metres.
“It’s like putting up a fence,” said the councillor, who also chairs the borough’s urban planning committee. “A good neighbour should go and talk to the neighbours, and the borough, before putting something up. The phone company should have come and talked to us first.”
She said the borough prefers to cooperate with companies to decide on antenna locations for aesthetic, health and urban planning purposes.
A Videotron spokesperson did not return several calls from The Gazette
Martial Durocher, owner of the garage, said “the antenna is 50 feet high,” which converts to 15.2 metres. He said he is being paid a rental fee by Videotron, but he would not disclose the amount. It’s basically like a telephone pole, he said, and he doesn’t understand why anyone has a problem with it.
“I’m proud that I’m contributing to progress,” added Durocher, 65, who has owned the car repair garage for 17 years. “I don’t have a cellphone, but my wife does. And customers who come in here have used their cellphones and they said it crackles. This antenna will help.” The antenna has a base that is 2.2 metres wide but the antenna itself is just 35 centimetres in diameter, he said. The antenna wasn’t operational as of Wednesday, Durocher noted.
He stressed that the antenna will not emit harmful microwaves, as it is simply a relay antenna. “That’s the first thing I asked them about.”
Neighbour Valérie Cordemans said that she has nothing against Durocher but she was shocked that a phone company could install an antenna without a permit. “What’s next?” she asked. “Will they start installing antennas all over the place? It’s so natural around here. That’s why I moved here.”
mharrold@thegazette.canwest.com
Meanwhile look at the telephone wires! :o)
The pole is a work of art compared to the ugly phone wires.
If the councilor really wants to be useful let her have the wires buried