Cell Tower on Bradner Road Installed with Expired Public Consultation

1/29/2019

Bradner cell tower Rogers Communications

Image - Submitted

The City of Abbotsford gave Rogers Communications the go ahead to install a new cell tower at 6738 Bradner Rd. with expired public consultation.

Concerned residents in Bradner inquired with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) when they saw a new cell tower erected recently on Bradner Road. The ISED reviewed the case and information provided by the owner of the tower (Rogers Communications) and the Land-use Authority (LUA) who in this case is the City of Abbotsford.

Rogers obtained approval from the Provincial Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) back in June 2014. Following the ALC approval, the City of Abbotsford concurred for the tower to go ahead in July 2014.

After reviewing the documents and the timeline of events, the ISED determined the consultations done for this tower are not valid, per the requirements in CPC-2-0-03. Rogers received a building permit from the City of Abbotsford (the LUA) for the tower, which Rogers assumed as a "go ahead" given by the City. However, per section 4.3 of the CPC-2-0-03 the issuance of a building permit is not considered "go ahead" by the LUA, unless it is the preferred method of providing concurrence (agreement) by the LUA. Back in 2013, public consultations were held, but are no longer valid as they have exceeded the 3-year construction time limit, and Rogers did not obtain an extension from the City of Abbotsford (LUA).

The ISED has now requested Rogers Communications to repeat the public and LUA consultations following the established process by the City of Abbotsford. The ISED has also requested Rogers to stop any new developments on the tower until they have obtained valid consultations, as required.

Click for Industry Canada's Requirements for New Cell Towers

Industry Canada’s requirements for new antenna tower systems are explained in more detail here. These requirements include public consultation and land-use authority consultation. If a proposed antenna meets these requirements it will normally get approved. Industry Canada is not involved in determining tower locations and the specifics of tower installations. This is done by Wireless service providers with the local municipality. Industry Canada is only involved if there is a dispute between the municipality and the service provider. If the municipality confirms all the relevant municipal processes has been followed for this tower, then the tower owner has successfully concluded the requirement for land-use authority consultation.