The construction of a controversial 41-metre-tall telecommunications antenna structure at 2979 Allenby Rd. is now being supported by the majority of the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s electoral area directors.
After a lengthy debate at its meeting on May 7, the majority of the electoral area services committee voted to recommend to the board that a letter of non-concurrence be provided to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada in response to a proposal from Rogers Canada indicating that the CVRD is not in favour of the cell tower at the site.
But the electoral area directors decided in a motion that only they could vote on at the board meeting on May 14 to send the letter of concurrence to ISEDC for the project, with three opposed.
Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls director Ian Morrison pointed out that there are areas of the CVRD that need cell coverage, and the district has developed a reputation of not being friendly to new cell towers.
“If not here [at 2979 Allenby Rd.] then where?” he asked.
“I think [the cell tower proposal] met eight of the 11 boxes to be ticked under our cell-siting policy. I would ask the directors to consider whether or not we’re going to provide any certainty to the industry given that we put a policy in place. I suggest we follow it.”
The Radiocommunication Act authorizes the ISEDC to give approval for the installation of cell towers and antenna systems, and regional governments do not have authority to override ISEDC’s decisions.
But ISEDC has its own guidelines that service providers must follow as part of its application process to place towers, including consultations with local residents and encouraging local governments to get involved early in the siting process and provide either letters of concurrence or non-concurrence for projects proposed for their jurisdictions.
Faced with several proposals for new cell towers in the CVRD to meet the increasing need for more and better wireless communications, and dealing with concerns from the public about potential health impacts from cell towers as well as aesthetic issues, the CVRD established a policy on where the towers can be placed in the district in 2022.
The policy includes a requirement for new cell towers to be located more than 500 metres from residences and 300 metres from schools; avoid areas affecting public views; avoid hazardous and environmentally sensitive areas; and there be minimal tree removal.
Rogers Canada applied to the CVRD in 2024 to provide a letter of concurrence for its proposed cell tower on Allenby Road, which would be located on a property in the Koksilah Business Park that is zoned light industrial.
The tower would contain 4G antennas and GPS equipment, with the ability to add additional equipment in the future.
The applicant stated the objective is to improve wireless coverage in the area, and that the site was selected as it is located centrally within the area requiring Rogers’ service improvement.
Alison Nicholson, director for Cowichan Station/Sahtlam/Glenora in which the cell tower is proposed, is adamantly opposed to it.
She said one of the key provisions in the CVRD’s cell-tower siting policy is distance from residential areas and, while the property is zoned light industrial, there are many people living close to the site.
Nicholson said she also takes issue with the proponents of the cell tower stating that the required community engagement on the project “went very well” when, in fact, nobody showed up for a public information meeting on the issue.
“That indicates to me that the community engagement did not go very well at all,” she said.
“Most importantly, there already is a cell tower within a block of where they’re proposing to put this and I don’t think it is in the interests of our community to have our skies littered by cell phone towers because the providers, who make a lot of money on cell phone stuff, are not able to coordinate and come up with a plan that makes sense for our region. This is not in the interest of our community.”
A staff report acknowledged that an existing Telus cell tower is located approximately 200 metres to the northwest of the proposed Rogers cell tower, and the applicant has noted that they investigated the possibility of colocation on the Telus tower.
However, Rogers said the Telus tower is not designed to accommodate Rogers’ antenna loading at a suitable height to deliver reliable connectivity to the area.
Cobble Hill director Mike Wilson said the cell tower is needed to increase connectivity in the region.
“If we’re going to progress, then this is the way of doing it,” he said.
Cowichan Bay director Hilary Abbott agreed
“If this is not a suitable site, then the rest of the CVRD is not a suitable site,” he said.
The motion to send a letter of concurrence to the ISEDC passed, with Nicholson, Shawnigan Lake director Sierra Acton and North Oyster/Diamond director Ben Maartman opposed.
