Landscape Architect Articles

Landscape Architects Argue for and Against Cell Towers05-27-08 | News

Landscape Architects Argue for and Against Cell Towers

An unadorned cell tower, a monopole, in New York state

If you think cell phones are a scourge, the proliferation of cell towers will really set you off. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

There is some environmental irony here. Just when many communities placed their unsightly telephone lines underground, along comes cell technology that requires above ground systems to capture their radio waves. Cell phones in the U.S. operate between 824 and 894 MHz.

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Cell towers are of course proliferating. One source [www.cellreception.com] purports a database of over 130,000 cell phone tower locations registered with the FCC. Cell sites are not always towers; some are mounted on buildings and even on such objects as water towers.

Communities across the country are of course getting involved as more and more towers go up. The zoning board of Hempstead, N.Y., for instance, recently held a nine-hour public hearing over a mobile company?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Conversely, the mobile company offered the opinion of a landscape architect that residents would benefit from better wireless coverage, the tower would blend in with the tall trees and could be camouflaged or disguised.

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