Cities have been dealing with cell towers for years, particularly the issue of where they are placed and under what circumstances. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the Board of Works and Public Safety Monday that more and more requests are rolling into the city for placement of small cell tower equipment inside local neighborhoods.
These small cell towers have a range of only 500 to 700 feet. Hundreds, if not thousands, of these tower requests within neighborhoods are expected to be coming soon, according to the mayor. As they become more popular, this could overwhelm the current city approval system. As Fishers city ordinances now stand, the Board of Works must conduct a public hearing and vote on each request.
The mayor wants the Board of Works, City Attorney Chris Greisl and staff from the planning and zoning department to work on what the mayor describes as “policies and thresholds that make sense.”
The mayor indicated this could all be discussed at a Board of Works public work session in the future.