Jason Mufford projected a photo of his three young children onto large overhead screens at Township council, in a bid to persuade council to reject an application for a cell phone tower near his home at 21533 Crush Cres., in Milner.
“I can’t let this happen to my kids,” Mufford said.
Cell phone towers must be approved by Industry Canada, and a majority of council voted to advise the agency that it does not object to Standard Land’s application to build a 138-foot tri-pole tower for use by Telus and other service providers, at 21566 Crush Crescent.
Councillors Charlie Fox, Steve Ferguson and Kim Richter were opposed.
Mufford said that his greatest concerns were the health of his children, and the stability of the ground.
He told council that when a coal train passes through Milner the ground can move two to four inches.
He said he has seen two train derailments within feet of where the tower is proposed.
Councillor Jordan Bateman pointed out that council has no authority to rule on the application from a health perspective.
“We are not actually allowed to consider health (aspect). Industry Canada strictly forbids that,” he said.
Darren Herd, speaking for Telus, assured that the tower would be safe and able to withstand an earthquake.
“We have come up with a very creative design concept,” he said, adding that Telus has “very few” poles in Langley.
Earl Mufford, of 21499 Crush Cres., told council of his concern about applications for two towers so close to each other.
Responding to council’s preference for one pole to serve more than network, Herd said that Bell, Rogers and Shaw have all signed up for that pole.
Council did not support another application for a pole at 21554 Crush Cres. because of its proximity to Telus facility, but did support Standard Land’s application for a pole at 21216 102B Ave.
Ferguson said that the second Crush Crescent pole constitutes “an unnecessary impact on agricultural land.”
He added that “technology has to change so that we don’t have these towers.”