Dalton Gardens hearing set on cell towers

DALTON GARDENS — The Dalton Gardens City Council will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday on an ordinance to regulate installation of cell towers within city limits.

Councilman Tyler Drechsel said the "Telecom Ordinance" has been two years in the making.

"This ordinance will protect the rural feel and lifestyle that the citizens of Dalton Gardens love and help to provide safeguards for all the residents," he said. "This has been a long process and we are all excited for this ordinance to finally come to fruition."

According to a draft of the ordinance, its purpose is to "promote the health, safety and general welfare of the people of the City of Dalton Gardens; to protect property rights; and to protect the important environmental features and scenic, historical, natural and man-made character and appearance of the City."

It goes on to say that the city is seeking to minimize adverse impacts caused by the siting, placement, physical size and/or unnecessary proliferation of personal wireless service facilities."

The proposed law says the installation, construction, erection, relocation, substantial expansion or material alteration of any personal wireless service facility within the City will require a special use permit.

The ordinance says that each installation at each proposed location will be reviewed and considered independently for its own characteristics and potential impacts, "irrespective of whether the proposed facility is designed and intended to operate independently or whether the installation is designed and/or intended to operate jointly as part of a distributed antenna system."

The public is welcome to attend the meeting and offer comment.

In other news:

• Dalton Gardens is looking for residents interested in being part of some new temporary committees to include community picnic planning committee, mill levy rate review committee and American Rescue Plan Act fund’s review committee. Citizens can contact Dalton Gardens City Hall, at 208-772-3698, to complete an application if they are interested in being part of one of these temporary committees.