Cell Tower Proposal at 4800 Leslie St.by Bell Mobility

Below is a copy of the SLHA email on this topic sent March 25 to Ward Councillor and other elected office holders:

This email message addresses the issues raised by the residents in the surrounding area after a visit to the proposed location and a look at a Bell Mobility "flag pole" type tower at Leslie and Lawrence. It suggests an alternate but nearby location.

We acknowledge receipt of your email copy on this matter and its attachments including your letter to Industry Canada.

This proposed 40M cell tower will service much of the western area of Ward 33 and the Bayview Village, eastern area of Ward 24 with its 1 km service radius. The location of the cell tower mid-way along Leslie between Finch and Sheppard enhances and expands the ability of Bell to deliver an array of existing and future wireless services. It is easy to appreciate the engineering decision for this location. As you pointed out Rogers has a cell tower unit on top of the 4800 Leslie building.

From a city viewpoint, it sits in Ward 33 and serves it and Ward 24. From a political boundary viewpoint (federally and provincially), it sits in and serves Willowdale but also serves the Don Valley East constituency. (The city's website provides some good direction and information on telecommunications towers for residents and others.)

At 40M this will be one of the tallest standalone cell towers in Toronto. Most with this stated height are on the top of existing commercial or residential towers and this height includes the building dimension_based on looking at the Industry Canada data.

Along Leslie we can see a standalone Rogers and more modest tower at the 401 Eastbound intersection with Leslie. As noted above, near the St Bonaventure Church and School, there is a Bell Mobility 30 M "flagpole" type tower with a large flag. The ground area of this installation is about 7M x 10M. The tower mast diameter is about .75M and is bolted to a concrete base deep in the ground. The backdrop of the tower is treed since it is on the boundary of the city parkland.

The proposed location in the parking lot of the medical centre of the medical centre at 4800 Leslie sits at the edge of the property close to the low rise townhouse complex, and about 13M to the nearest bedroom with a child. According to Bell's information meeting the property owner does not wish to rent out land along the back at the midpoint of abutting residential complexes because important parking locations would be lost. We can observe that behind the medical building and the property boundary there are solid waste bins that use 3 parking spots_ more than the land area used for the tower at Leslie & Lawrence.

We could surmise that the current owner might be hesitant to compremise future land redevelopment by placing a 40M high structure behind the medical services building.

We can also appreciate the concerns of the residents adjacent to the tower's proposed location.

However, just behind the fence runs the single track CN railway line. The clearance from the railway bed to the fence appears more than adequate to accommodate a cell tower equidistant between the residential townhouse complexes abutting 4800 Leslie St. The middle point would be about 50M from each boundary and similar to the residence, church and school situation at Leslie and Lawrence. It would allow the medical building to obstruct the streetview of the tower with much of the same argument used for anticipated views of the Aria Towers on Buchan.

The railway lands sit lower (about 5M) than the parking lot. Land excavating and retention walls would be required. Bell would face greater construction costs but might be able to gain a "rent free" access to the CN property that is essentially a slope with scrub trees.

The suggestion made here is to:

- move the proposed location from the parking lot northwest corner to a mid-point on the railway lands.

- provide gate access to the site through the existing fence

- work out any right of ways required with property owners.

- not allow any flag to fly on this tower mast except the flag of Canada (who knows what is flying down at Leslie & Lawrence?).

We send this information and suggestion to broaden the discussion and information available to our elected officials and the neighbourhood. We hope that you can forward it to the appropriate offices at Industry Canada and Bell Mobility as well as the city.