Not many people were paying attention when the Metro Council passed a hastily crafted ordinance last year laying out the parameters for how and where telecommunications companies can place the small cell towers that will bring high-speed, 5G wireless technology to Baton Rouge, writes Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel in her latest column.
No one seemed to notice either in July, Riegel says, when the council approved an amended version of the ordinance, which had been rewritten by the Parish Attorney’s Office because the first version was riddled with loopholes that benefited the telecommunications companies at the expense of the city-parish.
“But people finally took notice earlier this fall, when AT&T began boring holes in the sidewalks of newly revitalized downtown Baton Rouge to install the first 25 of some 80 ‘small cell’ black, metal towers they now have the right to place in the middle of public rights of way,” Riegel writes.
Residents, property owners and developers of downtown’s high-end apartment complexes wanted to know how AT&T could be allowed to just dig a hole in the middle of the sidewalk smack in front of their property to install a 29-foot pole that will be topped with a pizza box-sized transmitter?
Read the full column, in which Riegel explains what she learned from talking to city-parish officials about the towers, and what authority you have if your neighborhood is next. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
