Pocatello city council to hear comments on rewriting a city code

Companies interested in putting up cell towers in Pocatello will have some new policies to follow.

Pocatello is rewriting city code 15.42, which deals with wireless communication towers and facilities. The city council will be taking public comment at Thursday night’s city council meeting.

Logan McDougall, public information officer for the city, said the reason for rewriting the code is to get it into compliance with the federal Spectrum Act. The Spectrum Act deals with have having a clear and proper permit process for new cell towers.

Pocatello’s current process requires companies to first look at co-location with other towers. Then the next step is city property, then private property. With the new ordinance, those steps would be done away with.

“Instead of having to co-locate or something to the city, they can just go straight to a business and say, ‘Hey we’d like to install a tower on your property. Is that something you’re interested in?’ If they are, then they file the permits with the city and they go from there,” McDougall said.

McDougall said there’s still a lot of legal steps and requirements before companies can place cell towers. The community won’t just start seeing towers popping up all over. McDougall said companies still have to go through the right procedures, the new process after rewriting the code will make it easier for everyone to understand.

Public comment can be given Thursday night at 6 p.m. at city hall.