Liberty Township Works To Prevent Cell Phone Towers

Liberty Township of Dayton, Ohio is putting zoning changes into effect next week to make the process more difficult for cell phone companies who want to build towers in residential areas. The new zoning laws will prevent cell towers from being built in people’s backyard.

Amanda Seitz reported for the Dayton Daily News that, “Liberty Twp. Trustee Tom Farrell, who served on the township’s zoning commission from 2002 until this year, said the commission rarely changed land use zoning during that time.” Using the land for agricultural purposes has declined from 50% in 1999 to 32% in 2011, while residential use of the land has jumped from 39% to 48% during that same time frame.

Farrell believes that by leaving a residential subdivision as an agricultural area the neighborhood is more vulnerable to cell towers. These new zoning laws will take effect on August 16^th and will also impact animal hospitals, kennels and livestock storage facilities that are built on land under 5 acres.