CRANBERRY TWP — The township is looking to change where cell towers can be installed to protect its residents.

“We recognize the potential for an adverse impact of cell towers almost in the backyard of homes, and we’re going to avoid that,” said Ron Henshaw, township planning and development services director.

The revised zoning ordinance would require wireless communication towers to be no closer than 100 feet from a residential area, Henshaw said.

The revision also would not allow wireless communications towers to be near public education institutions and religious establishments, as those buildings are often located near residences.

A public hearing on the revised ordinance will be held April 27 at the township municipal center.

Henshaw said these towers, sometimes upward of 180 to 200 feet, can be installed on relatively small patches of ground. There is one behind the township municipal center with multiple wireless carriers’ transmitters, he said.

Several years ago the telecommunications industry indicated to the township that it was moving away from the tall towers and toward smaller wireless systems, said Jerry Andree, township manager.

These small systems, called distributed antennae systems, can be mounted atop light poles or utility poles and blend in fairly well with the existing structure, Henshaw said.

There’s one on a light pole in North Boundary Park and one on a utility pole on Mars Road, Henshaw said. Not only are they small and inconspicuous, the distributed antennae systems also give better coverage to areas that are lacking.

Recently, however, communications companies have shown a renewed interested in installing the large towers. There are no official plans for new towers yet, Henshaw said, but the township wants to make a preemptive move to ensure the towers could not be put up near people’s homes.