It depends.

             Measured height is a constant.  A 120’ telecommunications tower, as measured from its base to its top, is always 120’ tall.

             But the relevant issue presented to elected officials, neighbors and planners is not how tall the tower is measured to be but how tall the tower is perceived to be.  Perceived height is not a constant.  It varies depending upon the viewer’s distance from the tower and the relative height of other tall objects against which it is viewed comparatively.

Take one obvious and common example. A 30 foot telephone pole (of which there are hundreds along any highway) that is fifty feet from the viewer is perceived to be much taller than a 195 foot cell tower 400 yards away.  We know the telephone pole is not taller, but this is nonetheless the landscape view to the human eye.

             Some local governments require tower companies and carriers either to float a balloon to the height of the proposed tower or to use that balloon to create photo simulations showing what the tower at that height would look like from various angles.

             A carrier’s representative that uses a photo angle from the middle of a nearby cornfield may be making a mistake.  It makes much more sense and is fairer to all concerned when the photos used for the simulations are taken so that other tall objects in the area are within the frame so that perceived height can be judged and true impact ascertained.

                       Above are photo simulations of proposed towers with other tall objects within the frame so that true comparisons can be made and the towers can properly be considered in the proposed context.