Schaumburg approves 104-foot-tall data transmission antenna
Schaumburg trustees have unanimously approved installation of a 104-foot-tall data transmission antenna at the ComEd substation east of the village’s municipal campus.
Part of the company’s “smart grid” initiative, the monopole at 621 E. Schaumburg Road will communicate with ComEd’s system equipment to pinpoint faults and disruptions as well as optimize voltage distribution. It will not be used by any commercial telecommunications businesses.
“ComEd commonly constructs and uses antenna support structures throughout our northern Illinois service territory as part of our efforts to modernize the power grid,” ComEd Senior Communications Manager Lauren Huffman said. “Specifically, the 100-foot structures support our deployment of advanced communication technologies to enhance the grid's resiliency and reliability.”
The village’s review of the project emphasized its unobtrusiveness from surrounding properties and vantage points, and most officials were satisfied in that regard.
The zoning board of appeals voted 6-2 to recommend the plan. Some members were surprised to learn that a blinking light would not be required on top to alert aircraft.
The monopole will be 2 feet in diameter at its base and 1 foot in diameter at the top. There will be five evenly spaced antennae along the length of the structure, and its top 4 feet consist of a lightning rod.
The substation is set back from the south side of Schaumburg Road and lies east of Schaumburg Church of Christ and west of Our Saviour’s United Methodist Church. The monopole will be approximately 151 feet from the eastern property line and approximately 178 feet from the western property line.
Though the site is heavily landscaped, the project will include the addition of 19 more trees, 14 of them evergreens.
While efforts are being made to make the monopole blend with its surroundings, ComEd officials told the village it needs to be above the tree line to do its job.
ComEd produced renderings of the antenna based on photographs from virtually every surrounding vantage point. The angle from the parking lot of Our Saviour’s United Methodist Church is about the only one in which the top of the monopole is distinct.