Lazise and Bardolino Regulate Electromagnetic Infrastructure Near Residences

Electromagnetic pollution in urban areas is continuously increasing. Although the harmful effects of electromagnetic fields on human health have not yet been scientifically proven, “it is highly probable”, according to the report published in ’95 by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, that they could induce tumors, particularly childhood leukemia. There is the intuitive understanding that this constitutes pollution, and precisely because these effects are not clearly visible, many argue that it is necessary to implement a form of prevention through regulations that establish criteria for the placement of facilities, the authorization regime for works, and above all, control regimes.

Lazise and Bardolino, responding to the requests of the local population, were the first municipalities of the Verona Riviera on Lake Garda to adopt an amendment to the general town planning scheme and a building regulation for the installation of telecommunications infrastructure and the emission of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation in general.

An ordinance aimed at regulating the execution of urban, building, and landscape-environmental transformation interventions intended for the installation of telecommunications infrastructure and the emission of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation in general, including related systems such as cellular telephony.

This is an integration to the building regulation that solely addresses urban and construction issues and does not cover health and safety aspects, because in this field, appeals filed by telecommunications companies—such as in the case of the Comune di Venezia—have been accepted by the administrative court.

Restrictions and Distances for Installations

Both Lazise and Bardolino regulation set precise limits and bans on the installation of telecommunications infrastructure and facilities, which must be located at a horizontal distance of 150 meters from buildings designated for residence, workplace, or otherwise with a stable presence of people, from surfaces designated as public parks, playgrounds, or sports facilities, as well as from homogeneous territorial zones A-B-C identified by the town planning scheme.

This distance must also be observed for buildings intended for collective or social uses, such as schools of all types and levels, churches, hotels, clinics, medical offices, nursing homes, and retirement homes.

Both municipalities also apply this regulation to existing requests that are still unresolved, as in the case of Lazise, where existing radio base stations within the territory must be brought up to standard with the regulation if they are subject to restructuring or expansion.