Council OKs one cell tower, turns one down

By LORRI SUGHROUE

McCook Daily Gazette

One cellular tower was approved Monday night, while another was denied, after Viaero Wireless came before the McCook City Council seeking special exceptions for towers they want to build in the city.

With Councilman Bill Longnecker abstaining from the vote because of a conflict of interest, City Council members voted by 4-0 to approve the special exception for the proposed tower in the business commercial district at 1100 West B, but, again 4-0, denied the special exception for the tower in the residential area on West Third.

John Luisi, Site Acquisition Manager for Viaero Wireless, told council members that the goal of his company was to provide the best wireless telecommunication network for rural Nebraska, and that by 2008, 300 towers would be built across Nebraska to achieve that goal. With 134 towers built so far, his company was concentrating on rural towns, he said, "not Denver or Omaha." These towers would be accessed by AT &T, Cingular and T-Mobile, and Viaero customers would also be able to use their towers for a wide range of coverage.

A 2,000-square-foot retail store are also in the plans for the West B location, he said, that would be in operation within a year.

After council members voted to approve the special exception for the West B location, Rich Barnett addressed the council, owner of three lots on West Third that are adjacent to the lots where the second tower would be located.

"I love new business coming to town," he told council members, " but after talking with my wife this last week about this, we still feel it's too close." He said his concerns went beyond possible lightning or falling ice, but the future repercussions if this special exception was granted.

"If you approve this, you are laying the groundwork for allow others towers to come into residential areas," he said.

City Attorney Ronda Vetrovsky advised the council that according to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, substantial evidence was needed for the refusal of a wireless tower, in addition to separate written findings explaining the reasons of the denial. One property owner probably would not be enough to prove adverse effects, she said.

She cited the instance of a wireless tower company which took a Nebraska city to court because of a denial, and had the denial overturned.

"This opens up a whole new can of worms," Councilman Jim Kenny said.

The McCook Planning Commission had these same concerns, Vetrovsky said, and at their meeting Feb. 13 made the recommendation that city staff look into the circumstances surrounding towers in residential areas.

Councilman Kenny re-plied, "Then how can we make a decision about something that hasn't been studied yet?"

Luisi reassured the council that the tower would be situated far enough so that if it fell, it would not affect any residence.

Councilman Phil Lyons made the motion to deny the special exception, as criteria for Special Exceptions Considerations were not met, such as underground utilities, homes and streets in the adjacent properties, and the inability to sufficiently screen the 137-foot tower.

City Council members also voted to amend a zoning ordinance that would allow non-combustible carports to be constructed with a minimum three foot set back, if attached to an existing structure.

Tim Sughroue of McCook addressed the council and encouraged them to vote in favor of this, as this would allow residents an extra two feet for carport supports. The current ordinance requires a five foot setback, and he said existing carports throughout the city have already been constructed without the required setback.

Although the McCook Planning Commission had recommended not to approve it, the ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance was approved unanimously.