SPRINGDALE : District seeks OK for cell towers at schools
Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
SPRINGDALE — The Springdale School District wants to put six Verizon Wireless cell phone towers disguised as flagpoles on its campuses, but it needs the City Council to approve two proposed ordinances.
The district’s first stop, however, is the Planning Commission, which tonight considers the district’s request to rezone four of the six campuses so they can legally house the towers.
If the district makes it past the commission and the council, it will be clear to sign a five-year deal with Verizon that pays $ 1, 000 per month for each tower. The total annual income of $ 72, 000 includes a 3 percent yearly increase.
Ron Bradshaw, assistant superintendent for special services, said the district needs the Verizon deal.
“It’s a plus anytime you have money coming in that will subsidize education,” Bradshaw said. “I think it’s the right thing to do. We need revenue.”
Plans call for towers at Har-Ber High School, Central Junior High, Parson Hills Elementary, Smith Elementary, George Elementary and Elmdale Elementary. At Har-Ber, the utility box will look like a monument sign in front of the school.
The towers could be as tall as 100 feet and American flags would be flown at the top of most of them, Bradshaw said.
School Board members said they didn’t know district administrators were pushing for new tower ordinances and the Verizon deal.
“It’s nothing that’s come before the board,” Doug Sprouse, a board member who is running for mayor, said Monday. Sprouse said he saw the rezoning notices posted on campuses, but thought the requests were for a “technicality,” not cell phone towers.
He said he did not know enough about the plan to comment on it.
Verizon representative Andrew Cunningham did not return numerous phone calls.
Bradshaw said Verizon wants to complete its regional infrastructure with the towers.
The Har-Ber PTA is meeting Thursday to discuss the matter, PTA member Robin Collins said, and likely will decide if it supports the towers.
Springdale schools want to avoid what happened last year in Rogers, where angry residents protested a plan to erect a tower at a church. Verizon eventually pulled the proposal and instead put the tower at the Rogers Library, and pays the library $ 10, 800 per year.
Bradshaw conceded that towers can trigger intense emotions and said he wouldn’t be surprised if opposition emerges.
“People don’t want it to look bad, and there is a fear that there will be radiation off the towers,” Bradshaw said.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 says cities can’t reject cell towers because concerns over the environmental effect of radio frequency emissions, so long as the tower is in compliance with federal standards.
The proposed cell tower ordinance would limit the height to 100 feet, require that the utility box be enclosed and have underground utility lines. The ordinance also bans commercial advertising on the towers.
The ordinance lists clock towers, bell towers, light poles and flagpoles as ways to “camouflage or conceal the presence of cellular antennas.” If approved, the ordinance would allow towers in all commercial zones. The towers also must be built to accommodate a second service provider.
The council could consider the ordinances as early May 13.
Planning and Community Development Director Patsy Christie said the tower ordinances were requested by the district and that the district’s request was a good time to update the city code with provisions for disguised cell towers.
“This gives us another option,” Christie said. “It opens up and broadens the placement of cell towers in the city.”
In Bentonville, Verizon erected a tower at Elm Tree Elementary and pays the district $ 36, 000 per year, district business manager Sterling Ming said. The districts in Rogers and Fayetteville do not have phone towers.
Tower disguises came into fashion as people started to complain about traditional towers like the one located behind Susan’s Restaurant in the 1400 block of West Sunset Avenue.
“Most thoughtful communities try to mitigate the visual impact of towers,” said Kevin Fry, president of Scenic America, a Washington D. C.-based advocacy group that supports strong regulations on towers. “Those communities are much happier than the communities who put up a big ugly tower in the middle of town.”
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