Residents protest ‘foregone conclusion’ cell tower in Rogers
Posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
ROGERS - Even though the Rogers Planning Commission had already approved a conditional-use permit to allow a cell tower at 4400 Rainbow Road, residents living near that area protested the tower's construction during Tuesday's commission meeting.
The commission conducted a public hearing on the tower at its July 1 meeting, when the commission also approved the conditional-use permit, but no one at that hearing spoke to oppose the 195-foot tower.
Deputy City Attorney Jim Clark said the commission did not have to allow public comment on Smith Two-Way Communication's presentation of its large-scale-development plan for the tower. The tower's opponents were allowed to speak, even though Commissioner Ron Shelby said the tower would be built regardless.
"The cell tower is a foregone conclusion," Shelby said. "We're only here for the largescale today."
Glenn Kelley, an attorney representing property owner John Ryan, said the tower would hinder development of Ryan's property. Ryan's 40-acre property, which city staff said is the only property within 300 feet of the proposed tower, is earmarked for an upscale housing development, Kelley said. The approved location for the tower is near the sewage-treatment plant.
The attorney further asked, if the permit could not be overturned, that the commission require Smith to mask the tower in some way.
Pat Hennessey, general manager of Pinnacle Country Club, said his main concern is the visual effect of the tower.
"I believe it's going to be an eye (sore )," Hennessey said.
Doris Lundeen, a neighboring property owner, opposed the tower completely.
"We are not for the cell tower," she said. "We feel it would be a poor use of this property."
Lundeen also said she was concerned that the property owners where the tower will be built were not acting in their own best interest.
The commissioners, save the absent James Gosserand, unanimously approved the large-scale-development plan without asking questions of the applicant.
The commission likewise unanimously granted a waiver from the large-scale-review process for T-Mobile, which wants to add a cell antenna to an existing 100-foot tower at 3500 W. Walnut St.
The Planning Commission unanimously denied a third request, this one for a conditional-use permit to sell vehicles at 1223 S. Eighth St. in a highway-commercial zoning district. A car dealership already exists almost directly across Eighth Street from that property, but it is on land zoned for outdoor sales.
The property could still include the office buildings originally presented to the commission, a representative of the landowner said, but economic hardships have those plans on hold.
The commissioners expressed sympathy for the financial struggles but denied the request, saying the sale of vehicles is not the use they envisioned for that property.
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