Cellular tower's approval endorsed

By J.R. Williams - jrwilliams@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- Frederick County planners recommended approval Wednesday night for a new communications tower in Star Tannery.

The 250-foot, lattice-type tower is planned for the intersection of Brill Road (Va. 603) and Wardensville Pike (Va. 55) at the center of a 10-acre property owned by Robert B. and Regina A. Martin.

At a meeting Wednesday, Planning Commission members approved a special-use permit for the tower and granted a waiver to build it with a lattice-type design. A monopole-style tower otherwise would have been required.

The planners' decision was a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to review the matter Sept. 22.

Boca-Raton, Fla.-based Global Tower Assets LLC applied to build the structure, which will carry Shentel and AT&T communications equipment, according to county documents. It is being touted as a way to improve cellular service in the rural area.

A public hearing also was held during the meeting. Dennis M. Tharpe, an adjoining property owner, said he supported the tower but was concerned about maintenance of Old Brill Road, which is adjacent to his and the Martins' property.

He also was concerned about how the tower would be powered and whether the utilities would be placed underground, saying the area has occasional power outages.

"I've had cell coverage for 10 years and it's never worked up there," Tharpe said.

Tim Dennis, director of site development for Global Tower, said the company would run underground lines to tap into an existing overhead power line. The company would not pave the road or plow snow, he said.

Dennis also said the lattice-type structure is required to place antennas in a high enough position to connect to nearby towers.

"Typically when you go above 200 feet ... you shift from a monopole to a lattice structure," Dennis said. "Can you build a monopole [to] 250 feet? The answer engineering wise is absolutely. I can tell you that probably the visual impact would be far dramatically worse. It would be a huge, huge structure. The diameter of the pole ... would be very large."

In other business, the Planning Commission:

• Approved a special-use permit request from Debra Broughear, for a hair salon and off-premise sign at 376 Back Mountain Road.

• Approved revisions to the 2010 North East Land Use Plan, which addresses future land use, community facilities and transportation needs in the northeast portion of the county.

Among the revisions include more refined boundaries for planned commercial and industrial land uses.

The plan can be viewed online at www.co.frederick.va.us/planning.

Planning Commission members Kevin O. Crosen, H. Paige Manuel, Roger L. Thomas and Charles E. Triplett were absent from the meeting.