Responses to cell tower plan heard loud and clear

Dr. Pam Lipkin thinks a 150-foot cell tower at Longboat Island Chapel would be “complete and utter suicide” for Longboat Key. She cites as examples high-end communities such as Nantucket, Mass., Cape Cod, Mass., and Laguna Beach, Calif., none of which has cell towers. She worries that the values of nearby properties, such as her home, located across the street from the chapel, would plummet.

“I’ve never seen an advertisement for real estate that advertises, ‘Good cell-phone reception,’” Lipkin said.

But to resident Bob Dockery, the proposed cell-phone tower is a no-brainer. He lives directly across the street from the chapel and owns a second north-end property. He said he’s tired of the dropped calls that frequently happen when he does business over the phone.

“I think it’s time to join the 21st century,” Dockery said. “I can’t get any cell service.”

Last week, the Planning Zoning and Building Department (P&Z) determined complete an Outline Development Plan Amendment, special exception and site plan amendment applications submitted for the personal wireless service facility on the Longboat Island Chapel property. Longboat Key resident and Alpha-Omega Communications Inc. owner Jim Eatrides and his business partner, Kevin Barile, submitted the plans. The proposal calls for a 150-foot stealth tower that would allow six major carriers to provide service.

The north end has typically experienced more cell-phone service issues than the south end of the island, which has taller buildings that have allowed for the placement of four antennae throughout the Sarasota County portion of the island that boost signals.

The application will be forwarded to the Oct. 18 P&Z Board meeting for review. Eatrides and Barlile, president of the Tampa-based Ridan Industries II, will hold a public meeting to discuss their proposal at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at the chapel, 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Support for the proposed project have been mixed in the past, but reactions — both for and against the tower — have come in loud and clear.

In their applications, Eatrides and Barlile respond to many concerns.

Their executive summary states that the larger risk of radiofrequency comes from the cell phone device, rather than the tower, and that a nearby tower allows devices to operate at a lower power, thus, reducing the risk. The application also includes a study the pair commissioned by the real-estate appraisal, broker and consultant firm of Lee Pallardy Inc., which states that based on more than 10 years of research: “No adverse impact resulting from a cellular communication tower can be supported by market sales.”

But Bruce Myer, of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, said that he doesn’t believe a tower is needed.

“Based on the level of service that is achieved, I don’t see that it would be a help to real-estate values,” he said.

Hannerle Moore, a veteran Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co., also questioned whether a cell tower was needed. She said that she uses Verizon, which works with few interruptions on the north end, and said that she recently had a buyer for a $3.2 million home who walked away from the sale out of concerns about the proposed tower.

“People perceive it as ugly, but, more importantly, as a health hazard,” she said. “Today’s buyers are into living longer and healthier, they take the time to go to Whole Foods and exercise, and they’re not going to move into a community with a cell tower.”

Requests to be heard
During its Sept. 22 workshop, the Longboat Key Town Commission also debated the need for improved wireless communications, although discussion was focused not on any one proposal but on whether to authorize the P&Z Board to hold public hearings about possible telecommunications-related amendments to the town’s zoning code.

Commissioner Pat Zunz, who lives on the north end, said that she is the only member of the commission who doesn’t have a town-issued cell phone and noted that she has tried a variety of carriers but has been unable to get a signal.

But Commissioner Jack Duncan said that his cell-phone troubles largely went away once he switched to Verizon.

Duncan asked P&Z Director Monica Simpson whether the town has ever commissioned an independent study to identify the town’s wireless communication problems and possible solution. Simpson said that she has contacted a number of consultants in the past about conducting a study, but each ultimately declined upon learning that the study could create a conflict of interest for future projects. Simpson also warned that the town’s current wireless issues could deter future developments.

“It is really hurting the town of Longboat Key,” she said. “We will never draw people whose businesses need those types of technologies.”

Commissioners reached consensus at the workshop to direct town staff to send out a request for proposals for wireless solutions.