[TowerTalk] My Tower cost

[Tom Anderson]

As an addendum to the Texas reference,  State Rep. Vickie Truitt 
R-Keller TX) has said she will introduce in the next session of the 
Texas Legislature a tower zoning ordinance for unincorporated areas. 
This supposedly will apply to cellular towers only, but when the Texas 
Legislature meets strange and weird things happen and many legislators 
never even read the bills they are voting on and pass weird things they 
have to undo later.  I live in her district and plan on writing her 
voicing my concerns.

I refer back to the 1970s when a TX state senator introduced and got 
passed in the Texas State Senate a resolution praising Albert De Salvo 
for his efforts at population control.  The measure was done to show no 
one reads many of the items the Legislature passes.  In case anyone 
doesn't remember, Albert DeSalvo was convicted as the Boston Strangler.

This current item came about when Sprint erected a tower on 
unincorporated land behind a subdivision inside the Fort Worth city 
limits and now the HOA, et. al. are complaining that they weren't 
notified, except there is nothing requiring them to be notified since it 
was on unincorporated land outside any city limits.  Copies of two 
stories from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram are quoted below.  Note 
reference to possible legislation in the eighth paragraph of the first 
story.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Residents fear cellphone tower will hurt their property values

By Jessica Deleon

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Fran Kubesh and her husband, Rob, were installing a deck July 9 when 
they noticed construction activity behind their back yard.

A few days later, they discovered what was being built -- a cellphone tower.

The silver-colored metal pole juts more than 150 feet into the air and 
sits 22 feet from the Kubesh home in the Villages of Woodland Springs, a 
subdivision in far north Fort Worth.

The tower, 4 feet wide at the base, was not a pleasant surprise. The 
Sprint PCS structure popped up without any notice and is expected to be 
in service in early September. Now residents are worried that the 
property values of their $150,000 houses will drop.

Residents were not warned about the tower because it sits on 
unincorporated county land. Tarrant County has no zoning restrictions 
regarding such towers and requires no prior notification to area residents.

For Fran Kubesh, 38, the tower has been a nightmare since construction 
began, including having to clean up after workers who dropped cigarette 
butts and sunflower seeds into the family's above-ground pool.

"I just cannot believe this actually happened to us," she said.

After talking with residents, state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, said 
she plans to introduce legislation next year that would require urban 
and suburban counties to zone such towers. But Woodland Springs 
residents may not have any recourse.

"I'm not sure if they're going to have any legal standing," Truitt said. 
"That's why I want to change the law. It will, unfortunately, come too 
late to help these folks."

If the tower were in Fort Worth, homeowners who lived within 300 feet 
would have received notices in the mail 10 days before a Board of 
Adjustment hearing, said John Garfield, Fort Worth assistant director of 
development.

Sprint spokeswoman Roxie Ramirez said the company erected the tower to 
serve the population growth and to provide better coverage. Sprint 
looked at several locations, then approached Lee and Susie Finley, who 
own Newton Business Park on Katy Road. The park has about 50 tenants.

The Finleys helped Sprint find the highest point on the property, as did 
their manager, Steve Fox, who lives in Woodland Springs.

The best spot was at the very back of the property, next to the Woodland 
Springs boundary.

The towers can cost between $250,000 and $500,000, Ramirez said. She and 
the Finleys declined to say how much it cost for the tower to be placed 
on the land.

"We have the right to do whatever we want to do with it if it's within 
the zoning of the area," said Lee Finley, whose family has owned the 
land for more than 45 years.

"So maybe the people should have to check out the zoning of the property 
next to them before they build their houses there," he said. "I think we 
have as much right to do we want with our property, after owning it that 
period of time, as they have to do with theirs."

Once the tower starts operating, workers will stop by only occasionally 
for maintenance.

Then maybe the Kubeshes will be able to enjoy their new deck and use 
their trampoline. Fran Kubesh will return to her gardening, one of her 
favorite hobbies.

"My No. 1 goal is to have it moved," she said. "But I'd like to see it 
never happen to another community."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/states/texas/northeast/9421610.htm
Neighborhood gets surprise phone tower

By Jessica Deleon

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Residents of the Villages of Woodland Springs got quite a surprise in July.

Sprint PCS erected a 150-foot cellphone tower just behind some of their 
back yards. The tower is 22 feet away from the home of Fran Kubesh, who 
hasn't been able to enjoy the deck she and husband Rob recently installed.

But the tower is legal. The subdivision is in far north Fort Worth, but 
the tower is on unincorporated land. Because Tarrant County has no 
zoning restrictions regarding cellphone towers, neither Sprint nor the 
property owner had to give residents notice.

Residents, including Mark Faselle, are not happy.

"It's quite comical of how they did it," he said. "They did it as 
quickly as possible. Everybody just woke up and, hello, there it was."

RESIDENTS MAY HAVE NO RECOURSE | 2B









Blake Bowers wrote:
>>>I would be very careful with this comment.  Most of the counties
>>>in KS, MO, AR, NE, IA, TX, OK, and many more require no
>>>permits of any kind for a tower base, as well as a tower.