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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Cell Towers Stir Controversy

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
      Cellular towers and concrete ponding areas can really spoil the view.
    That's according to a few residents who voiced their complaints about the structures at the July 7 meeting of the Edgewood Planning and Zoning Commission.
    Susan Roop and Kathryn Bates voiced their disdain for the 135-foot cellular tower on the western edge of town, south of Interstate 40.
    The tower has been present for years, but now additional equipment that will serve AT&T customers will likely be added to the tower. The commission approved the special-use permit for the tower and asked that the applicant submit a grading and drainage plan for the structure that will be installed on the ground to go with the transmitters on the tower.
    “That thing is so ugly and it's a blight on the landscape,” said Susan Roop. “Why do you gotta keep putting stuff on it?”
    AT&T will be moving their equipment from a smaller tower to the east and have complied with all requirements for the permit to install the equipment, according to the town's consultant, Mel Patterson of the Center for Municipal Solutions.
    Patterson's services have been used since the town sued in 2001 in an attempt to bring the tower down, according Karen Mahalick, the town's development manager. The town lost the case, she said.
    Katherine Bates said, that because of visual obstructions like the cellular tower, she plans on moving from Edgewood. She said she's had her house since 1998 and is waiting until the housing market is better before leaving town.
    “My beautiful view of the mountains turned into a beautiful view of two towers and four billboards,” she said. “I would not support anything that makes the view worse.”
    She also complained that she was not notified that the tower would be going up when it did years ago.
    Frank Conde also complained that an eyesore moved in behind him.
    His home is downhill from Raven's Roost, a nine-acre development with six lots east of N.M. 344 and north of Venus Road. His problem is with a concrete ponding area just past his fence that is designed to handle water in the event of a 50- or even a 100-year flood.
    “I've got this monstrosity facing me from the back,” Conde said. “I don't think it's right.” Conde said he isn't opposed to the new houses being built, just the drainage pond, which he called a “mosquito pit.”
    By ordinance, the pond is supposed to drain in 24 hours or less, a time frame determined by the gestation period for mosquitoes, according to Mahalick.
    Prior to Mahalick mentioning the ordinance, the developer, Jim Jones, said the soils analysis indicated it will drain in 48 hours if it was filled up.
    To give Jones and Conde time to work toward a solution, the final plat for Raven's Roost was tabled until the commission's July 21 meeting. According to a discussion at the meeting, that solution may involve creating a berm near Conde's property to direct the water in a more natural way.
    Mahalick said the visual obstruction created by the holding ponds is a problem that is cropping up in other areas of town, as well.
    “The question is, as development occurs, what do we do with this water?” she asked.
    She said Pueblo Artesanos, which will ultimately have more than 50 lots, has an even bigger ponding area.
    To address part of the problem, engineers are now required to look for alternatives to building ponding areas.
   

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