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By Lisa Majors-Duff
In accordance with the county's cell tower ordinance, Verizon
Wireless officials are scheduled to conduct a "balloon test"
this weekend in Balsam community.
The test, the first of its kind in Jackson County, is a requirement
of the March 2002 ordinance designed to allow area property owners
to visualize the impact of a proposed tower might have in a given
location. The site chosen for Verizon's tower is 230 Hebron Lane,
just below the Balsam Fire Department.
"I have very mixed feelings," said Christine Serenci,
owner of the Hemlock Hill Lodge, which is located across U.S.
23-74 from the site. "I have a Verizon phone and it will
work, but I'll have to look at the tower."
Serenci, who says she plans to look for the balloon starting tomorrow,
fully expects to see the tower while traveling on the highway,
but she's not sure she'll be able to see it from the lodge.
"If I see (the tower) from the lodge, I'd rather not use
my cell phone," she said. "But I'll reserve judgment
until I see what it's going to look like."
For three hours in the morning and afternoon this Friday, Saturday
and Monday, Sept. 12, 13 and 15, representatives from Verizon
and Trigon Engineering, the county's cell tower consultant, will
raise a balloon 150 feet in the air for all to view.
Should weather conflict with this week's test, a second session
would be held Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 18-20.
The public will be invited to comment on what they witnessed during
the test at a meeting called for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Included in Verizon's application to construct a new cell tower
is an explanation of the need for the facility. The tower is needed,
Verizon officials said, to provide coverage along U.S. 23-74 between
towers in Waynesville and Addie community.
"Presently, there is a large area of the highway that has
no coverage," the application states.
Building to a maximum height of 150 feet is necessary "to
overcome terrain issues around the area of the site; to provide
a line-of-sight view of the site from Highway 23; and to join
the present coverage areas of Addie and Waynesville," it
says.
The application also contains construction drawings, FCC license
information, Verizon's lease agreement with property owners Dennie
and Patsy Mathis and an agreement to remove the tower within 90
days of its obsolescence.
Verizon has also agreed to allow other wireless companies to co-locate
on the new tower, as they are in the process of doing on another
tower in Jackson County.
Verizon's application also explains why the company chose to build
a tower in an "avoidance" area, which the county's ordinance
describes as mountain ridges; within view of National Register
of Historic Places, scenic by-ways and the Blue Ridge Parkway;
or property not already owned by Jackson County. Coverage of the
area in question would not be met if the company adhered to these
restrictions, they said.
In addition to legal advertisements, letters to nearly 200 property
owners within 2,500 feet of the proposed cell tower location were
sent out by county officials Aug. 28. The letters informs those
closest to the proposed tower site of the balloon test and the
Sept. 23 public hearing.
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