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County cell tower rules may change
By TIM GRANT, Times Staff Writer PEBBLE CREEK -- When a cellular phone tower was approved at the entrance to the Pebble Creek community last year, residents were outraged. They thought the 190-foot monstrosity would ruin the scenery and hurt their property values. Worst of all, it was approved by county officials without any public notice or hearings. That's because none is required for a tower that is further than 250 feet from single-family homes. The problem is the tower is much closer than that to the Park del Mar apartment complex. But the county requirement for cell towers does not apply to multifamily housing. "We had no regulations in place to deny the construction of this tower," said County Commissioner Jim Norman. While there was nothing to stop the tower from being built at the corner of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Regents Park Drive, the dispute prompted some in Pebble Creek to seek changes to the zoning rule. This week they won a victory. On Tuesday, county commissioners directed zoning officers to draft an amendment to the county's land development code requiring the same public notice and public hearings for cell tower permits near townhomes, condominiums and rental apartments. If the amendment is passed, county staff can no longer approve a cell tower within 250 feet of multifamily homes without notifying the residents or giving them a chance to oppose it. "We felt the county didn't do right by Pebble Creek, but if they change the code maybe they'll do right by some other community," said Michael Carricato, president of the Pebble Creek Homeowners Association. The land development code is amended twice a year, usually in January and June. Citizens and people from the cell tower industry will have an opportunity to comment at workshops and public hearings before commissioners vote on the amendment. Norman worked with Pebble Creek residents to address the problem and he supports the amendment. "The tower industry will naturally have a lot of difficulty with the change because it limits the available sites for towers," Norman said. "But this is a big step for the protection of neighborhoods." Tampa land use lawyer Laura Belflower doesn't believe the amendment, if passed, will hurt the cellular industry. She said it will simply mean that instead of a tower being approved administratively, it will go through a public hearing process. "I don't think it will have a major effect on prohibiting towers," Belflower said. "But it will change the review process. I don't think as an industry, we'll see this as a great difficulty." When writing laws that govern the siting of cellular towers, local governments must walk a fine line between protecting residents' rights and following the law. Through the Federal Communications Act of 1996, Congress gave regulatory power to the Federal Communications Commission, limiting how much control local governments can exercise over antenna towers. While the act does not allow local governments to prohibit towers, city and county officials can regulate where the towers are built and in some cases what they look like. "We have to make sure we conform to state law and the Telecommunications Act," said Julia Mandel, a Hillsborough county attorney who specializes in cellular tower issues. If a cellular tower request is denied, Mandel said the county must be able to defend that decision later in federal court. County attorney Jim Porter recommended the land use change to county commissioners after meeting with Pebble Creek homeowners and reviewing cases involving regulations in several Florida counties. "I don't know why apartments were left out originally," Porter said. "But this is an attempt to address the concerns raised by the citizens." For now, Carricato is pleased with the County Commission's decision to revisit the code. "It needs to be revised to protect (people)," Carricato said. "Our residents were just appalled that (the county) would put a tower right at the entrance to our subdivision." - To reach Tim Grant call 269-5311 or e-mail grant@sptimes.com.
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