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SEUNG MIN KIMThe company will camouflage it and plant some trees in a nearby home's front yard.
John Tillman chose his two-story Wesley Chapel home, nestled in the middle of nowhere, for the peace and quiet.
Out in the rural Sandy Lane area, he can care for his three Arabian horses, enjoy the sounds of a nearby creek and gaze out from any one of his six windows on the front of his house. He said it's a nice change from the bustling Tampa area, from which he moved two years ago.
Tillman didn't want a 160-foot cell phone tower 550 feet from his front door, soaring almost 100 feet over the tops of oak trees.
But officials approved the tower placement Thursday despite arguments from Tillman that the T-Mobile/Vertex Development tower violated a county ordinance that bans the construction of a tower more than 10 feet taller than surrounding shrubbery.
The ordinance allows for exemptions with the county's discretion if the cell phone company promises to camouflage the tower. Development officials decided that the tower, to be covered with fake pine branches, would sufficiently disguise the communications antennae, and other mobile carriers could also locate there, cutting the need for additional cell towers to take root in the area.
But a cell phone pole with fake pine branches amid trees no taller than 65 feet is no coverup, opponents of the tower argued.
"There is no doubt I'll see something that looks like a pole with a bad haircut," said Jennifer Seney, who lives a half mile away from the proposed tower.
Tillman withdrew his objection after the communications company offered to plant two 25-foot oak trees in his front yard, maintain the roads and bridges in the area that could be damaged during construction, and ensure that no flashing lights would be installed near the top of the tower.
Despite the deal, Tillman said he wished the county would more carefully scrutinize how development affects Pasco residents.
"I wish the county would kind of inspect what they expect from a company," he said. "I, as a homeowner and citizen of the community, am having to show all of these specifics and proof for this and proof for that."