80-foot cell phone tower proposed
T-Mobile has proposed to build an 80-foot tall cell phone tower near the corner of Webber Street and Beneva Road, adjacent to the Value Cleaners. Board member and treasurer Phyllis DuBois has been monitoring the application process on behalf of the South Gate Community Association.
The following article was published April 2, 2008, in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune's "H-T Sarasota South" section:
© Sarasota Herald-Tribune. All rights reserved.
Cell tower will face objections
By Cathy Zollo
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Soaring eight stories into the air, it would be the tallest structure anywhere near the corner of Webber Street and Beneva Road.
A T-Mobile cell tower camouflaged as a white flagpole is in the works for a spot beside Value Cleaners on the southwest corner of the intersection. At its base will be a roughly 1,600-square-foot compound with a generator and other equipment.
Residents and businesses adjacent to the site say they will fight the tower going in to protect property values, their businesses and, some believe, their health.
Most, though, just do not want an 80-foot tower looming over their neighborhood, especially considering what it might do in hurricane winds.
"I know that once they get an 80-foot tower in, all they have to do is go for another variance to add to it," said Stan Gorski, whose backyard is about 100 feet from the site.
The original plan was to put in a 120-foot tower, say T-Mobile officials, but the company made concessions in light of residents' objections. They say the tower will improve network coverage and that studies in other areas show the towers do not affect property values. "When people are looking for houses, having good coverage in people's homes is becoming more and more important," said Ann Brooks, spokeswoman for T-Mobile.
It is part of the wireless revolution, she said, a shift from every home having a land-line phone to every individual having a cell phone.
The tower would contribute to a network that has cell towers at several spots, including Bobby Jones Golf Course, between Fruitville Road and 17th Street; at Gettel Nissan at Bee Ridge Road and Beneva Road; and on Sawyer Court off Sawyer Road.
Brooks said the towers are constructed to meet national, state and local codes. In the unlikely event a pole succumbs to hurricane winds, she said, "it would not fall over from the base of the tower. It would crumple at a spot in the middle."
But that offers little comfort to Coleen Brickhouse, who fears the tower will affect business at her small, private school, Brickhouse Academy, which lies about 80 feet from the proposed site.
Though most scientific studies say that cell-phone towers pose no threat to human health, the safety of electromagnetic energy that comes off such towers is the subject of ongoing scientific debate.
Parents are going to come to the school, "see that, and they are immediately going to think about that," Brickhouse said.
T-Mobile officials say they have not yet applied to build the tower, which requires approval from county commissioners.
They say their focus is to provide robust service that could enhance safety.
"Our business is providing service to our customers," Brooks said, "and it's important to provide robust wireless service, particularly in the event of an emergency."
Last modified: April 2, 2008 2:46am