Roanoke City Council has put off, at least until June,before any decision on whether to allow a cell phone tower to be built in the South Jefferson corridor near River’s Edge and the Virginia Tech-Carilion campus.
The 165’ tall tower, which would have been lighted because it is close to the Carilion Lifeguard helicopter pad atop Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, drew the ire of some residents in Old Southwest – and because it would have been seen from the Mill Mountain lower overlook, thus degrading the “view shed.”
Barbara Duerk, a long time community activist and one time City Council candidate, was perhaps the most vocal critic of the proposal by Pegasus Tower Company LLC to construct the tower for AT&T and nTelos, which were looking for better coverage in the area.
Duerk also said marring the view shed from the top of Mill Mountain flies in the face of the regional plan being crafted by the Livable Roanoke Valley coalition, which calls for the protection of scenic views. Duerk also said that the Cambria Suites Hotel, Virginia Tech-Riverside and Carilion also did not want to see a tower built in their neighborhood when they were asked.
After initially voting against the tower proposal, the Roanoke City Planning Commission voted 7-0 in January to recommend to City Council that it be built. Duerk said that the commission did not look at other sites – in large part because a study for which the city paid only focused on the South Jefferson location where it is proposed. (City Council had already voted for the cell tower project at the first reading.) Roanoke does not have any ordinances in place that requires the petitioner to pay for studies “which other cities have,” according to Duerk.
“Roanoke’s view shed for me as a resident speaks to quality of life,” added Duerk, who is also an avid bicyclist. “When I bring tourists to Roanoke I always bring them to Mill Mountain. To look out and see this cell tower sticking up does not say to me that Roanoke is progressive [or] open for business. It’s just the opposite.” Protecting Roanoke’s view shed is also an economic development issue, Duerk contends.
Southeast Roanoke City resident Duane Howard joined Duerk and others, including Friends of The Blue Ridge Parkway Board Chair Heidi Ketler, in speaking out against approval of the cell tower proposal on April 7.
Earlier Howard had beseeched others via e-mail to join the battle – even if the tower near the Roanoke River, Franklin Road and Reserve Avenue (on land owned by developer Steve Strauss) wouldn’t have been seen from their homes. “At all the meetings the representative for the tower only talks about view sheds from Old Southwest and South Roanoke as if we don’t care, but I know we do,” wrote Howard. “Show them with your e-mail and get others to send one please. And, just because you may not be able to see the tower from where you live, it still affects you, the city, your neighborhood and what visitors see driving down 581.”
In the end members of City Council decided to put off any vote on a second reading until June 9 at the earliest, allowing Pegasus Tower Company time to look at alternative sites – perhaps even at church steeples in the southwest part of the city that might be large enough to accommodate a cell phone tower. Several churches on Grandin Road currently house towers for other mobile phone carriers.
“There’s lots of better places for it to be located,” Duerk contends. “First impressions are really important,” said Duerk, “and Roanoke only has one view shed.”
– Gene Marrano
