Wednesday, January 17, 2001
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Wednesday, January 17, 2001 |
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Hecht bill takes on natural gas problems By DAVE
HAMRICK
BellSouth Mobility cell phone customers won't get any better reception in south Fayette County anytime soon. Company officials wanted to erect a 253-foot tower on Harp Road to fill in a "dead spot" in the area, and Calvin Appling, who lives across the road from the tower site, said he has no problem with it. "Me and the cows and the deer don't mind," he said. But about 30 of his neighbors stood up to say they do mind, with 12 of them going to the microphones to state their objections formally, and county commissioners last week unanimously rejected the company's request for a tower permit. Ron Mundy, vice president of the Surrey Park Homeowners Association, said everyone in the neighborhood was opposed to the tower. "There are other agencies that provide adequate service in this area," he said, so the tower isn't needed. Michael Tyler of BellSouth said the tower would be on a wooded, 150-acre site and not that visible to neighbors, but Mundy said the site is not as wooded as company officials claim. "You do not raise cows in a wooded area," he said. Fred Payne, president of the Willow Pond Airport Homeowners Association, also argued that the tower would be near that airport and, although it might be fine in normal conditions, the tower would be a hazard to any disabled airplane that might be landing there. BellSouth's Tyler argued that any concerns over the airport would be addressed by the Federal Aviation Administration, and pointed out that the tower would be 1,000 feet from the nearest home. But commissioners pointed out that, if the permit were granted, an exception would be needed to the county's ordinance requiring a two-mile separation between towers. "If we're going to go 253 feet, we can at least stick with the two miles," said Commissioner Linda Wells. Commission Chairman Greg Dunn encouraged BellSouth to try again. "I hope you will find a better place in Fayette County to put it," he said, "because we need better cell service in Fayette County." Commissioners also denied developer Dan Stinchcomb's request for a zoning change to allow 23 home sites on 34.8 acres on Westbridge Road. Rebecca Pell, who lives on six acres nearby, told commissioners the Westbridge area is characterized by farm and estate parcels like hers. "Stop the feeding frenzy in the county and consider leaving this area zoned as it is," she said. Although there is a neighborhood zoned for one-acre lots across the road from the proposed subdivision, the homes along the road are on five-acre sites, which was done as a transition, to make sure land on the west side of the road remains in five-acre development, said Dunn. "We put the five-acre parcels along Westbridge Road so it would be compatible with the other property," he said. Commissioner Wells also pointed out that the area is a groundwater recharge area. "That's something we're going to have to be more and more cognizant of," she said. Commissioners unanimously approved changes to the county's soil erosion and sedimentation control ordinances, to bring the law into conformity with new state regulations. "The state has had problems with developers not respecting those buffer zones and it's affecting our water quality," said county engineer Ron Salmons. Among changes to the ordinance are minimum fines for violations. Previously, there were maximums but no minimums.
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