PROPOSED PHONE TOWER ADVANCES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 3, 1993                   TAG: 9303030299
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
PROPOSED PHONE TOWER ADVANCES
The Roanoke County Planning Commission concluded Tuesday that a cellular telephone tower atop Buck Mountain would not affect views from the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway.
Commission members toured the parkway earlier in the day to see for themselves if the Cellular One tower might be visible from the scenic highway.
After viewing an orange balloon that Cellular One tethered from a 90-foot-line atop Buck Mountain, commission members concluded that few motorists would notice the tower.
"It's a lot less ugly than the water tower in Vinton across from Stewarts Knob," A. Kyle Robinson said.
The commission voted 5-0 to recommend a special-use permit that would allow Cellular One to put up the tower.
Cellular One agreed to reduce the tower from 120 feet to 90 feet in order to "mitigate any visual impact," according to Ed Natt, an attorney for Cellular One.
Richard Saunders, resource management specialist for the Blue Ridge Parkway, said the National Park Service did not oppose the transmission tower.
The request now goes to the Board of Supervisors for final action.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB