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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 27, 1994                   TAG: 9404270116
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PERMIT FOR TOWER DELAYED

A cellular tower that would jut up through the postcard view of the Roanoke Valley from atop Bent Mountain has been delayed until Cellular One floats a trial balloon for the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors voted Tuesday to delay a decision on a special use permit for a 45-foot tower with a microwave dish that Bent Mountain residents say will "destroy" their panoramic view of the Valley.

Several supervisors appeared willing to deny the permit, but agreed to let Century Roanoke Cellular Corp. float a balloon the size of the 2-foot microwave dish on a string 30 feet high to indicate what the tower would look like. The site is the best spot for the company to provide good reception for its cellular phone users, its attorney said.

"We're not talking about a typical transmission tower," said attorney Ed Natt. "We're talking about a telephone pole."

Several Bent Mountain residents made emotional appeals to deny the permit, which they feel would intrude on their view. The site of the proposed tower is on U.S. 221 on a curve at the top of the mountain, four-tenths of a mile north of the intersection of Bent Mountain Road and Airpointe Drive.

"You won't be the ones trying to look around it every day to the scenic valley," mountain resident Alan Gleiner told the board. "This view we look forward to every day. Please, leave it as it is."

Charlotte Lester, who lives directly across the road from the site, said if the issue were a public water line or utility, she would not speak out.

"But cellular is not something we all need," she said. "They're destroying something for me."

Natt told the board that residents and supervisors would be notified when the company floats the balloon so everyone can see whether the tower would be obtrusive. Supervisors will vote on the permit at their May 10 meeting.

The owner of the property, Roger Vest, said he considers the cellular site an improvement over what is now a drinking spot for teen-agers and a trash drop-off.

The president of the Bent Mountain Civic League, Paula Bittinger, told the board that the league voted earlier this month to "keep the face of Bent Mountain free of towers."

Board Chairman Lee Eddy, who represents the mountain, wanted to deny the permit Tuesday night.

"I don't think a balloon or a simulated pole ... is going to change my mind in the least."

by CNB