Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 11, 1994 TAG: 9406170115
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We don't like to go into an area where we're viewed as the enemy," said Howard Martin, one of the company's attorneys. "We want to make a positive contribution in terms of service, in terms of tax revenues, in terms of emergency services communication."
Contel representatives applied for a special use permit to build the tower at the beginning of May. On Friday, they sent a letter to the county planning offices, withdrawing their request.
Bill Ellenbogen, an area restaurateur and developer whose home overlooks the proposed tower site, was pleased with the decision.
"I was ecstatic. Ellett Valley is a truly beautiful area that deserves to be protected."
Ellenbogen and others who opposed the tower wanted the company to build a smaller tower or hide it from view completely.
Martin said the company didn't find out there was any real opposition to the tower until the week before a May 23 public hearing.
"I've never been to a public hearing [on a Contel Cellular tower] where there was such a turnout," he said. Martin has represented the company in zoning matters for nearly 10 years.
The company considered several alternatives in response to the opposition, including camouflaging the tower as a tree and reducing its height.
John Rodman, general manager of Contel Cellular, said lowering the tower would "reduce the footprint, or coverage area, to a degree that wouldn't have made it feasible."
The company sought to expand coverage to the Blacksburg Country Club and residents of the Ellett Valley. It has towers on Price Mountain and in Peddlar Hills, but coverage in the Ellett Valley is poor.
"We have a need to serve Montgomery County and we're going to have to do something to improve our service there in certain areas of the county," Martin said. "We have to fill in the gaps between our other towers."
"Right now we're just going to step away from it for a while," Rodman said. "It doesn't do us any good to make the capital investment if it's not going to cover very much."
The Montgomery County Planning Commission was scheduled to consider the proposal at its June 15 meeting.
by CNB