DATE: Wednesday, October 15, 1997           TAG: 9710150525

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   68 lines

COLINGTON TOWER FAILS TO WIN OK

Colington Island won't be home to a new 180-foot high communication tower for now, but proponents of the proposal say it won't be home to decent cellular phone reception either.

In a 5-5 vote Monday, a variance request by TeleSpectrum Inc. for 360 Communications to build the tower off Colington Road was turned down by the Dare County Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Since approval of the request required a four-fifths majority, the tie automatically meant that the matter was killed.

``We were all so elated,'' Water's Edge resident Barbara Crites said Tuesday. ``This doesn't happen very often. From the very first discussion on it, it looked like a done deal - forget it, no hope. I think it turned out very well.''

But if Colington fish dealer Billy Beasley has his way, the controversial application will find new life.

Beasley, who owns the 59 acres 360 Communications wanted to put the structure on, said Tuesday that he will ask his attorney to appeal the decision.

``We're going to be just like a boxer,'' the native Colington businessman said. ``He gets knocked down and gets back on his feet. If 360 doesn't go after them, I will.''

Jerry Eatman, 360's Raleigh attorney, said Tuesday that it has not been decided yet if the company will appeal.

Residents of Water's Edge subdivision, near the proposed tower, contended that the cellular phone company did not have a convincing reason why the antenna could not be placed on an existing tower. The company had applied for a variance in April to build a tower taller than a 52-foot zoning limit.

Pete Friedman, an engineer and Water's Edge property owner who testified at the meeting, said Tuesday the company only proved that its coverage would be imperfect even if it built the tower or if it used an existing structure like the Colington water tower. He also contended that a lower tower could just as well improve reception in the area.

But Beasley said rejection of the variance is bad for Dare County because it needs the added range for improved 911 service. The communication company offered to place the county on the tower for free, Beasley said.

Shelley Meyer, a Water's Edge property owner who also testified at the meeting, said Colington's tower issue is just a small part of the big picture confronting communities across the nation since passage last year of the Telecommunications Act, which allows some local government control of the structures but forbids an outright ban.

``Communities like Dare County have to undertake a comprehensive tower communications plan so they know what their inventory is,'' she said.

The county is studying a proposed tower ordinance that County Planner Ray Sturza will present at next month's Board of Commissioners meeting. Currituck County recently imposed a temporary moratorium on the towers until it could put together a plan as well.

Meanwhile, cell phone users are going to have to put up with poor reception in Dare County, especially in Colington, said Shelby Hines, a Colington Harbour resident who works for Total Communications in Kill Devil Hills.

``When people turn down Colington Road, you lose them,'' Hines said. ``I have all around this island. I can tell what streets they work on, and what they don't.''

Hand-held phones, common in metropolitan areas, get no reception here because they need the power that the towers provide. Bag phones, being larger and more powerful, can function on the Outer Banks, but tend to have undependable reception because of the wide spacing between antennas. But in the event of a hurricane, cell phones are life-savers, she said.

``My argument is not for one company or another, but that we need cell service - good cell service,'' Hines said. ``We're a rural area with a lot of metropolitan ways.''

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