T-Mobile tower generates vocal opposition
By Anne Dennée
BATH — Approximately 25 Bath residents packed the township’s meeting hall April 9 to ask questions and register their strong opposition to the proposed construction of a 130-foot cell phone tower on the property of Ken Stewart’s Lodge restaurant at 1911 N. Cleveland-Massillon Road.
Since March, a group of residents have been imploring restaurant owner Ken Stewart to reconsider his intention to allow T-Mobile to construct the tower on his land. The residents cite aesthetic concerns, such as the location of the tower along a designated Scenic Byway and within the Heritage Corridor of Bath, as well as potential health hazards.
Bath Township is opposed to the tower too, but township Administrator William Snow said since it would be located in a business district, Bath has no power to stop it. According to Snow, Ohio law allows construction of cell phone towers in commercial areas without the approval of local governments or their zoning boards.
The only approval T-Mobile needs
before the cell tower could be constructed is from the
Summit County Department
of Building Standards. As of presstime, a permit for
the tower had not been submitted or approved. It also
is not known whether Stewart’s contract with T-Mobile
has been finalized.
Stewart, who wasn’t present
at the meeting, has not returned repeated calls for
comment on the issue.
The tower would be a single,
gray pole with internal antennas. It would have a flag
on the top and be lit from below at night. The tower,
which would be enclosed with a wood fence, would be
located south of the restaurant behind the parking lot.
Snow said FirstEnergy recently
contacted him with a possible solution. FirstEnergy
Telecom, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, provides telecommunications
companies access to its utility infrastructure, allowing
the companies to attach antennas to already-existing
poles, towers and buildings.
“The infrastructure is
in the community,” said Snow. “There are
large towers already along Interstate 77. It’s
an alternative to constructing cell towers in the township.”
He received the Board of Trustees’
approval to approach T-Mobile regarding FirstEnergy
Telecom’s offering.
However, Bath’s legal counsel,
Robert Konstand, cautioned residents against placing
too much hope in this solution. He noted that both Stewart
and T-Mobile have significant financial interests to
protect, especially if a contract has already been signed.
Konstand and the board said they
will continue to look into the matter.
For their part, residents vowed
to continue their opposition to the tower by keeping
up the pressure on Stewart, as well as working to get
more Bath residents informed and involved. Some also
said they planned to contact T-Mobile to discuss the
alternative offered by FirstEnergy Telecom.
In other business, in his report
to the board Snow said Ohio Senate Bill 117, which is
currently being debated, would eliminate the ability
of townships to negotiate their own cable franchise
agreements in favor of a single state-wide agreement.
Snow called the bill troublesome since it would take
away local control of both cable services and negotiated
revenues, and it would eliminate the networks that cable
companies provide for schools and local governments.
The board called the bill another
example of how the state continues to take control
away from local governments and compared it to the cell
phone tower issue. Trustee James Nelson urged citizens
to write to their elected representatives and express
their objections to the bill.
In legal matters, the board approved
a motion to allow William Funk, Bath’s zoning
inspector, and Konstand to sue the owner of properties
located at 5117 Medina Road and 3680 Everett Road for
violations of the Bath Township Zoning Resolution. Funk
said the violations by owner Kaan Aydin involve the
operation of a commercial business in a residentially
zoned district.
Snow reported the township is
being sued by Douglas Callander, of San Moritz Drive.
Callander’s complaints center on the flooding
in his neighborhood. According to Snow, other parties
named in the suit include the Summit County engineer
and prosecutor.
The 9th District Court of Appeals
affirmed a decision by Bath’s Board of Zoning
Appeals regarding a disputed property line fence located
at 610 Hidden Valley Road.
Also at the meeting, the board
approved the following:
• a $158,441 contract for
a pavement replacement project for Top-O-Hill Drive
to Perrin Asphalt Co.;
• a $20,000 payment to North
Fork Properties in accordance with the terms negotiated
in a recent legal settlement; and
• $9,965 for the purchase
of nine computers from Dell.
The board also agreed to accept
$1,025 from the Bath Volunteers for Service to conduct
an informational campaign to protect Yellow Creek.
In a related item, Jeff Kerr,
chairman of the Yellow Creek Watershed Committee, announced
the committee will host an Earth Day celebration April
21 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Administrative Complex.
The festivities will kick off
with a talk given by Barbara Twelveagles, titled “Native
American Culture and the Environment.” The event
also will feature free trees, a family activity and
a panel discussion on environmentally friendly landscaping.
Details can be found at the group’s new Web site
at www.yellowcreekwater
shed.org.
In other calendar items:
√ April 17: the board will
have a special joint meeting with the Copley Township
Board of Trustees at the Stony Hill Fire Station at
8: 30 a.m. The meeting will include review of a sign
and a mowing contract as well as approval of
payments for expenses. Before the
meeting, at 7:30 p.m., Bath and Copley trustees will
meet with Fairlawn Mayor Bill Roth;
√ April 21, 29: garlic
mustard weed pulling at Bath parks from 1 to 4 p.m.;
√ April 23: Trustees’
Coffee, an informal meeting with township trustees,
7 p.m., Administrative Complex; and
√ April 28: Project Pride
community cleanup day.
The next Board of Trustees meeting
has been rescheduled from April 23 to April 24 at 1:30
p.m. at Revere High School, 3420 Everett Road, in Room
200.
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