GEORGETOWN -- In the face of intense opposition, a Sussex County panel reversed its ruling of two years ago and unanimously rejected a controversial cell tower project along Del. 1.
The county's Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 to deny AT&T Cellular's application for a 100-foot-tall cell tower south of Bethany Beach, whose opponents had gathered nearly 600 signatures on a petition in opposition.
A crowd of about 40 residents, some wearing yellow anti-cell-tower sashes, broke into applause after the vote Monday evening. Opponents included the town of Bethany Beach and the Bethany Beach Landowners Association.
"It's just not the proper place for it," said Board of Adjustment member Ronald McCabe.
Fellow panel member John Mills, who made the motion to reject the application, said he agreed with safety concerns raised by opponents should the tower be struck by lightning or collapse.
He said he didn't necessarily agree with the contention that the cell tower's visibility from neighboring properties would affect property values, but still argued it should be rejected.
"This is certainly a different hearing than we heard the first time," Mills said. "It's obvious that was because the opposition had an opportunity to organize."
AT&T countered that it needed a new tower to fill a gap in coverage along the highway through Bethany Beach, and supporters said reception has been greatly improved since a temporary tower was put up last year. The company said in county filings that it examined other locations in the area, but none would provide sufficient coverage.
AT&T had to get county approval for a special-use exception, even though the site is zoned for commercial use, because it is within 500 feet of residentially zoned property.
It was the second try for the mobile-phone company to put up the tower. The panel approved the tower in 2009 on a 3-2 vote, but the approval was overturned in November after homeowners in Sea Pines Village -- adjacent to the site -- appealed to the courts.
Sussex County Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves said county officials posted a public notice for the hearing at a neighboring property, not at the site where the tower would be built. Because the published notice did not contain more detailed property information, interested residents had no way of knowing which piece of land was involved, Graves ruled.
AT&T can still appeal the board's decision to Superior Court -- just as residents did in 2009 -- and has 30 days to do so, said Planning and Zoning Director Lawrence Lank. If it decides to appeal, temporary cellular equipment set up on a utility pole at the site will not have to be removed until the court case is concluded, he said.
Contact Dan Shortridge at 463-3338 ordshortridge@delawareonline.com.
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