Concern about visual impact has prompted the Sun Valley Planning and Zoning Commission to postpone a decision on whether to allow construction of a 27-foot-tall tower that would bring cell phone service to much of the Elkhorn valley.
Edge Wireless would like to erect the tower next to a pump house near a city reservoir that sits on a hilltop between Twin Creeks and Crown Ranch at the southeastern end of Elkhorn. The pump house is downhill from the reservoir, and the proposed tower, which would rise 20 feet above the building's roof, would not be on the skyline. It would consist of a three-and-one-half-inch-thick pole with two 14-inch-square panels near its top. The pump house already holds a pole that rises 13 feet above its roof.
The company presented its application to the P&Z during a meeting on Thursday, Oct. 11.
Commissioners noted that despite the tower's small scale, it would be visible.
"To me it's an incredibly visual spot," Commissioner John Gaeddert said. "You see it from one end of the golf course all the way around to Twin Creeks."
Commissioners also expressed concerns about the precedent construction of the tower would set for similar applications at the site from other cell phone companies. City ordinance encourages the co-location of communications facilities.
"If it's the best place for you, then it's the best place for everybody else," Commissioner David Brown said. "While none of us minds seeing an antenna, in five years we're going to be stuck seeing a porcupine."
Roy Willy, Edge Wireless director of systems development, said the tower as proposed would be too small to support numerous attachments. However, the commissioners agreed that other companies could propose their own facilities at the site.
The commissioners voted unanimously to defer a decision to a special meeting Nov. 29 after making a visit to the site to look at a mock-up of the proposed tower.
Commissioner Joan Lamb said the city had received two letters from nearby residents opposed to the tower. One more person also spoke out against it at the meeting.
However, two other residents expressed support on the grounds that it would be the only way to get cell service at their houses. Some cell phone coverage exists in Elkhorn from towers on Dollar Mountain and the Elkhorn Fire Station, but it does not cover the entire valley.
"The service in Elkhorn is pathetic," said Dean Newman, who wrote a master plan for Sun Valley Co. for communications towers on Bald Mountain. "No one other than Edge Wireless has done anything to improve their service in this valley in the last decade."
Resident Dave Galloway said he and others had requested the expansion of service from Edge Wireless.
"We've waited years for this," Galloway said. "We don't want to see it delayed."
