Friday, June 25, 1999
Anderson loses tower decision
Appeals court agrees they're legal, can stay
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP — The township lost another round in its battle to remove two telecommunications towers along Interstate 275 at Five Mile Road and U.S. 52.
An appellate court upheld a lower court ruling that gave GTE Wireless and AirTouch the right to build the towers.
Both companies built the towers last year after Judge Patrick McGrath of Franklin County Common Pleas Court said the companies were exempt from township zoning regulation. They were classified as public utilities when they entered an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to build the towers.
Appellate Judge Cynthia C. Lazarus, who wrote the opinion for the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals, said the Franklin County court was correct.
“The trial court held that appellees (the telecommunication companies) were entitled to immunity from the local zoning regulation as state actors and that ODOT's right to grant licenses to build cellular telecommunications towers pre-empted the authority of townships to regulate such towers,” she wrote.
Peggy Reis, a township trustee, acknowledged the need for the towers, but said they are too close to some residents. “The area where the towers are built is zoned residential,” she said.
GTE wireless was licensed by ODOT to build a tower at I-275 and Five Mile Road. AirTouch received a license to build its tower at the U.S. 52 exit on I-275.
Much of the area where the towers were built is undeveloped and covered with trees, which block the view of the towers from homes.
“I haven't given it any thought,” said Wendy Weir, who lives about a quarter-mile from the GTE Wireless tower. “We can't see it. It is not like this a business operating next door. We need our cell phones, and we think the towers are needed.”
Richard Tranter, attorney for GTE Wireless, said: “The decision highlights the need for Anderson Township to work creatively in developing realistic land-use plans that do not prohibit development.”
The Ohio General Assembly has passed legislation allowing construction of telecommunication towers along interstate highways across the state.
The bill states that such towers are deemed to further the essential highway purpose of building and maintaining a safe, efficient and accessible transportation system.
Part of the agreement with the telecommunication companies is that the towers also will be used to locate antennas for statewide communication systems involving several state agencies.
Mrs. Reis said she doesn't know whether the township will take the case to the Ohio Supreme Court.
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