By RYAN BRINKS, TIMES-REPUBLICAN POSTED: April 30, 2008

Fact Box
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Plan & Zoning Commission meeting
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Marshalltown City Council chambers, second floor of city hall

PUBLIC COMMENT: There may be an opportunity to address issues on the agenda during the meeting, but a public hearing for comments has also been scheduled as part of the May 6 Board of Adjustment meeting, when the permit will be granted or denied.
A proposal to put up a cell phone tower behind the Meadow Lane Mall in Marshalltown has moved slightly to the south to the Best Vacuum Store and More property.

U.S. Cellular will ask the city for a second special use permit to create a 120-foot tower with wireless antenna inside it at Thursday’s Plan & Zoning Commission meeting.

The commission will only make a recommendation on the issue and pass the decision on to the Board of Adjustment at a meeting May 6.

Discussion on the previous permit, for a 105-foot tower, explained that cell phone usage in the city has steadily grown and heavy signal traffic in the area has drawn down resources to the point where customers are experiencing dropped calls and trouble getting coverage indoors, said U.S. Cellular spokespersons.

According to several neighbors of the newly proposed site, however, cell phone coverage has not been problematic.

“We certainly get good reception here. I’ve never had any problems,” said Lola Breed, Palmer Street resident and U.S. Cellular customer.

The neighborhood is concerned about the tower proposal in other ways, too.

“Many studies show higher rates of cancer and other ailments in close proximity to cell phone towers,” said neighbor Carter Strand. “If my family chose not to sell our house at a loss and move if the tower is built, my youngest boy will have lived within 120 feet from the tower for 16 years when he graduates from high school. Then he will face a lifetime of exposure from other sources. Nobody is sure of the cumulative effects of long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation. I don’t think that using our children as guinea pigs to prevent a few dropped calls is a responsible solution.”

Duane Meyer has lived on Palmer Street longer than the mall has existed and thinks a tower would neither fit with the neighborhood nor be good for property values.

“All things being equal, I don’t want to have to think there’s somebody that didn’t want to buy my property because of a cell tower,” he said.

“There are a lot of unknowns connected with things like this and it’s unnecessary,” added Elaine Harms, another neighbor. “... I believe it belongs out in the country away from groups of people.”

A U.S. Cellular spokesperson said Tuesday explanations of the need for a tower and answers to residents’ concerns would be presented at the Plan & Zoning meeting.

In a memo as part of Thursday’s agenda, city staff indicated the new site is being sought because negotiations fell through for land at the original, approved cell tower site behind the mall.

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Contact Ryan Brinks at               641-753-6611        or rbrinks@timesrepublican.com