With a 2-1 vote, Idaho’s Kootenai County Commissioners changed tactics and voted against installing a cell tower on Potlatch Hill Road. As the Coeur D’Alene / Post Falls Press reports, the commissioners bowed to negative responses from the community and decided to withdraw their approval for a 150-foot lattice cell tower requested by AT&T.
“We’re happy that the commissioners heard what we all had to say,” said Potlatch Hill Road neighbor, Steve Petroskie. “We know this is a short-term win because AT&T will be back. But it’s good to know that, for now, the citizens were listened to.”
“They may choose to sue in civil court,” agreed Kootenai County Communications Coordinator, Jonathan Gillham. AT&T has not yet issued a response to confirm or deny Gillham’s speculation, according to the Coeur D’Alene / Post Falls.
Although residents said that they feared lightning strikes and phantom health issues, Commissioner Bill Brooks again voted in favor of the cell tower. “Everything else I heard during both hearings [about health scares] was anecdotal and I don’t make decisions based on anecdotes,” said Brooks.
The change in the approval status came from newly elected commissioner, Bruce Mattare. “I did not believe that the applicant sufficiently proved they were filling gaps in cell service to satisfy the constituency,” he said.
Satisfied with the outcome of this round of voting, “It was a long and arduous process,” Petroskie noted. “But the most important thing we got out of it is that the community is even stronger than it’s ever been.”
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