UPDATE On February 21, as previously reported in Inside Towers, the Hagerstown, MD zoning board voted 3-2 to give Milestone Communications a special variance to construct a camouflaged 115-foot cell tower, to be covered with sign panels, on the campus of North Hagerstown High School.
Residents who oppose the tower recently took the issue to the City Council, asking for the zoning ruling to be overturned, arguing the zoning board was unfair in its decision, according to Herald-Mail Media. Councilman Lewis Metzner explained at the Council’s March 12 meeting, that such a ruling was not possible. “It would be like the city suing the city,” he said.
Hagerstown allows camouflaged towers with no height restrictions, but a variance had to be requested for this tower due to the 1,755 square feet of signs used for concealment, according to Herald-Mail Media. Residents near the site of the proposed tower have raised concerns about the tower’s potential health risks, as well as its impacts on the neighborhood’s aesthetics and property values.
According to Councilman Austin Heffernan, some residents believe that the zoning board focused on the tower’s potential benefits instead of the signage, which was the issue to be decided. Councilman Steve Bockmiller told Herald-Mail Media, that he did his best to direct the board’s conversation back to the signage. While the City Council was unable to consider overturning the zoning board’s decision, it does plan to have a city attorney at its March 19 meeting to meet with the tower’s detractors and explain what steps they should take to appeal the zoning board’s decision.
March 16, 2018
Reader Interactions