Settlement Reached in Tower Dispute

The city of Graham, North Carolina, has settled their lawsuit with Tower Engineering Professionals out of court and agreed to allow a 150-foot cell tower to be built. Tower Engineering Professionals requested a special use permit for Granite Cellular Communications Tower to place a tower on a vacant 16-acre lot, according to the Times-News. The proposal was for a 150-foot monopole occupying a 100-by-100-foot area with a 12-foot-wide gravel drive and one parking space, surrounded by an 8-foot-high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. The Graham City Council denied the request on a 3-2 vote in August, and a lawsuit was filed shortly after. “City attorney Keith Whited told the council Tuesday that he and Copland attorney Frank Longest had hammered out a compromise that would move the tower 80 feet toward the rear of the parcel and 75 feet off the property line. The site is further from adjacent property owners and provides more buffer,” the Times-News reported. The consent agreement, which is set to be signed Wednesday by a Superior Court judge, will also grant a $500 concession on the cost of a construction permit because the company will be “giving up property it can’t use” by relocating the tower.