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New Albany residents oppose cell-phone antennas
Mar 15, 2010 (The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Residents in the Planters Grove neighborhood of New Albany aren't pleased with a proposal to install cellular antennas atop an existing 169-foot electrical tower at the edge of their community park.
"From an aesthetic point of view, they certainly don't add to the landscape," resident Rich Robbertz said. "The standards in New Albany are very closely managed, and this just doesn't fit."
Tonight, the New Albany Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the addition of nine antennas, as well as a fenced-off 20-by-20-foot area for additional equipment.
Robbertz encouraged residents to attend the 7 p.m. meeting at Village Hall or write an e-mail to the village's community development department.
About 20 residents had sent letters protesting the antennas as of last week.
Robbertz said he doesn't understand why a tower in a residential district was chosen when village law requires companies to consider nonresidential options first.
The tower is between a residential neighborhood, James River Park and the proposed site of a church near Johnstown and Thompson roads.
Mark Wilson, a spokesman for T-Mobile, said the tower site is the best location for improving in-home cell-phone reception, and village law encourages companies to use existing towers rather than build more.
Wilson said it's rare to have this kind of opposition, especially when a tower exists and the addition isn't going to make it taller.
egibson@dispatch.com
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