Cell Phone Tower in Lamond Park Nixed
Residents in Villamay and Wellington Heights were against construction of cell phone tower
AT&T is searching for alternative ways to provide enhanced cell phone coverage in the Mount Vernon area after local residents protested the construction of a new cell phone tower at Lamond Park.
Julie Cline, a Fairfax County Park Authority branch manager, said AT&T submitted a request to the park authority for a telecommunications license to construct the tower. The park authority notified AT&T around September that it could not approve the application for construction of the tower, Cline said.
“We just couldn’t quite find a location that met that criteria,” she said.
AT&T had also submitted an application to build the tower with the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning. Richard Lambert Jr., a planner with the department, said the facilities branch received the application June 1 of this year. The application for the tower, which could have been 128 feet, was withdrawn on Nov. 2, he said.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland said AT&T had planned to construct the tower at the park’s highest point, near a historic house.
“Clearly, that would have been problematic for the community, as well as the abutting neighbors, who would have been able to see the proposed tower,” Hyland said. “They did look at other parts on that site, but the bottom line is the community was unanimous in its opposition to having a cell tower located anywhere on the property.”
Eleanor Quigley of Wellington Heights was one community member opposed to the new tower. Quigley, an advocate for the park for many years, is also park and tree commissioner for the Mount Vernon District.
“There was a lot of controversy,” she said. “That area of the park, the high point of the park, is also close to several homes in Villamay, so there was a great deal of concern.”
Quigley said she supported expanded cell phone coverage in the area but believed a better, alternate method is the distributed antenna system, in which small antennas are placed upon existing utility poles to lessen the disruption to the neighborhood.
"We definitely need better cell phone coverage," Quigley said. "Do we want cell phone telecommunications facilities in a park? I don’t think so. Do we want them in our neighborhood? I don’t think so."
There are currently six cell phone towers at other Fairfax County parks and one planned for construction at George Washington RECenter, said Cline with the park authority.
In a statement concerning Lamond Park, an AT&T spokeswoman said, "AT&T wants to provide our customers and communities with the wireless coverage they want and need. We are evaluating next steps."
capitol5555
7:03 am on Thursday, November 17, 2011
This is comparable to living in the dark ages. What a joke! The lack of wireless accesibility affects some who must telecommute at home or work out of their residence. How selfish.
DAVE
8:37 am on Thursday, November 17, 2011
NIMBYS STRIKE AGAIN!! Why can't this be put to a vote of the community at large. It might be near your house, but it certainly effects more people than that. I can't conduct business at my home because the reception is so bad I drop calls.
Glenn
9:33 am on Thursday, November 17, 2011
DAS works without generating controversy and provides not just coverage today but more importantly capacity for tomorrow. The tower builders don't like it because most don't do DAS, just towers. The carriers don't like it because it costs more than a tower. DAS is used in three areas of our county where the residents didn't want towers. If you need coverage today try using a picocell (aka nanocell) or a booster.
Beka Martinez
9:59 am on Thursday, November 17, 2011
I have a booster - a micro-cell - the reception here is so bad that my micro-cell cannot maintain a constant signal. The cable and Internet signals are also noticibaly affected.
Dave Fontanella
4:22 pm on Thursday, November 17, 2011
Some things to consider....
1. Testing by various cancer societies has confirmed that there is no evidence that radio frequency energy from cell phones can cause cancer in humans or animals.
2. Poor cell phone reception has a down grading effect on homes sales.
3. Studies have shown that more and more people are turning away from hard wired phones to cell phones as their only source for communication.
4. This grand effort to stamp out the cell tower may make it a lot more difficult to sell your home next year. Dave 2
JJ Fagan
6:43 pm on Thursday, November 17, 2011
Ponder the contradictions for a moment or two: "We definitely need better cell phone coverage... Do we want cell phone telecommunications facilities in a park? I don’t think so. Do we want them in our neighborhood? I don’t think so."
elf
10:41 am on Friday, November 18, 2011
The Mount Vernon neighborhoods are agreed on providing better cell phone service by using less invasive antenna on telephone or street light poles. Such service is being provided to homeowners in the Hunter Mill, Providence and Drainesville Districts of Fairfax County. The Mount Vernon Council of Citizens Associations has asked that that service be made available to homeowners in Mount Vernon District as well.
MC Javier
4:27 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
If you are of the belief that a DAS (Distributed Antennae System) on electrical poles is the sole solution to providing coverage in Ft Hunt and Mt Vernon area then you are going to have to wait a very long time to see coverage improved. In Hunter Mill, Providence and Dranesville, DAS is a supplement along the traffic major corridors and it is complementary to the network working in unison with tower and rooftop installations, which are all but non existent in the Mt Vernon area
elf
5:24 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
I'm glad you used the word "If" because I don't believe DAS is the sole solution to providing coverage in Ft Hunt and Mt Vernon areas even thought DAS is used primarily in jurisdictions elsewhere, most noteably, Colonial Williamsburg. I do believe that DAS should be one option available to the residents in the Mount Vernon District as it is elsewhere in Fairfax County.
Tower firms such as American Tower Company, owners of the treepole on the MV Estate, and Crown Castle owners of DAS in Williamsburg also install DAS systems. Commercial uses in residental zones of Fairfax County are only approved when determined to be in harmony with adjacent residential uses. Treepoles for example have been approved by adjacent residents around the GW Recreation Center but not at the Masonic Lodge. DAS has been recommended in the latter case. The many neighborhoods in the MVCCA have unanimously adopted a policy recommending such consideration.