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Prairie Village won’t have a cell phone tower near 67th Street and Roe Avenue any time soon.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected T-Mobile’s request for a special use permit to place a 120-foot cell phone tower at Faith Lutheran Church, located at the intersection.
Planning commissioners said the tower was too high and out of character for a residential neighborhood.
They were also uncomfortable with approving a proposal that upset many neighboring residents. More than 300 residents signed a petition opposing the tower.
Dozens of residents attended the hearing Tuesday and voiced their objections to the tower, which they said would decrease property values and be a safety hazard.
“The idea of a 120-foot tower just 24 feet behind my home is frightening,” said Kate Faerber at the meeting. “I have three sons, and we all use our back yard. What if the pole has ice falling from it in the winter or if it happened to fall onto my property?”
A few of her neighbors said they wouldn’t invest money to renovate their homes if they were so near a 120-foot tower.
Some also thought T-Mobile only wanted the tower there to beat its competitors.
“I’m very opposed to this tower,” said Randy Cordill, a Prairie Village resident. “I must have been asleep when it became an inalienable right to have cell phone service in homes. They (T-Mobile) are trying to enhance their coverage for monetary gain — that’s the only reason they’re doing this.”
Scott Beeler, the attorney for T-Mobile, argued that several Prairie Village residents have been seeking better coverage in that area.
“T-Mobile has no interest in setting up a tower, for thousands of dollars, just for the heck of it,” he said. “They want to do it because the public demands it, and for 911 calls, it’s needed.”
He said the absence of a cell phone tower at that location could be dangerous for T-Mobile users who rely on their cell phones rather than land lines.
“Cell phones make up 49 percent of all 911 calls made,” he said. “In 2007, T-Mobile averaged 151 of the 911 calls per month in Prairie Village. We are dealing with adding a wireless facility to enhance coverage where it’s desperately needed.”
Cindy Haskill was one of the few residents at the meeting who wanted the cell tower.
She said she would rather have safety over aesthetics.
“We get no cell service in the church — it’s all dead space,” said Haskill, a member of Faith Lutheran. “And I’m a Girl Scout troop leader there. If those parents can’t get a hold of their daughters, that’s tragedy.”
Planning Commission chairman Ken Vaughn said he was concerned about the lack of coverage as well.
“I do realize that it’s cost effective for people to use their cell phones, rather than their land lines,” he said. “And it’s a risk by not having 100 percent coverage everywhere in the city.”
But the height of the tower made him uncomfortable, he added.
In response, Beeler said that after a few days of driving past the tower residents wouldn’t even notice it anymore, a remark that drew laughter from the audience.
The Planning Commission asked Beeler if other locations had been considered for the tower.
Beeler said that during the past four years T-Mobile had approached several other locations for the tower — other churches, a country club, a park, a fire station and a water tower. Negotiations with those locations failed.
He had been hoping to put an end to the search Tuesday night.
The Planning Commission’s denial will be reviewed by the City Council at a later meeting.
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