PORT ANGELES — Residents living near a proposed radio and cellphone tower site north of Sequim turned out in droves last week to voice their opposition to the project.
“We want to go on record as being opposed to construction of the cell tower,” Mike Erwin said during Wednesday’s public hearing at the Clallam County Courthouse, which was attended by about 75 people.
The tower would house FM and cellular antennas and would be disguised as a giant fir tree, according to plans submitted to the county Department of Community Development.
The project is contingent upon the approval of a conditional use permit, which is being considered by William Payne, Clallam County hearing commissioner.
A conditional use permit would allow construction of the 150-foot-tall tower near the Dungeness Heights subdivision at 686 Brigadoon Blvd.
The property is owned by Shirley Tjemsland.
The tower would be located inside a fenced, 2,500-square-foot area accessible by a 12-foot-wide gravel road connected to Brigadoon Boulevard.
An ‘eyesore’
Erwin, who is building a new home at 683 Brigadoon, said the tower would be a “blight” and an “eyesore.”
“It took us four years to find this building site and we feel it is the most beautiful spot on the Peninsula,” he said.
“To our north — views of the Strait. To the south — views of the Olympics.
“They are stunning.”
Erwin said that had he known “that 600 feet across the street there would be plans for a cell tower” he would not have purchased the property.
The radio/cell tower and accompanying infrastructure have been designed by Ken Hays’ architectural firm at the behest of Radio Pacific — owned by Brown Maloney — and the Tjemsland family.
Radio Pacific owns and operates radio stations KONP AM-FM and KSTI-FM, both of Port Angeles.
The company is considering the launch of a third station in Sequim, Maloney has said.
Met requirements
“We feel we have more than met the Clallam County code requirements for camouflaging a cell tower north of the highway,” Hays said during Wednesday’s meeting.
“We feel we have worked diligently with staff in response to their comments and community comments about aesthetics.
“I am confident we can recreate something that will be representative and replicate what we see in the surrounding area.”
Erwin was not convinced.
“Disguising the 150 foot tower to look like a natural . . . tree is a joke,” Erwin said.
“It is ridiculous.”
Property values
And, Erwin said, he is concerned property values will plummet if the tower is built.
“All property owners in the neighborhood will be suffering huge economic losses, caused by this monolith tower,” he said.
“It is estimated the average reduction of property values will be approximately 20 percent,” he said.
“Those of us closer to the tower will suffer larger losses.
“We cannot afford for this to happen.”
Diane Hood, who also has property near the tower site, agreed with Erwin’s assessment.
“I know that installing a cell tower at this location will reduce the value of homes nearby,” she said.
“The Appraisal Journal states that the price of properties will be reduced around 21 percent after a cell tower [is] built in the neighborhood.”
Crucial infrastructure
The tower would provide a “crucial infrastrucural need which would further the goals” of the county’s comphrehensive plan “which states the telecommunications network is vital to the quality of the life of its citizens,” said Eric Quinn, a Pierce County attorney representing Gunnerson Consulting and Communication Site Services.
Gunnerson Consulting represents the parties involved in the project.
Brian Gunnerson, the company’s chief executive officer, said the tower also would aid public safety agencies by providing a location to mount radio equipment that would allow better signal strength for police and fire personnel in the area.
Fire district receiver
“Clallam County Fire District 3 wants to locate . . . a receiver on the tower,” he said.
“I am working with their engineering group, which is Green Tree Communications, and they have specified the antennae and the equipment that they would like to mount there and they are good actually at mounting at 90 feet on the tower.”
It would be a four-foot antenna, he said.
Gunnerson said the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office also would be interested in mounting a radio receiver on the tower.
Three FM antennas about 20 feet in length would be installed at the top of the tower, according to the plans.
T-Mobile would install an antenna array at 129 feet above ground level.
Other cellular providers could locate antennas at 109 feet and 119 feet above the ground.
If the county approves the plan, the facility would include the tower and antennas, electrical and telephone utilities, a 100-square-foot electronic storage shed to house Radio Pacific’s broadcast equipment, two equipment cabinets for T-Mobile, a self-containing backup diesel generator and two structures that protect the cables running from the storage shed to the tower.
The top 100 feet of the tower would be covered in artificial branches and foliage to camouflage the structure.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.