Long Creek Farm residents say they've never complained about the noise or traffic created by the nearby Elks lodge. 

But they draw the line at a proposed 140-foot cellular telephone tower they say will be visible from the kitchens and bedrooms of their southern Kent Island community. 

"I'd love to have a cell tower -- the service out here is terrible -- but not near a residential community," said Ray Francis, whose home is about 200 feet from the site. 

Frank Stamm, head of Elks Lodge 2576, said leasing the 100-foot-by-100-foot property will benefits his neighbors. 

"People want reception down here," he said. "Where you drive down Route 8, it cuts out." 

The 140-foot tower is proposed by American Tower, which builds and operates towers for wireless, Internet and broadcasting companies. 

Patrick Welsh, attorney for the Millersville office, said that requests for better service prompted the plans for the tower. It would be the first on that part of the island. 

"There is a lot of community interest in having service on the island," Mr. Welsh said. 

American Tower did an "exhaustive search" for other available properties on the island, Mr. Welsh said. However, the alternatives were on land preserved by the county for agricultural use, in wetlands or too far away. 

The Elks' property, on the other hand, was attractive because of its southern location and the trees that will shield part of the tower. 

Mr. Welsh said the company does not know when it will submit a county permit application, but hopes to have the tower up by the end of the year. 

Plans for the tower come after the county tightened its policy for approving cell phone towers in January. 

The new policy requires cellular phone service providers to share existing towers. The county will not approve a new tower if there is another within three miles. 

"In this instance, however, there is no cell phone tower in the area to co-locate on and there really is a need," county spokesman Greg Nizza said. "Route 8 is notorious for poor cell phone reception." 

Once a company submits an application for a permit to build a tower, the county will post a sign on the property, buy an advertisement in the local newspapers and send letters to adjacent property owners announcing the company's plans. 

The county Board of Appeals will then hold a public hearing. Fina approval rests with the county Department of Planning and Zoning. 

Mr. Francis, who heard about the tower from some Elks last fall, is alarmed that the club did not inform the community before signing the lease. Terms of the agreement were not released. 

When American Tower placed a test tower on the site two weeks ago, he and neighbor Michael Plumbtree decided to tell them themselves. 

"Many of the residents knew nothing about it and are now very concerned," said Mr. Plumbtree, whose 32-acre horse farm is 181 feet from the tower site. "We didn't move to Kent Island to be looking at a cell phone tower. We don't even have telephone poles in our community." 

They are not against having a tower on the island, both men said; they just want it someplace less visible. 

"The cell tower is going to be the focal point of everybody in that neighborhood," Mr. Plumbtree said. "Residents will be able to see it from their living room, their kitchen, their bedroom ..." 

Published March 12, 2002, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2002 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

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