Published October 26, 2006
Tate tower request denied
by Commissioner Jones

By Jeff Warren
Pickens County Commissioner Robert Jones has denied the application of Southeast Towers, LLC to construct a 255-foot lattice-type cell tower near Parker Road and Highway 53 at Tate. Jones said he made his decision known to Southeast Towers in a letter dated October 13, the deadline for a decision on the tower request.
"I've turned it down," Jones said Monday.
The commissioner explained he had concerns about the tower as planned. "I had a few issues with it," Jones said. "Mainly to do with the aesthetics of the historical district of Tate."
The proposed location for the tower would have placed it south of Parker Road in a deep draw just west of the water tank at Tate. That tank stands on a ridge west of State Route 53 within walking distance from the highway.
Federal Communications Commission guidelines prohibit new cell tower construction from imposing "adverse visual impact" on designated historic areas. Tate village and the marble mill at Tate were added to the National Register of Historic Places in summer 2005.
Commissioner Jones said application documents presented by Southeast Towers indicated the proposed tower would cause no adverse visual impact for the Tate Historic District.
According to community groups opposed to the tower, Southeast Towers application documents submitted to the FCC and the Historic Preservation Office of Georgia DNR indicated construction of the tower would present no adverse visual impact on the historic district. And both government agencies approved the project.

 But when the Pickens County Planning Commission considered Southeast Towers' construction request during the commission's June meeting, commission members called for a balloon test to verify the company's no-visual-impact claim. On June 23 technicians flew a red balloon from the proposed tower site on a 255-foot tether. The test showed a tower of that height would be visible from Tate's historic district.
But in its August meeting, the planning commission found itself caught between community groups opposed to the tower and potential litigation from the tower company if the construction request was denied.
At that meeting, the commission opted to forward the tower construction request to Commissioner Jones for a decision without attaching a planning commission recommendation for approval or denial.
Jones confirmed his decision on the matter October 13 in his previously mentioned letter to Southeast Towers denying their tower construction request.
Jones said he still hopes for a compromise with Southeast Towers, perhaps a reduction in tower height. But he said, thus far, the company has communicated no interest in a compromise.
"I'm sure they felt like they had done everything that they needed to do and there was no need for a compromise," Jones reasoned. "Hopefully they will see the need where we can reach a compromise--or we can go to court," he added. "We haven't heard anything from them since we sent the letter to them."
The Progress contacted Southeast Towers Monday afternoon, October 23, to ask if the company might consider a compromise.
"All I can say, due to the sensitive nature of the case, is that I cannot comment at this time," said Carolyn Hardwick, site development manager for the company.