Nearly 40 residents convinced Heber City officials to move a contested 65-foot-tall cell tower from its proposed location in their neighborhood to a new site just north of the burial grounds in the city cemetery.
City Councilor Aaron Cheatwood called the opposition the best grassroots engagement he’d seen recently.
“The residents that showed up were extremely not only professional, but respectful. They had great comments and questions and insights,” he said.
One of those insights was the potential new location for the cell tower in the city cemetery. Residents concerned about a potential negative impact to their property values — which the applicant, Atlas Tower Group, insisted would not occur — challenged city staff’s initial refusal to consider the site out of respect for the dead during a Heber City Planning Commission public hearing last month.
The public hearing was to consider a rezone to accommodate the cell tower’s height, as it was placed in a zone that allowed cell towers up to 35 feet tall. At the Planning Commission’s suggestion, the City Council voted on Tuesday against rezoning the city-owned property.
The City Council also unanimously approved a change to its lease with Atlas Tower Group that tentatively places the cell tower near cemetery storage and maintenance facilities, creating a minimum buffer of about 400 feet between the cell tower and existing homes, according to Community Development Director Tony Kohler. The previous site on city-owned property on East Center Street near the Wasatch County Health Department would have had a buffer of about 100 to 150 feet from existing homes, he explained.
With the larger buffer, Atlas has asked to increase the cell tower’s height to 80 feet, which the Planning Commission will consider later.
The previous height of 65 feet was to accommodate three carriers instead of one. Carri Wullner, business development manager with Atlas, said an 80-foot-tall tower could improve service and attract even more carriers, tying into Atlas’ goal to have fewer, taller cell towers across the city instead of a multitude of short ones.
The cell tower may be disguised as a pine tree to blend in with the 50- to 70-foot-tall spruces in the cemetery, Kohler said. Atlas will draw up designs for the City Council and nearby residents to consider.
Mayor Heidi Franco jokingly suggested Atlas design the cell tower like the Washington Monument in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Then, seriously, she thanked Atlas for “not giving up” after nearly two years of searching for a suitable site for the cell tower.
“Everyone’s going to be so happy when they can get (better service), too. I know they will be, and they’ll not realize how much effort it took,” she said. “This will be worth it.”
A few neighbors who had opposed the cell tower’s original location thanked City Councilors for their decision, with resident Brent Burnham complimenting the fact that they aren’t “plopping it in the middle of the grave sites.”
The cell tower may, in fact, become a financial supporter of the cemetery.
City Manager Matt Brower and Kohler suggested that all money the city makes from the cell tower — nearly $600,000 over a 20-year lease, according to an estimate from Atlas — be dedicated to the cemetery’s perpetual care fund. The City Council has not yet committed to that suggestion.