Loudon County puts cell towers on hold

 

WBIR.com-A hot topic in a Loudon County neighborhood led to a temporary ban on a new cellphone tower.

After Verizon Wireless proposed the tower, neighbors expressed their concerns.

County leaders since placed a moratorium on the plan. The site for the proposed tower is off of Virtue Road in Lenoir City.

Sharon Yarbrough's worried about what a new tower will do to her view and her property value. "We prefer it not be on our property of course," said Yarbrough.

When she heard about a moratorium to stop construction of a cell tower, she thought of the word "progress." "The moratorium is supposed to help them look at the process or buy the county some time to review the coding," said Yarbrough.

Verizon proposed two capacity towers in the county because of an expanded need for service.

"We are waiting to hear back from the county as they work through some of the questions they are working through at the moment," said Verizon Wireless spokesperson Karen Schulz.

Residents said they didn't see the reason for the upgrade. "We didn't feel the need for the service. We have adequate service," said Yarbrough.

The pole will reach 180 feet, around 18 stories tall. "I wish they developed or adopt a code that says that there will be no cell towers placed in a residential zone," said Yarbrough.

"We want to work with the county. We want to be good corporate citizens and address the concerns of the county while still providing the best possible service to customers in that county," said Schulz.

But the choice here isn't Verizon's, or these neighbors; it's up to county leaders to decide if a tower goes up. For the time being, Verizon is going to upgrade towers it's already built to give more access to customers.