Swim club's talks over cell tower stir opposition

Source: The Philadelphia InquirerJuly 24--A Cherry Hill swim club's members have approved moving forward with talks on a plan to lease space for a cellphone tower, but some members and nearby residents are fighting the proposal before it can be submitted to the zoning board.迷你倉The Fox Hollow Swim Club, on Partridge Lane on Cherry Hill's east side, held a members' meeting last week on AT&T's request to rent space from the club to build a 120-foot cell tower, according to a member who attended but did not want to be named.According to an e-mail from the club's board to members, at least 25 yes votes from active member families were needed to continue negotiations.Preliminary plans indicated that the club would receive $2,000 a month from AT&T for use of the land, the member said.The cell tower would be in the rear of the parking lot, the member said, and would be disguised as a pine tree. No timeline was given for the project.Tim O'Connor, president of the board, would not comment on the plan other than to say it was very early in the process. Clif Quay, the board's vice president, declined to comment Monday.AT&T spokesman Dan Langan said in an e-mail: "We aspire to be good neighbors while providing our customers with the wireless phone and mobile Internet coverage they want and need, and this proposed site is critical to achieving that goal."We will continue to work with the appropriate community partners on this proposal."Some club members and residents are questioning the plan, though no formal proposal has been submitted to the township."We're all stakeholders here, we're all community members," said Margie Krzeminski-Pacuku, a member of the club who lives in the Fox Hollow development. "This was done without our knowledge and certainly without our input."Krzeminski-Pacuku and Rose Joanson, who lives next to the club, have been gathering signatures aga文件倉nst the building of the cell tower.They say the plan would benefit only the club. "We have no financial gain," Joanson said of the Fox Hollow residents.The online petition has more than 200 signatures. It contends that property values will diminish, the environment will be damaged, and a precedent for neighborhood intrusion will be set if the tower is built."We don't really need a cell tower in the middle of the woods," said Ernest Del Duke, who lives in Fox Hollow. "A lot of people here are fired up about it."Members of the club received an e-mail from the board of directors June 30 saying a special membership meeting would be held July 14 to discuss the cell tower."Over the past few weeks, the possibility has been elevated, and members of the board will be meeting with the site developer and a draft land use agreement is currently being reviewed," the e-mail said.Though the e-mail did not address specifics of a plan, it said, "We will have many obstacles to overcome, but with your support the FHSC stands to gain a financial windfall for years to come."To meet zoning requirements, the site would have to be at least two acres -- the swim club has 3.6 -- and the tower could not exceed 100 feet.It also needs to be set back 11/2 times its height from all property boundaries and two times its height from any residences.Among other requirements, the developer must show efforts for "colocation," meaning it had exhausted all other efforts to put an antenna on an existing tower or rooftop, according to the township.The township has had no official communication with the club about the tower, spokeswoman Bridget Palmer said.Contact Sean Carlin at 856-779-3237, scarlin@philly.com, or follow on Twitter @SeanCarlin84.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.philly.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉