Centennial/Gen Comm’s first request for a height variance for a tower to be built out on St. Joe Center Road did not go very well. I felt the board was leaning towards limiting the height of the tower to 120 feet, if they were even going to approve it at all.  Then it was discovered that Centennial/Gen Comm had another variance for the same tower on the February agenda. This other variance was to get around a requirement that the tower have so much room on each side of it from the property lines. When this was brought to light, it was suggested by Andy Downes that they hold off on this request and merge it with the other variance request and vote on both at the same time. The board grilled the Centennial/Gen Comm officials. At one point, the attorney, who’d stated he was representing Centennial, admitted he worked for Gen Comm, but was representing Centennial. Centennial will be a “tenant” of the tower, meaning they will have some of their equipment in the tower. After all was said and done, the request was delayed until February when both requests will be considered and voted on.
Then came the moment most had waited for – the Broadway Cell phone tower near the GE Sign. The attorney for Centennial/Gen Comm gave several letters of support for the project to the board, then asked for a deferral until February. There was some discussion over why a deferral was requested and if it would be better to withdraw the request. The Centennial attorney stated that there some insignificant alterations to be made, but the basic 150-foot request would be the same. Downes responded a deferral was possible, but if the project wasn’t going to change, the board should just go ahead and discuss it. They conferred and decided to withdraw the request and start over. I think Centennial didn’t anticipate the negative community response to their request.Â
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Please note – I do not know if I am spelling Gen Comm right or not. I will verify in the next day or two.
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