Towering issue

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Candlewood subdivision residents are upset that the town allowed a 195-foot-tall communications tower to be built next to their neighborhood.

They worry the tower will cause their homes to lose value and that it could be dangerous in a hurricane.

"It's just a hideous monster. We've certainly got a whole neighborhood in an uproar," homeowner Mark Bevivino said.

Bevivino and a neighbor each paid the $100 fee to file appeals of the town planning staff decision to permit the tower on SCANA property adjacent to the 130-home development off Mathis Ferry Road. The Board of Zoning Appeals will consider the homeowners' concerns on Nov. 30, he said.

Karl Buckman, who lives adjacent to the tower, said he received a letter from the town advising him of the SCANA project that said he had 30 days to object to it. "It (the letter) really didn't come out and say how big and overpowering (the tower) was going to be. This was a total surprise," Buckman said. Buckman equated the tower to a 20-story building. Construction of the tower next to a

South Carolina Electric & Gas substation on SCANA property happened on Oct. 20, he said.

SCANA met all the town requirements for the tower located on its Whipple Road land, SCANA Supervisor of Public Affairs Scott Grigg said. AT&T is renting space on the tower, he said. "AT&T had a need for additional wireless coverage in the Mount Pleasant area," Grigg said. The tower can withstand up to 130 mile-per-hour winds. Beyond that wind speed, the tower crumples rather than breaking off in one piece and flying through the air, he said.

But that's little consolation to Candlewood resident Rhonda Lincoln.

"Who's going to want to buy a house when that's the view that they'll see every day? We've got a group of people who are extremely upset about it and are willing to fight about it. This is just wrong," Lincoln said.

The Town Planning and Development Department approved the SCANA application to build the tower on land zoned for economic development. After its decision, the department notified nine adjacent homeowners in Candlewood, said Christiane Farrell, department director.

The nine homeowners had 30 days to register concerns about the project before a town permit was issued. None of the property owners contacted by the town responded, Farrell said. "We didn't hear anything," she said.

A telecommunications tower is allowed in an economic development zone if it does not pose a health or safety hazard. It also must not substantially detract from aesthetics and neighborhood character or impair the use of neighboring properties, according to town ordinance.

Farrell declined to discuss the aesthetics of the tower because that issue is one of the main points of the appeal of the department's decision to permit the structure. "That's probably one of the most subjective parts of that conditional use," she said.

Candlewood homeowner David Freeman said he plans to retire in the neighborhood where he and his wife raised three boys. He works in submarine communications for SPAWAR. "One day we heard some pile driving and the next day I came home and it (the tower) was up," he said. At first, the tower created a blinding reflection of sunlight, but in a few days its surface faded to a dull gray, he said. He worried that the tower, located across the street, will decrease the $250,000 value of his home.