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By Monty Tayloe
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Two out of three applications by Cingular Wireless and Velocitel Inc. to add their own antennas to three existing cellular towers owned by the Sprint corporation were recommended for Board of Supervisor approval by the Rappahannock County Planning Commission on Wednesday, July 16.
“We need to expand our network, we’re out here to meet demand,” said Gary Seagar, of Velocitel Inc. and Cingular Wireless, addressing the Planning Commission. Two applications to alter the height of existing “Stealth monopole” antennas were recommended for approval to the Board of Supervisors; a third that would involve visible changes to the outside of the prominent Rose Hill silo on US211 was deferred for a month.
In voting to recommend the two monopole applications and in deferring a decision on the silo, both the public and the planning commission seemed primarily concerned with how the changes would affect the towers’ appearance.
“Our concern is that these towers not be obtrusive,” said Paul Farmer, president of the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection.
“We need to maintain our scenic appearance,” said Planning Commissioner Alvin Henry. Those concerns are echoed in Rappahannock County’s comprehensive plan, which sets limits on the height of cellular towers and requires that they be disguised as trees and grain silos when feasible. That emphasis on concealment was in turn included in the plan in response to strong public reaction six years ago, when the construction of Sprint’s cell towers was
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