AB cell tower proposal withdrawn

Many Atlantic Beach residents will head into this weekend with a sigh of relief after T-Mobile Northeast LLC decided this afternoon to drop its application for a 53-foot cell towner that would have been erected in the middle of the seaside community.

Atlantic Beach officials received a fax at 1:29 p.m. from T-Mobile attorney Gregory Alvarez announcing that it was dropping the application. "We stand willingly ready to treat any cell tower application in a serious and vigilant manner," said Atlantic Beach village attorney Charles S. Kovit after finding out that the T-Mobile proposal had been withdrawn.

T-Mobile was scheduled to present its application to construct a cell tower on Beech Street before the Atlantic Beach Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on Nov. 19 but the wireless provider then requested the hearing be postponed. The Greater Atlantic Beach Water Reclamation District entered into a contract leasing a parcel of land to T-Mobile in November 2008 and was pending approval from the Atlantic Beach BZA.

Had T-Mobile been successful with its application it would have built the 53-foot tall cell tower on a property owned by the water district, located on the north side of Beech Street, between Vernon Avenue and Yates Avenue, and across from Wayne Avenue. The cell tower would have consisted of steeples, poles, telecommunication and public utility structures and the permit application also included accessory uses and fences.

Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler said, "I'm very happy for the residents that the issue has been resolved and that we avoided a long and costly legal battle."

The proposed cell tower faced opposition from many in the oceanfront village with more than 100 residents flocking to a Nov. 10 meeting of the Greater Atlantic Beach Water Reclamation District as well as signing a petition against the project. Greater Atlantic Beach Water Reclamation District superintendent Alex Michaelis and Alvarez were not immediately available for comment.