Our View: There must be another way

There should not be a cell tower behind Longboat Island Chapel.

We have seen the issue from a new perspective — from the first-floor and penthouse condominiums of the Grand Mariner on Dream Island Road. And this perspective would change your mind.

On the eve of Longboat Key resident Jim Eatrides presenting his application for the cell tower to residents and Longboat Island Chapel congregants at a 12:30 p.m. meeting Sunday at Longboat Island Chapel and to the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board on Tuesday, Oct. 18, it will appear unfair to Eatrides, his Alpha-Omega Communications Inc. and the cell-tower proponents to be arguing against the tower’s placement without giving their side equal time before the hearings.

But they will have ample time to state their case. No matter what the planning and zoning board says, or what we say, ultimately the Town Commission will decide whether a 150-foot cell tower is appropriate for the chapel’s property.

Our new perspective — opposing the tower at the chapel — may appear contrary to our oft-stated principle of opposing ordinances and laws that encroach on the use of one’s private property and ordinances that benefit the few at the expense of the many. In this case, the few are the chapel’s neighbors, and the many are cell-phone users.

But we also subscribe to the principle that Longboat Key Town Attorney David Persson has maintained for the 20-plus years he has advised the town fathers: That is, the use of private property should be left to the owner of that property so long as it does not inflict harm on his neighbor.

“Harm” is the key word.

The definition of “harm” lends itself to all kinds of fuzzy interpretations. But in this instance, there is little fuzziness to the harm a cell tower would do to its neighbors. Indeed, we would urge everyone to go to the Grand Mariner and stand on the balconies of these units. Our bet: If you are a proponent of a cell-tower at Longboat Island Chapel, you will change your mind.

Make no mistake, cellular phone service on all of Longboat Key is substandard. And heretofore, when experts have studied available options that make economic sense, a cell tower typically emerged as the most viable. But as it is with so many things in life, it’s not a perfect solution. It’s a choice, and every choice comes with trade-offs.

As Eatrides will tell residents and the planning board, the benefits of a cell tower are widespread — improved wireless communications for residents, businesses, the Key’s day workers and vacationers; improved emergency 911 reporting; improved and backed-up communications during disasters; improved connections for all cell-service providers and their customers; cost effective; no taxpayer subsidies; and a reliable, financial stipend for the Longboat Island Chapel.

But when you stand on the Grand Mariner balconies and think about what Longboat Key is and wants to be, a 150-foot cell tower doesn’t fit — anywhere.

It reminds us of the time the Longboat Observer published in its April Fools’ edition a rendering of a McDonald’s restaurant that allegedly was scheduled to open on the north end of the Key. Residents went apoplectic: A fast-food chain on Longboat Key?

It comes down to this: What is important to the community at large. Fast-food chains and cell towers don’t fit, regardless of their benefits. Besides, there is a growing desire among many residents and some town commissioners to do what they have been advocating for years: conduct a fresh, independent study on alternatives.

Even though Eatrides and this newspaper have reported the flaws of other cellular technologies over the past three years, technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Indeed, many residents have believed from the start of this issue that if the town waits long enough, technology will make cell towers obsolete.

That day may be closer than we think. Do a Google search for “Alcatel-Lucent light radio.” You’ll find numerous reports in the telecommunications industry predicting that light radio will eliminate cell towers.

To wit from the Feb. 7 edition of Global Telecoms Business:

“The vendor is even hinting that its rethink of mobile architecture could diminish the dominant role the base station has had for the past 15 years. Antennae will be shrunk into small, multi-standard units that can be installed wherever there is broadband and power, with the control moved into cloud-based systems. ‘It is the death of the base station,’ said Wim Sweldens, president of the wireless division of Alcatel-Lucent.

Everyone wants better wireless, mobile phone service on Longboat Key. But likewise, Longboat Key property owners also expect that every structure should work to preserve and blend in with the island’s uniqueness, its subtropical aesthetics and the “casual beach elegance” of a luxury residential-resort community.

When you’re thinking of sitting on your porch or balcony, enjoying the smells and sounds of the island’s nature, you don’t want to be looking at a 150-foot pole rising out of the palm trees. That’s not Longboat Key.

There must be another option.

Open Houseat Grand Mariner
Longboat Key Realtor Reid Murphy will hold an open house from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Grand Mariner to let residents envision a cell tower at the chapel.