By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph City Council voted 8-0 in opposition of a conditional use permit that would have allowed the construction of a 175-foot cell tower by AT&T in an east St. Joseph neighborhood.
Earlier this year, AT&T applied for a conditional use permit to build a new tower at 3802 Karnes Road - just behind a row of houses on Morton Lane.
Jayne Katakis, a resident of that neighborhood, was one of 14 people who spoke out against the tower at the last council meeting on June 28. For her and her neighbors, this vote was a victory.
"We all came together," Katakis said. "We got on a group, we signed a petition. We did everything we could possibly think of to stop this. It's not something we want in our backyards. We're a neighborhood, and not a commercial place where we want to see that building standing right there in our backyards daily."
At the previous council meeting, St. Joseph mayor Bill McMurray motioned that the city's legal staff draft findings of fact which had to prove several things - that the tower would be concealed and minimally visible, that the tower is not visually compatible with the area and will negatively impact property value and that use of the tower would impact regular permitted uses of residential districts.
"They had to say whether or not in these four areas, if AT&T met the burden," McMurray said. "And the legal department said no they didn't. That official legal document was attached to the ordinance tonight. The conditional use permit ordinance, which was then voted down."
The conditional use permit was originally requested by Glen Klocke on behalf of Network Real Estate, LLC. Klocke has since requested a preliminary plat for property located at 3802 Karnes Road - the same location that Klocke requested the conditional use permit for.
Some council members expressed concern that if Klocke's preliminary plat is approved, AT&T may come back at some point in the future and try to build a tower in the exact same spot.
Councilmember Madison Davis motioned to postpone voting on this preliminary plat approval for two weeks, so council can go back and see if a conditional use permit application would go through the city's zoning board of adjustment at any time.
The motion to postpone voting on the preliminary plat approval passed 9-0.
Councilmember Kent O'Dell says Klocke has every right to apply for this plat and do whatever he wants with the land if his application is approved.
O'Dell says if Klocke applied for a conditional use permit for construction of a cell tower again in the future, he'd have to go through the same lengthy process again. And council would have to vote on the matter again.
"If they want to come back and apply for towers, they'll go through zoning and planning again," O'Dell says, "and we'll go through this whole song and dance again."
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