A new 150-foot-tall cellphone tower proposed in Bargersville has raised concerns with residents, who worry about the appearance of the tower in a key entrance into the town.
And town officials have put the project on hold while they seek more information, including whether a tower is needed in that location.
Illinois-based Central States Tower is requesting to rezone about an eighth-of-an-acre of land on soccer fields at the southeast corner of the intersection of Whiteland and Morgantown roads to allow for the construction of a cell tower. The property is owned by South Central Soccer Academy, which merged with Center Grove Soccer Club about 10 years ago, and is used for youth and adult soccer leagues.
Town officials have questioned whether this is the most appropriate location for a cell tower because of the prominent location and have requested additional information from the developer, including cell service coverage maps, before making a decision. Residents say they need better cellphone service but also raised concerns about the aesthetics of a cell tower at this site and whether it would pose any health risks to people nearby.
Edward Robinson, who lives about a quarter-mile south of where the cell tower is being proposed, believes the tower will mar the look of the beautiful, well-kept roundabout that serves as an entrance into the town.
“We are building up our area, and it’s looking very nice,” Robinson said. “Those are not tasteful-looking structures. I think it will give our whole area an ugly look.”
While Robinson questions putting a cell tower at that intersection, he doesn’t question the need for better cellular service in the area. At his home he will sometimes miss calls on his cellphone or lose signal in the middle of a conversation. The cell tower south of County Road 144 is an example of a good location, because the tower is far enough off the road that it isn’t noticeable unless you are specifically looking for it, he said.
Robinson would prefer any new cell towers be placed far off any major roads, possibly in farm fields, he said.
The soccer academy, which owns about 44 acres of land southeast of the roundabout at Whiteland and Morgantown roads, was approached by Central States Tower with a request to lease a small section at the intersection, said David Sutton, the president of the soccer academy.
They had no objection to the request, given that Vectren, a gas company, already owns a small property in the corner of the intersection with a fenced in utility area. The cell tower, which would be built on a less than a quarter-acre-sized area and be fenced in, won’t interfere with soccer games, Sutton said. Sutton, who lives on the outskirts of Bargersville, said the area where the cell tower is proposed is one where he and others have had poor cell service.
At a Bargersville Plan Commission meeting in December, three residents raised concerns about the project, citing issues with the appearance of the tower at the high-profile location and worries about potential health issues for people who live near the tower due to the signals it would emit. At another plan commission meeting earlier this week, the decision on whether to rezone the property was put on hold, as the town is still waiting for additional information from Central States Tower, planning director Julie Young said.
Representatives of the company told town officials at that meeting that the cell tower would have room for up to four different service providers to use but would not be tall enough to require the tower to be lighted. Cell towers in Johnson County range from 40 feet tall to more than 300 feet tall, according to Federal Communication Commission data.
Once the plan commission makes its recommendation, the decision on whether to rezone the property will be up to the Bargersville Town Council.
Johnson County has 48 cellular towers, according FCC data, but only two of those towers are in Bargersville. In 2009, a 78-foot-tall cell tower was built in Bargersville, just south of the Bluff Creek Golf Course. The closest tower to the proposed site near the roundabout is 1.5 miles away on the south side of County Road 144, east of Smokey Row Road. That 78-foot tower was built in 1995.
As the need for cellular service in Johnson County has grown in recent years, another form of cell tower — one that is much smaller and less visually obtrusive — has begun to be used in Johnson County. More than 20 small cell towers, which are less than 50 feet tall and are used to boost the signal of nearby, traditional cell towers, have been added in Greenwood and the Center Grove area.
