Wednesday, February 2, 2000

Story last updated at 4:14 p.m. on Monday, January 31, 2000
Sprint antenna will be moved soon, firm says


By Dan Scanlan
Staff writer

When the Jacksonville Planning Commission approved a plan in late May to allow Sprint PCS to move a controversial antenna off a power pole near Marbon Road and onto one on St. Augustine Road, everyone was happy.

Neighbors who didn't want the Sprint PCS antenna 35 feet behind their homes were glad it would be moved, while another mobile telephone provider, Powertel, was pleased to co-locate atop Sprint's site.

But seven months after the vote, reached after a year's worth of protests from residents who lived under it, the triangular antenna still perches atop a JEA power pole.

Meanwhile, Powertel spokesman Joe Patterson said his company's antenna has been atop the 140-foot-tall JEA power pole at 12241 St. Augustine Road for two weeks.

"The new location for the tower is in place, and it's a joint site for us, Sprint and BellSouth Mobility," he said. "There are three carriers on that site."

But Sprint spokesman Nancy Philips said Sprint had to wait for Powertel to locate atop the JEA pole on St. Augustine Road, and that Sprint's equipment will soon follow.

"We can't do it at the same time. They were going first, and we are in the process of doing pre-construction," she said. "As soon as we can, we are moving to put the equipment up there."

All this makes Mandarin residents Jeffrey and Nancy Smith a bit happier. They have been waiting to see the antenna that towers over their Catrakee Drive neighborhood go since neighbors began protesting it in June 1998. That is when Sprint PCS replaced an 80-foot-tall JEA power pole off Marbon Road with a 97-foot pole, then put its cellular/digital telephone antenna atop it.

"We are extremely excited about the fact that it is finally going to come down," said Nancy Smith. "We will have a neighborhood party when it does."

Jeffrey Smith contended the replacement pole and antenna violated the city's 1996 tower ordinance because it was closer than 250 feet to homes. City zoning officials said it didn't because it was a modification of an existing power pole. Still, city attorneys began negotiations to find another site.

At the same time, Powertel received opposition to plans to build a 130-foot antenna tower behind the Day Star Christian Church at 12700 St. Augustine Road, so it began looking for another site.

When Sprint PCS found property at 12241 St. Augustine Road, both companies realized one tower in the area could serve them both, and the marriage was proposed, ending with planning commission approval.

Now JEA is waiting for Sprint to remove its antenna in a few weeks, and plans to return that power pole to its regular height.

"Once that happens, the original pole will be installed, and the 97-foot-tall pole will be removed," said JEA spokesman Bruce Dugan. "We want to get it done as soon as we can."