Orange County ends call for Horizon West cellular tower

HORIZON WEST Since March, residents surrounding the Lake Burden planned development in Horizon West have rallied against a proposal by Crown Castle USA to build a 140-foot monopole communication tower at the northeast corner of Fire Station 35, near Sunset Park Elementary School. 

On Aug. 13, residents got their wish. The Orange County Board of County Commissioners denied an appeal Crown Castle USA made after the Board of Zoning Adjustments denied a special exception for the cell tower. 

“I’m relieved,” said Tory Parish, a resident of the Lakes of Windermere. “I totally feel like they made the right decision. … I feel like it was easy to see what was clearly right and wrong in the situation. I’m just glad that it’s behind us for now.” 

The decision follows the Orange County Board of Zoning Adjustment’s denial in May.

Now Crown Castle USA can choose to file a lawsuit, which is unlikely, county staff said. 

“We are disappointed with the ruling,” said Kelly Rogers, external affairs manager at Crown Castle “Crown Castle remains dedicated to working with Orange County to enable the necessary mobile connection that the community requires to conduct business, keep in touch and stay safe.”

Crown Castle USA designed the monopole tower to blend in with the trees nearby, creating the illusion of a pine tree. 

But the residents still thought the monopole would stand out and not fit in with the rest of the community. 

“If you’re looking at the plaza, I think the peak of the church that’s across the street is 35 feet,” said Jane Dunkelberger, a nearby resident. 

Parish took some photos and photoshopped a tower in, to see how would look around the surrounding community.

“When you do that, you can see how silly it would look, a cartoon-like 140-foot-tall pine tree next to those 40- to 60-foot pine trees,” she said. “It just looked silly.”

Many of the concerned residents were also concerned about the cell tower’s proximity to Sunset Park Elementary School and potential damaging effects the radiation from a cell tower could pose. However, because of the lack of conclusive evidence of the damaging effects of cell towers, residents could not argue against the cell tower for those reasons. Instead, they had to use arguments surrounding the aesthetics of the tower, considering its proximity to 34 homes in the area. 

Contact Jennifer Nesslar at [email protected].