Council shoots par on cell tower mess

The Little White Chapel turned into a huge political mess for the City Council this week after neighbors crowded City Hall to demand a planned T-Mobile wireless facility atop the chapel not be built.

The City Council acquiesced, essentially pledging to block the project. In making their decision, City Council members cited several reasons, including the fact that the new steeple-like structure would make the church too tall to be compatible with the neighborhood.

The prickly issue for the City Council is that the project conformed with recent laws that were adopted to allow such equipment on certain structures.

It was the first such project to come back on appeal after the council voted 3 to 2 in September to approve an ordinance permitting wireless telecommunications facilities in single-family neighborhoods.

Now, some are calling for the ordinance to come back for review.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile stands to lose out greater wireless coverage, the chapel on the rental income, and the City Council must revisit an ordinance that clearly failed to take certain factors into account.

And the finger-pointing has already begun. It’s par for the course.