Cecil resident appeals approval of tower to court
A Cecil Township resident unhappy with a decision that allows a communications tower to be placed closer to his home appealed a zoning hearing board decision to Washington County Court.
Dennis Sluciak of 47 Grudevich Road, who owns 34 acres across from Interstate 79 and Southpointe Business Park in an area zoned as a general commercial district.
Crown Castle Communications, headquartered in Houston, Texas, with a Southpointe address at 2000 Corporate Drive, requested a setback to construct a new, 200-foot communications tower to replace one on an adjacent site owned by Hidden Acres East Apartment Community.
Sluciak, in documents filed Friday, noted communication facilities are permitted as a conditional use in a general commercial district, Crown Castle requested a variance from the township ordinance which provides self-supporting towers shall be placed no closer than 1,000 feet from any plan of subdivisions.
The proposed new location for the communications tower is approximately 202 feet from Sluciak’s property and about 570 feet from the nearest subdivision, mainly a parcel owned by the Southpointe Golf Club.
Ron Sabatino, landlord of the site where the tower stands in a business park planned development, asked the tower be relocated to facilitate future development of his property.
“If Crown were to position the proposed tower an additional 430 feet from Southpointe Golf Club, in compliance with the ordinance, the offending tower would not be in the direct line of sight of (Sluciak’s) property… and it would be on a higher elevation,” Sluciak said in his land use appeal.
Public hearings were convened Nov. 17 and Dec. 15, and minutes on the township’s website shows the address of the new tower as 78 Lewicki Road. The zoning hearing board voted 2-1 to allow the tower. Sluciak asked the court to reverse the decision.