BY ANDY TAYLOR

CANEY — For the second time in as many weeks, Caney city councilors nixed a proposal by a Bartlesville business owner to erect a cellular telephone tower southwest of the intersection of Sixth and McGee streets.

The council’s latest rejection of the proposal by Kevin Potter, owner of several Bartlesville radio stations, came Monday at a special meeting of the council.

At its April 20 meeting, city councilors voted 7-0 to deny the recommendation from the Caney Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone the property near Sixth and McGee streets from B-1 (business) to A-1 (agricultural) that was needed to accommodate the proposed 199-foot cellular telephone tower. City ordinance require cellular transmission towers to be zoned in an A-1 setting. The council also nixed a proposed Conditional Use Permit that Potter would have needed to erect that tower in that location.

As part of its decision to reject the planning and zoning commission’s recommendations, councilors on April 20 asked the planning and zoning commission to revisit Potter’s proposal. The Caney Planning and Zoning Commission met April 29 and voted 5-2 to recommend a rezoning change and to offer a Conditional Use Permit to Potter.

At Monday’s special meeting, councilor Jason Moore listed several reasons why the council against the planning and zoning commission’s recommendations. Moore said he did not favor the idea of a parcel of property receiving an A-1 (agricultural) zone within the city limits. And, he said he was concerned about the potential loss of tax revenue to the neighborhood, especially to a housing subdivision that is scheduled to be built across the street (southeast of the Sixth and McGee intersection) starting next year. The City of Caney is investing $800,000 in grant money to buy that property to start the subdivision, and having a 199-foot cellular telephone tower in the neighborhood might be a turnoff to prospective home buyers, Moore said.

Moore also said the area in question sits in a flood zone. He said he feared that the stability of the land — because of its flood zone condition — might jeopardize the structural integrity of the tower in the event of a flood.

Councilor Joe Taylor said that he had to “halfway apologize” to the planning and zoning commission for voting against the commission’s recommendation but that he had to carry the sentiments of local residents, some of whom were against the prospects of a cellular telephone tower within the city limits.

“I hate to go against them,” he said of the council’s decision that contradicted the planning and zoning commission’s recommendation.

Also voting against the measure were councilors Erin Munday, Chad Bradford, Roger Hawthorne and Dan Johnston. Councilors Penny Coy and Kelly McIntosh were absent from Monday’s special meeting.

Prior to the council’s vote, the councilors were given input from the planning and zoning commission members as to their opinions on the cellular telephone tower proposal. Planning and zoning member Willis Wilkerson said he opposed the proposal because of the residents in the Sixth and McGee street neighborhood who protested it. Some 18 residents in that neighborhood signed a petition calling for the council to reject the tower proposal, he said.

However, planning and zoning commission member Angela Keath had a different take. As a business owner, she said she suffered from poor cellular telephone reception, which ultimately impacts the bottom line of her floral and gift business. While she said she understood the concerns of the neighbors in that Sixth and McGee street neighborhood, she said there should be “a price paid for technological advancement.”

“Caney has to stay up with the times or else there won’t be anything to keep people in Caney,” she said. “I would much rather look at a cell phone tower than the decrepit building that sits there now.”

The building she was referring to is the former Hot Tub Club building, which has been vacant for several years. Potter had indicated that if he purchased the site for the cell phone tower, the Hot Tub Club building would be part of the same property. He said he had plans to clean up the vacant building and offer it for rent or lease to a local business, thereby adding tax dollars to the local community.

Gene Vaughan, planning and zoning commission chairman, said he was in favor of the proposal as it would enhance the technological offerings in Caney.

“As a committee, we are planning for the future,” he said. “We’re trying to get a foothold in technological advances so that Caney can get in with the times.”

Potter had certified appraiser George Johnson of Bartlesville, Okla., reassure councilors that the cellular telephone tower would not lower property values in the neighborhood. Johnson cited several market studies that showed neighborhoods typically did not suffer from lower values when cellular transmission towers were built within those neighborhoods.

“The conclusions of the studies is that cell phone towers had no effect on valuations of a subdivision,” said Johnson. “This proposal would probably, in my opinion, have no adverse impact on the neighborhood. in fact, it might be an improvement.”

Potter’s attorney, Dave King of Bartlesville, said the concerns about declining tax revenue as a result of the rezoning status was  “negligible.”

“We’re talking about a property that is only one-fourth of one acre,” he said. “The change in the tax base would be negligble in the amount of taxes you would receive. In fact, Mr. Potter has said he would take the vacated commercial property, clean it up and establish a business there, which maybe will increase your sales tax base in Caney.

Potter also said the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 has minimum standards on local zoning decisions regarding cellular telephone tower placement. The federal law tries to act as a balance between the demands of the cellular telephone industry and local zoning ordinances.

However, the law also allows the prospective cellular telephone tower owners to take further legal action if proposals are rejected by local city councils, he said.

Under Potter’s proposal, a cellular communications provider would provide cellular service as well as high-speed, wireless internet service to the community. The unnamed provider would also, as an inccntive, provide USD 436 with free wireless internet service to school campuses.