Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
DRAFT <br /> <br />OC Board of Adjustment – 11/9/15 Page 60 of 156 <br /> <br />Owen Gwen: Last year. 1 <br /> 2 <br />John Price: At that time did you know anyone was proposing building a cell tower? 3 <br /> 4 <br />Owen Gwen: No, I didn’t. 5 <br /> 6 <br />John Price: Describe for the Board what that master plan consisted of, in terms of the Dove Field 7 <br />Property? 8 <br /> 9 <br />Owen Gwen: Well, we have a couple of ponds and creek so the idea was to create a wildlife 10 <br />corridor through the center and then have some sites that overlook those features. We’ve got 11 <br />creeks and streams, stuff like that. So we wanted to develop sites that fit into the topography and 12 <br />the landscape and that they were all self contained types of homes. It could be enjoyed without… 13 <br />Low density homes. 14 <br /> 15 <br />John Price: And from your view point is the Towercom cell tower consistent with the masterplan? 16 <br /> 17 <br />Owen Gwen: The cell tower, to me, is here’s a company from South Carolina wants to build a 18 <br />tower wants to build a tower and lease it with Verizon, it’s all about… Wish I had a team of 19 <br />attorneys and I could come and prepare a defense. But no, I don’t think there’s anything about it 20 <br />that should be in the rural buffer, or in the Jordan Lake watershed. 21 <br /> 22 <br />John Price: Why are opposed to the application? 23 <br /> 24 <br />Owen Gwen: Well several reasons. Obviously, the eye sore part of it. The fact that why is it 195-25 <br />feet, well because if any higher it has to have a light on it because of aviation systems, and if it 26 <br />had a light it would then not kill the birds but without a light it does kill birds, not as bad as a guide 27 <br />tower would but there are reasons behind why this is done. This is optimized based on what the 28 <br />RDU requirements are. It has nothing to do with the fact that it’s in Clearwater Lake, in the rural 29 <br />buffer. To me it’s just throw it down and go over to the next tower. These guys build them all over 30 <br />the country. 31 <br /> 32 <br />John Price: Have you ever engaged in services of an appraiser to appraise your property? Both 33 <br />without the proposed tower and in the event the tower is built? 34 <br /> 35 <br />Owen Gwen: I did. 36 <br /> 37 <br />John Price: Who was that? 38 <br /> 39 <br />Owen Gwen: Mike Ogburn. 40 <br />62