Neighborhood, railroad find compromise for communications tower

Good towers make good neighbors, the Palm Beach, Fla., Post reports. Neighborhood opposition was sparked when Florida East Coast Railway said it planned a 200-foot-tall communications tower - twice as high as the Jupiter Lighthouse - just west of the tracks off the Loxahatchee River.

But a deal is being
worked out by Tequesta, FEC and Jupiter officials to install the equipment to a
shorter, existing tower in an industrial area in Tequesta. If the agreement is
approved, it would be the first time the FEC will use a communication tower
that it does not own, said FEC attorney Bob Cook.

"We want to get
along with residents. We understand the opposition to the proposed
location," Cook said.

The proposal calls for a
single-pole tower, surrounded by a chain-link fence with barbed wire on top.
The tower is needed to upgrade railroad communications and improve railroad
safety, said Richard Newton, president of Atlanta-based Signal Port LLC, the
company proposing the tower.

Jupiter residents and
officials are in a tight spot because a federal law passed in 1995 exempts
railroads from state and local zoning laws on the 50 feet of property on each
side of the tracks. The 1995 Federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination
Act prevents "a patchwork of local regulations" from interfering with
railroad operations, said Newton.

The FEC is not required
to comply with Jupiter’s 50-foot communication tower height requirement. Nor
must the FEC obtain approval from the Jupiter Town Commission to build the
tower, said Town Attorney Tom Baird.

Tequesta Councilman Tom
Paterno proposed locating the FEC equipment inside a 130-foot-tall tower owned
by the Village east of the water treatment plant on Old Dixie Highway, just
south of the Martin County line. An American flag waves on top of the white
tower, which looks like a flagpole.

The village is paid about
$120,000 annually from three private cell phone companies that lease tower
space. Called co-locating, companies use existing communication towers rather
than build their own, said Village Manager Mike Couzzo.

FEC will not pay Tequesta
to locate its communications equipment in the tower. And the company wants a
long-term lease, Cook said.

"We already own land
along the tracks. We can drive a good bargain," Cook said.