McLean County Times

At the Nov. 15 Crystal Lake City Council meeting, the council discussed a proposed cell phone tower.

Katie Rivard, assistant city planner, gave a brief overview of a request for a special-use permit regarding a wireless tower at 269 Liberty Road. She told the council that this particular cell tower would be camouflaged to appear as a tree. The 110-foot pole would also hide the antennas at the top as a part of this camouflage. 

“What is unique about this facility, compared to other cell towers in the city, is this will be camouflaged to simulate a tree,” Rivard said. “The antennas will be hidden within that camoflaging materials.”

Rivard told council an exemption would be needed to install the tower.

“They do need that variation, but it is going along with the intent of the ordinance of camouflaging the antenna equipment themselves," Rivard said. "The second item of the special use criteria that they need the variation from is the setback requirement. So our ordinance requires that the cell towers have a setback that is equal to 110% of the height of the tower from all property lines. Due to the nature of this lot, they are asking for that variation. And this is what the Planning and Zoning Commission pointed to as why they could not support the request.”

The petitioner, Zeke Katx, a lawyer representing the business building the cell tower, along with the property owner, came to the meeting to talk about their request. They spoke to the board about how the proposed site of the tower was the least intrusive place for the tower that will still allow for good usage by the carrier (T-Mobile). He also talked about the lack of alternate locations and the proven need for improved signal by nearby business and residences.

Several residents also came out to the board meeting to voice their opposition to the tower. They cited concerns about the lot size and the Planning Commission’s 4-0 vote against it. 

Ultimately the board decided to send the discussion with a few revisions back to the Planning and Zoning commission for its revised opinion before taking a vote on the matter.

The council will meet again at 7 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the City Hall on 100 West Woodstock St. in Crystal Lake.