Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Attorneys for the county (DuPage County, Ill.) say Nextel ignored local building and storm-water codes-

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 13:20:15 -0500

DuPage County, Ill., Cell Tower Raises Legal Issue- Attorneys for the county (DuPage
County, Ill.) say Nextel ignored local building and storm-water codes-

  March 14, 2003 11:52am

  Mar. 14--A swing set, a narrow creek and a 70-foot-tall wireless phone tower are among
the features of Wood Dale's Mohawk
  Park.

  The Wood Dale Park District, which owns the 5 acres in northeastern DuPage County,
thought it would be a good idea to lease
  land near the creek to a wireless phone company and used the $1,200 in monthly rent to
buy a bus.

  But in 2000, the company cut a road to the clearing where the tower was to rise. The
installation now is the subject of a lawsuit
  by the county that could require the company, Nextel Communications Inc., to pay more
than $1 million in fines and remove the
  tower.

  Attorneys for the county say Nextel ignored local building and storm-water codes when it
built the tower and an access road.
  They filed suit in December after years of opposition by local residents, some of whom
see the tower's existence as proof of the
  inefficiency of code enforcement.

  On Monday, lawyers are expected to discuss giving Nextel more time to submit new
wetlands studies, said Michael Bersani,
  attorney for the Park District, which, as Nextel's landlord, is a co-defendant in the
suit.

  Problems began when Frank Skorski and neighbors in his subdivision heard trucks rolling
to the park in fall 2000. "We thought
  they were building a sewer, but all of a sudden a tower went up. We went ballistic,"
Skorski said.

  As in many local land-use battles, they brought crowds to Park District Board
meetings--but not until after the tower was
  standing.

  "The Park District sympathizes with your concerns and knows that an unjust mistake had
been made," wrote Mike Brottman,
  Park District executive director, in a March 2001 letter to residents.

  Skorski looked at the building permit, which depicted an access road in a different
place than where it was built. He informed
  the Park District and the county, which regulates building on the unincorporated land.

  The county revoked Nextel's building permit on April 11, 2001, because the road had been
built in a different place and the
  completed road was too close to wetlands, which are protected, according to the lawsuit.
Brottman said the road was rerouted
  at the Park District's request.

  Also in April 2001, Nextel sold the tower to SpectraSite Communications Inc. of Cary,
N.C., representatives of both companies
  said. But Nextel is named in the suit as the permit applicant.

  A year later, Nextel applied for a storm-water permit but in May, the county found it
incomplete. In another letter, county
  storm-water engineers realized that the building permit had been revoked and sought new
studies of floodplains, documents
  show.

  Without those studies, the county issued a second notice of violation in October.

  Despite the violations, the tower has continued to operate. "This is an unmanned
wireless facility," said J. Gregory Higgins,
  Midwest regional attorney for Nextel. "To the extent you say ``occupy the site,' this is
a misnomer."

  The county sued on Dec. 24, asking a judge to fine Nextel and the Park District up to
$1,500 per day and possibly require the
  removal of the tower, a nearby equipment shed and the access road. Because of the
contract with the Park District, Nextel
  would pay all penalties, Bersani said.

  "There were mistakes and miscommunications by all parties, and it serves no purpose for
one party to blame another party to
  blame another party," Higgins said. "Nextel complied with all requirements of the county
at that time [of construction]."

  The three parties have been meeting to settle the matter before trial, and Higgins does
not expect Nextel to be forced to remove
  the tower or pay the fines.

  Assistant State's Atty. Anthony Hayman, who represents the county, said, "The decision
as to what remedies are going to be
  assessed is up to the court."

  Judge Edward R. Duncan Jr. is hearing the case.

  The prospect of a fine-free settlement angers Skorski, who said it would amount to
flouting the law.

  "If you don't want to enforce it, get rid of the law," he said. "I know it looks
trivial, but it's the tip of the iceberg. This is how
  democracy goes to hell."

http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=printnews&doc_id=NR200303141180.3_348500157927069a

--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG