Opposing Viewpoints Cocolalla Residents Fight Placement Of Cell Phone Tower

Peter Mulbarger turned down a few hundred dollars a month to let Western Wireless place a cell phone tower on his property.

He didn’t want a 180-foot tower in his back yard, nor did he want the view of it foisted on his neighbors at the north end of Cocolalla Lake.

So he wasn’t too happy when neighboring property owner, Idaho Forest Industries, allowed the cell phone company to lease land adjacent to his.

“I’m opposed to driving down Cocolalla Loop Road and seeing it there every day,” Mulbarger said. “It’s an eyesore.”

So he and other neighbors have rallied to fight the proposal.

Today, Bonner County commissioners will hear their plea to reverse the Planning and Zoning Commission’s approval of the tower.

Along with letters in opposition, the neighbors delivered a petition with 39 signatures to the county opposing the tower.

Leslie Kantola took it upon herself to gather the signatures. She’ll be looking from her patio at the tower, rising above birch and aspen trees, if it’s built.

“I went on an all-out spree driving around to get people to sign,” she said. Her zeal to block the tower isn’t just because she cares about her view - she also worries about her property values and the health of her 11-year-old son.

One neighbor had a Realtor tell them it could be more difficult to sell their home if the cell phone tower is built.

And no one, Kantola said, has been able to assure her that cell phone towers are harmless. Scientists are in disagreement over whether the towers are harmful.

Kantola’s son, Mike, is more concerned about his favorite hiking trail. It crosses the rock where the tower will be built.

“If they put that up there, I can’t go up there,” he said.

The outspoken community opposition to the tower has Idaho Forest Industries executives regretting their decision to lease the property to Western Wireless.

“We feel badly about it,” said Jim English, IFI’s president. “I didn’t realize this was right next to Cocolalla Lake or I wouldn’t have signed.”

English said he’d be willing to approve the tower for elsewhere on the property, but no such arrangements have been made.

Tony D’Antonio, an independent consultant representing Western Wireless, said he knew of no plans to relocate the tower on IFI’s property.

The appeal hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Sandpoint Community Hall.

Western Wireless is appealing another planning commission decision on a separate cell tower proposal at 3 p.m. In that case, the company wants to place a 150-foot single pole on Joseph and Debra Hoke’s property near Careywood, but needs a setback variance to do so. The planning commission approved the tower but voted down the variance.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Today, Bonner County commissioners will hear the plea to reverse the Planning and Zoning Commission’s approval of the tower.