Man Calls Cell Company On Tower Site Company, County Wonder Why Landowner Waited Years To Protest

A Post Falls man is suing Kootenai County for allowing a communications tower to be installed near his property without notifying him.

John Mack, 725 N. Highway 41, said in a lawsuit filed in First District Court this week that he owns property on Blossom Mountain within 300 feet of North American Cellular’s tower and was never notified of the plans to put it up.

State law requires all property owners within 300 feet of certain proposed projects be notified at least 15 days before public hearings so that they may have an opportunity to comment.

Mack is asking that the permit be invalidated and that his attorneys’ fees of $2,500 be paid.

The county’s attorney, Dennis Molenaar, questions why Mack waited so long to object. North American Cellular applied for the permit in 1994 and has had the tower there for several years.

“If he didn’t know about it, when he saw the tower being built, that’s when he should have taken the action,” Molenaar said.

Ed Wroe, an attorney for North American Cellular, agreed.

“He’s known about this facility for some time,” Wroe said. “One of our defenses will be the untimely nature of the complaint.”

Wroe said the cellular phone company also will try to verify whether Mack was entitled to notice, based on how far his property is from the tower.

Mack’s attorney, Michael Reagan, said his client purchased the property in 1992 and does not live there. He did not visit the property frequently and was not aware of the proliferation of towers, Reagan said. At least five companies have communications towers on Blossom Mountain, county planning officials said.

The communications towers can only be accessed by a private road that begins where Signal Point Road, south of Post Falls, ends. Reagan said his client wants the companies who use the road to negotiate an easement with him across the portion of the road that is within his property. The private land on Blossom Mountain is divided among several owners.

Reagan said his client is looking into filing similar complaints against other companies with towers atop Blossom Mountain. “There may be additional actions in the future.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: SITE The private land on Blossom Mountain is divided among several owners.