We are providing an update to the Tuesday night Town Council Public Hearing on the proposed new communication tower on the top of Green Hill adjacent to the water tower. The following comments were developed by the BRCA Executive Committee and presented by Vice Chair Janie Sellers. You can also watch the video which highlights the actions of Town Council.
Public Hearing July 23. 2024:
BLOWING ROCK CIVIC ASSOCIATION comments for TC public hearing on 7-23-2024
Good Evening, Mayor Sellers, Council, Mr. Fox, Mr. Deal and Ms. Hubner
My name is Janie Sellers. I think you all know by now that the Mayor and I are not related.
My address is 412 Wonderland Drive, Blowing Rock.
I am the Vice Chair of the Blowing Rock Civic Association and am here tonight to offer some comments on behalf of our executive committee on the Green Hill rezoning proposal.
BRCA has been interested in the proposal for the communication tower on Green Hill ever since the 2023 winter retreat. BRCA’s mission includes protecting neighborhoods and we knew that this development would raise issues for the neighborhood.
Having said that, even after all this time, we have not seen enough specific information about the Town’s communication needs and the options for meeting them to develop a position. What we can advocate for is a more interactive and transparent discussion and decision process.
When the Planning Board considered the proposed rezoning, significant concerns about safety and other negative impacts of the new tower were expressed by Green Hill neighborhood residents. I’m sure you will hear more from them tonight and we urge you to respect their concerns. As a result of what they heard, the Planning Board added as an additional condition that the Town conduct a study to explore the viability of and potential alternatives to the current proposal for locating town communications equipment.
Because we believe that data-driven decisions are good governance, BRCA supports the approach taken by the Planning Board and encourages the Council to adopt it, along with any other modifications to the rezoning conditions that the Council determines are appropriate after completing tonight’s public hearing.
We also encourage you to delay taking action on the current proposal to give the Town staff time to provide you with further information about what such a study would involve, and to allow for discussions with Green Hill neighborhood residents about conditions that would mitigate the possible adverse effects of a new tower should the study indicate that Green Hill is the most viable location for the tower.
Thank you for your attention.
On behalf of all of us at BRCA we sincerely appreciate your financial support and your ongoing engagement. Thank you for following us. We also want to welcome our new members; we welcome you to BRCA.