Huber Heights City Council rejects T-Mobile cell tower proposal

UPDATE @ 6 p.m. (Sept. 1): Huber Heights City Council has rejected the T-Mobile cell tower proposal.

The vote occurred during a special session called vote on a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a settlement agreement and consent order in T-Mobile’s lawsuit against the city.

We will update this developing report as we continue to dig for more details.

UPDATE @ 11:05 p.m. (Aug. 22):

Huber Heights City Manager Rob Schommer said he wants to set up talks between the two sides at odds about the plan for the placement of a T-Mobile cell phone tower.

>>RELATED: Debate over cell tower proposal causing frustration

Schommer, at a city council work session tonight, said Pastor Chuck Zimmerman was told he could build the tower wherever he wants on the church property because it’s all zoned the same.

That assessment runs counter to what Zimmerman told News Center 7’s Caroline Reinwald tonight, that the city wouldn’t let him pick another location for the tower.

Leslie Liebig has said the tower as planned infringes on her family’s property and will create a hazardous situation.

The city manager said he wants to get the sides together to try and work things out.

UPDATE @ 8:05 p.m. (Aug. 22)

Pastor Chuck Zimmerman, Huber Heights Baptist Temple, said the tower will help the neighbors and will bring the community better reception.

Tuesday, he told News Center 7's Caroline Reinwald he had wanted to move the cell phone tower elsewhere on the church's property, but "the city wouldn't let us."

Zimmerman also noted that he has never seen the Liebigs on the part of their property near where the tower would be erected.

Leslie Liebig has said her family will lose the use of a section of their property if the tower is built.

Zimmerman said the decision is out of his hands.

EARLIER REPORT (Aug. 18)

A group of Huber Heights residents are fighting a church’s plan to lease land for a cellphone tower.

The city’s planning commission rejected the proposal for the 179-foot tower in back of the Huber Heights Baptist Temple, 7730 Taylorsville Road, in July 2016. However, T-Mobile has since filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Dayton.

“We don’t feel that it’s right that another property owner can infringe upon our property, especially in such a hazardous way,” said Leslie Liebig.

RELATED: T-Mobile sues Huber Heights over cell tower denial

If the cellphone tower is built, Carl and Leslie Liebig said the fall zone covers 40 percent of their land, which means they would not be able to build anything in that section.

“We want our children to be able to go run around out there and have fun, and not have to worry about things falling off the tower or the tower falling onto our land,” Carl Liebig said.

The Liebigs and other neighbors also said they fear property values and aesthetics will suffer.

RELATED: Who is behind all the robocalls to your phone?

T-Mobile, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, plans to have the tower built by Eco-Site. They said denial by the city’s planning commission, without providing reasons as required by law, prohibits the carrier from providing service nearby.

“Specifically, the existing service gap includes large residential areas, commercial areas, churches, a fire station, and more than a mile of Interstate 70,” T-Mobile’s lawyers stated in the lawsuit.

RELATED: Calling 911 from a cellphone not always accurate

Pastor Chuck Zimmerman of Huber Heights Baptist Temple did not comment and referred calls to T-Mobile, which did not respond. Huber Heights officials also did not comment, citing pending litigation.

The Liebigs said they asked the church to move the tower by 150 feet so the fall zone wouldn’t take up so much of their property, but they said their request was declined. Now they hope the church’s congregation, which authorized the cellphone tower deal, will have a change of heart.

Editor’s note: A prior version of this story gave the incorrect date the Huber Heights planning commission voted on the tower. The vote was in July 2016.

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