ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A cell tower permit denied by the planning and zoning agency could still be built next to a private cemetery in a St. Johns County neighborhood after an appeal.
Residents near Wildwood Drive were worried the tower would be an eyesore and lower their home values.
“We recently bought this house like three years ago. If we’d known they were going to, we never even would have considered this, buying this house,” Scott Ammons, a resident, said.
Mary Lou Storen, who lived nearby, felt the same.
“I don’t think it’s right,” she said. “My phone works good.”
An orange sign near the site showed the public notice of the proposed 150-foot cell phone tower on land that also includes Hughes Cemetery.
Ammons added, “The property value would go down; that neighborhood property value will go down. The neighborhood around the other side would go down. I don’t understand why they would even consider it.”
The permit for the project was unanimously denied 6-0 by the planning and zoning agency in July.
County records showed 23 letters of opposition and only one letter in support of the proposed tower.
A similar tower was already being built near Wildwood Drive near Freedom Church, close to the same neighborhood, according to county records.
St. Johns County has about 160 cell towers, according to a county map obtained by News4JAX.
The appeal for the new tower will be discussed Tuesday at the county commission meeting.
According to county records, the planning and zoning agency said the project was not compatible with surrounding residential uses.
The applicant’s attorney argued that the denial decision was incorrect and unsupported.
News4JAX’s attempts to reach the applicant for comment were unsuccessful.
View the Communication Towers map below: