Bay Village, Avon Lake Will Review Placing Cell Tower in Walker Road Park

The city of Bay Village will meet with representatives of Avon Lake to discuss the option of placing an AT&T cell tower in , which is jointly owned by both cities, but sits entirely in Avon Lake. The eastern border of the park abuts Bay Village.

Council president Greg Zilka said he received a phone call from Bay Village councilman David Tadych several weeks ago about the issue and learned the interested carrier was AT & T. Other council members learned about the tower after receiving an email on April 11 from Bay Village Clerk of Council Joan T. Kemper and minutes from Bay Village’s April 4 meeting discussing the issue.

At that meeting Bay Village Mayor Debbie Sutherland told council the city has been approached about the possibility of putting a cell tower in Walker Road Park.  The proposed location is ns close to park’s pavilion. Sutherland approached the three member of her city’s Walker Road Park Ad Hoc Committee to arrange a meeting on April 20.

Avon Lake’s ad hoc representatives are councilmen Larry Meiners, Marty O'Donnell and Tim Rush. They will meet with the Bay Village representatives on April 20 at Bay Village City Hall to discuss the issue.

“The discussions are preliminary,” Rush said on April 11. “Bay has concerns of their own.”

Councilman David Kos wants the ad-hoc committee members to make a presentation to Avon Lake's Public Utlities Committee regarding the subject matter. 

"This issue has the potential to be very controversial," Kos said.

According to the minutes, Sutherland said the motivation behind the installation of the cell tower at the Walker Road Park is an effort to fill the transmission dead zone on Lake Road serving the west end of Bay Village and the east end of Avon Lake.

A history of opposition

Cell tower placement in Avon Lake, especially in city parkland, has been a hot button issue in the past.

Former Avon Lake Mayor Rob Berner wanted to put a Verizon tower in Bleser Park in 2002. The tower was approved but went to referendum after current Mayor K.C. Zuber, who was a councilman at the time, helped initiate a petition drive opposing having a tower in a city-owned park. The item went to referendum with residents voting down the tower.  

In 1999, residents balked at having a tower placed on the high school property with the board of education scrapping plans.

In 2010, residents of the Westwinds subdivision and Meadow Vistas waged war after a 150-foot Clearwire wireless monopole was approved by the city’s planning commission. Residents cited a number of causes, including health reasons, why the tower should not be permitted in Learwood Plaza, in close proximity to both areas. In October, council denied placement. 

Avon Lake’s ordinances do not support wireless telecommunications facilities in parks.

Ordinance 1256.03 “encourages the placement of wireless telecommunications facilities and towers in nonresidential areas, in the following order of preference: (1) City-owned property, except parks.”

The tower would need approval by Avon Lake Planning Commission prior to being erected.