LUMBERTON — City Councilman John Cantey blasted on Tuesday the vote Monday by his fellow council members that cleared the way for the construction of a cell tower in his precinct as an exercise in denying the wishes of the people he represents.
But none of those people stepped forward to speak in opposition of the tower. Even Cantey, the Precinct 5 representative, wasn’t present when the final approval vote of 4-0 was cast. Also absent were Councilmen Chris Howard, Precinct 6, and John Robinson, Precinct 2, who during a Jan. 14 Council meeting also opposed the conditional-use permit request needed for the tower’s construction.
Mayor Bruce Davis was forced to act Monday as a voting council member so a quorum was present and the city’s business could be conducted.
“I called in early in the day and told them where I was,” Cantey said.
Cantey said he was visiting college campuses with his son. Robinson was in the hospital. The Robesonian spoke with Howard, but he did not explain his absence.
Cantey said in January he wanted to speak to the residents who live near where the 155-foot-tall tower will now be built off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in southwest Lumberton to learn how they felt about it.
“Yeah I did, and they said they didn’t want it,” Cantey said.
At least not on the property on which it is to be built, he said. They wanted it to be placed farther down Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
But, his fellow council members did not speak with the residents to hear their concerns and voted to override their wishes, which he conveyed to them, Cantey said.
“That’s what the council wanted,” Cantey said.
It would not have made any difference if he had been at Monday’s meeting, Cantey said.
“The people who I have spoken to already know what happened at the last meeting and knew what was going to happen last night,” Cantey said Tuesday.
The residents didn’t come forward because they are more worried about recovering from hurricanes Matthew and Florence, Howard said.
“People are trying to get into their homes,” he said.
He’s sure Cantey spoke to the residents, Howard said, but said he did not do so.
It is an unspoken rule among council members that members do not interfere in another member’s precinct, he said. They try to support what is wanted by a council member and the people he or she represents.
The council members should not ram what they want down the throats of the people, Howard said. He said they need to speak to the people, even if that means going door to door.
“It’s up to the people to make decisions about what happens in their communities,” Howard said.
The residents had two chances to speak in opposition to the tower, Councilman Leroy Rising said. They could have spoken during the Planning Board’s zoning hearing on Jan. 22 or spoken during Monday’s public hearing.
“I did check with someone at the Planning Board and there was no opposition at the Planning Board and no opposition at the public hearing,” Rising said.
Rising denies the council members’ tower votes were exercises in denying the residents’ wishes or ignoring their voices.
“Not at all,” Rising said. “We have a Planning Board in place, and they represent everyone in the city.”
The Planning Board has a representative from each council precinct and a representative of the city’s Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction areas, where the tower will be located. An Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction is land outside the city limits, and in the tower’s case next to Cantey’s precinct, but over which the city has land-use authority.
The Planning Board’s vote on the conditional-use permit request was unanimous, Rising said. And the council members voted in accordance with the board members’ judgment.
People living near the tower site were notified of both hearings, he said. The Planning Board’s zoning hearing was advertised by a highly visible sign at the side of N.C. 41 for weeks before the hearing. On. Jan. 23, the Planning Board sent letters to all residents living within 150 feet of the tower site to inform them of Monday’s public hearing.
Rising said the tower is needed.
The tower will improve connectivity for businesses in the area and those that move into it, he said. The tower also will improve residents’ ability to communicate with the government and first responders in times of emergency.
“It’s a good thing that we do everything we can to promote economic development,” Rising said.
