Bonsack Road is approximately one mile long beginning and ending on Route 460 which also goes by the name of Challenger Avenue. The historical town of Bonsack took it's name from James Albert Bonsack (1859 - 1924) who was famous for his invention of the first cigarette rolling machine which he patented and won a $75,000 prize for his invention. It increased the production of rolled cigarettes from 6 per minute to 200 per minute. Bonsack was a student at Roanoke College when he learned of the contest. The first machine he put together was stored in a barn in Lynchburg and was destroyed by fire. His second machine was a success and in 1880 at the age of 21 he became a successful young man. Needless to say, he never went back to college. I have recently learned of the proposed cell tower at Bonsack Road. I understand that this is a commercially zoned property and therefore it is within legally zoning laws that a tower be built. However this location is nestled between residential properties on all sides. Both left and right are homes behind this property more homes and a neighborhood. In fact there are no other commercial businesses on this road. The erection of this cell tower will pose many threats to these residential properties. There is a strong possibility that our property values will most likely decline up to 20% from the moment this is built. I'm also concerned about the view shed being disturbed as the tower would be visible from all of my neighbors rooms and especially from the homes of those on the Western side of 460. There is significant data on the stability of cell towers. 195 feet of steel erected in a cell tower has before and certainly could in the future be subject to high windstorms or simple failure of stability and fall to the ground in whole or pieces. Several summers ago our community suffered through a Derecho which most certainly would have compromised this structures integrity. This has the ability to affect at least four homes and families in our community based on its very close proximity to other houses. This cell tower is being erected on only 1 acre of land with a 70 x 70 ft base. This is literally yards from neighboring property. In driving around this community and in the one mile range of 460 I am able to locate at least four plausible alternative sites for this cell tower. All of these sites are zoned commercial and none are in as close proximity of houses and residential communities as is this proposed site. I feel there are many better options this company has yet to explore which would be less likely to negatively affect the members of this community. While talking with my neighbors, and through a poll on Facebook, I find no one who is losing their cell phone service. I can not understand why additional cell service is needed here. If the reason for the cell tower is just to increase the broadband signal at our expense, I do not understand it. I do understand Magnotti's monetary gain of $1,300 per month from AT&T; with other potential cell phone companies hooking on with additional rent potential, It should not be at the expense of the Bonsack community. A cell tower at the Bonsack Road Magnotti's location is a poor location for such a structure and the permit should therefore be denied. I feel the reasons above substantiate this in addition to other reasons not mentioned above such as potential health concerns and aesthetics of the structure. Please take this in consideration and choose to deny this permit. I am attaching photographs of what our view shed looks like from the 195 ft. Height as well as what what it might look like if the tower were on that spot of land. Thank you for your consideration. We are a proud little historical community (circa 1801) and we were Bonsack, VA before Big Lick became the city of Roanoke.

• published: 23 Dec 2014
• views: 70