Clover residents fought a cell tower; now the tower company is suing Clover

Just when it seemed that the controversial cell tower in Clover that residents united to oppose was dead, the company that wants to build it filed a last-minute lawsuit Friday, giving the tower potential new life.

The Florida-based companies that want to build the 180-foot tower – TowerCom and Telecom Site Management – were blocked by the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals in May.

In their lawsuit, they claim that the zoning board illegally blocked the tower and asked a judge to step in and give them permission to build it. The lawsuit was filed just hours before a deadline to appeal.

They maintain that town officials already had granted the companies the permits they needed to build the tower. But just before the May Zoning Board meeting, the lawsuit alleges, the Clover Town Council changed the town’s Zoning and Land Development Ordinance to reduce the number of votes needed to block such a project.

“This change directly determined the outcome here, where only three members of the (Zoning Board) voted to reverse and revoke the permits,” the lawsuit claims. “This violated South Carolina’s Vested Rights Act and the common law.”

A vested right is the right to undertake and complete a project approved by a city or town, even if regulations later change that would make the project no longer in compliance.

Clover resident Ed Dees Jr., who lives near the proposed site for the tower, claims the tower is unsafe, harms property values and is too close to homes. He has led the opposition to the tower that would be built just 40 yards from his front porch. He is named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed Friday.

“I’m not shocked,” Dees said. “We’ll keep fighting. Game on.”

The tower has been a controversy for almost a year, with residents calling it a “monstrosity” and battling the town and the tower company over the site.

In January, the Zoning Board upheld the tower – but the board had an illegal member and the vote was thrown out.

At a second hearing held in May, tower foes appeared to win the battle, when the Zoning Board ruled that TowerCom’s permit should be denied because of possible zoning problems. The board chairman expressed concerns that the property was improperly zoned industrial when it actually might be zoned residential.

The lawsuit claims that the property near an abandoned mill has been zoned industrial for at least 40 years. It also claims that the Zoning Board’s vote was illegal, calling the decision “arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful.”

No date has been set for a court hearing.

Charleston lawyer Jonathan Yates filed the lawsuit, but declined to comment Friday, saying he had no authority to speak on behalf of either company.

Efforts to reach Clover officials – the town and its zoning board are defendants in the lawsuit – were unsuccessful Friday.

Todd Blanton, the Clover Town Councilman who fought against the tower, said Friday he is disappointed that the tower companies have appealed the ruling.

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Clover residents fought a cell tower; now the tower company is suing Clover."