Clover officials want cell tower appeal dropped

In the latest skirmish in the battle between the town of Clover and residents who don’t want a 180-foot cell tower, town officials want a lawsuit dropped that would halt the tower.

Residents, including Town Councilman Todd Blanton, have spoken out against construction of the tower, and a lawsuit has been filed to try to stop it. Opponents already have lost a zoning appeals board ruling, and town officials say the tower is legal under zoning rules.

However, questions about whether one zoning board member was legally on the board has thrown its Jan. 14 ruling into question, and the town wants the board to meet again for another vote.

Town officials filed court papers Monday saying that the Jan. 14 vote has never been formally acted on in writing, so the lawsuit by resident Ed Dees Jr. appealing the decision is premature and should be thrown out.

The latest court filing throws into even more flux a tower issue that residents say came up secretly and is being allowed despite the proposed tower’s being built just 40 yards from homes and a church. Blanton, who lives near where the tower would be built, said opponents’ resolve remains steadfast.

“We just plain don’t want the tower there,” he said Tuesday.

A Circuit Court judge will decide whether the lawsuit is premature within the next month.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Clover officials want cell tower appeal dropped."