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Does a Carrier Go in the Woods?It there’s one kind of undeveloped land a local government has in abundance, it’s in parks; be they forest preserve, flood plain or hilltop. These areas are in demand by carriers who seek cell sites close to development and love to offer cities, counties and other public agencies deals. It’s attractive when a carrier (or more likely its site acquisition representative) offers a monthly rent amount to place a monopole in the trees. (You won’t even know it’s there!) But beware: a lot of park land was acquired through bond issues or through dedication. There may be language in the title or deed that proclaims “for recreational uses only” or for “public purposes only.” Some recent events during Thanksgiving week came to us from the Chicago area. One city has already signed a lease on land that was designed for park use only. When the future park’s neighbors raised the issue, the city set a public hearing on the issue for a Saturday morning at 8 AM. You know something is up when a Public meeting is scheduled for such an inconvenient time. We told the neighbors to go to the city to get a copy of the Zoning Ordinance and they were told: “It will take us seven days to fill your request.” Another park district in the Chicago area has two cell sites coming up for hearings in early December. The carrier has told the City that each lease, once a zoning variance was approved, has a paper value of $1.2 million and that the leases could be sold for present value: about $600,000. What city would ignore that, even though the land is designated “forest preserve.” In a rush for money, the public sector needs to remember that a hasty lease may be on property that has a deed restriction that can come back to bite. Ask yourself these questions: “Do cell site lease buyers practice due diligence?” (They do.) “Once a cell site is built on deed restricted land (e.g., park purposes only), is it too late for opponents to abate a cell site in court? (Ask your attorney.) And if a cell site gets abated, does the carrier have an action against the local government? (Does a carrier go in the woods?) |
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