William, weigh in on this if you please.

In “Caveman Speak” of course.

William. What does your company do or produce?

Honestly, I’m glad you reside in such a progressive town as Lynchburg.
Do you shed real tears as you leave your TGIFridays/Walmart Best Buy strip? Or do you brave it out till you hit either the Waynesboro or Shortpump version of your strip mall town?

Call GEICO, you can star in the next caveman commercial. The tourism thing was a joke, a pink footed ladybug? Fake progress for money? No, it’s called new jobs for the people of the county, not outsiders moving in. More revenue for better schools, better roads, more Monster Truck events, and people actually driving through the county, not around it. Don’t bitch and moan about the unemployment rate, the neighbors dog barking because you don’t have animal control officers.

What the majority of the world is doing is basically what you are promoting. Fake progress for money.

Life existed long before the advent of the cell phone. Sure, it is a convenient tool. Perhaps this may come as a shock to you, not everyone is looking for tourism dollars and more traffic.

The idea of another 500 people driving in this county while simultaneously talking on the cell phone somehow doesn’t appeal to me.

It’s only a cell phone.

I write in response to the next to last line in your above article.

The opposition to the 130 foot monopole Class III tower that nTelos wants to put in “just north of Nellysford” in Greenfield is NOT BY ANY MEANS LIMITED. In addition to people attending and speaking at the Planning and Zoning and Board of Supervisors meetings, untold emails and phone calls have been placed to the Board of Supervisors in opposition to the tower. A letter was written to the Board in opposition by the Rockfish Valley Presbyterian Church, a two hundred plus member congregation of local residents.

There are many reasons for this opposition – aesthetic, wildlife, nature and health concerns – but we are united in our resolve to prevent this large corporation from coming into our county and endangering its unique, amazing beauty and rural character in order to improve their bottom line.

Verizon Wireless has put up low-profile towers in Nelson that are inconspicuous and within county standards. nTelos, on the other hand, has resisted the more costly low-profile approach and has instead applied for an exception to the Scenic Byway Ordinance that prevents construction of any cell tower within the byway viewshed (i.e., one mile off the highway)(Nelson Ordinances 20-7-2e, 20-4-21), and is even claiming hardship in order to so. They are also seeking an exception to the ordinance requiring them to landscape around the facility (Ordinance 20-7-5k), which will be located just 215 feet from the Byway and clearly visible from the road six months of the year. Yet another nTelos cost cutting measure at our expense. nTelos hasn’t even applied for an exception to Ordinance 20-7-2c, which prevents any cell tower height greater than 30 feet above the existing vegetative canopy. Their 130 foot structure will extend 5 – 6 stories above the area’s average tree height of 65 feet. In short, they want to make money off of the county but are not willing to invest the money that it would take to comply with our standards, aesthetic or otherwise.

Further, the need for this location is highly questionable since both Verizon and Alltel phones show four bars just across the road from where the tower would be located. Of course, nTelos would allow other providers to co-locate – the law requires them to do so. But that begs the question, why can’t nTelos co-locate on someone else’s tower? The answer once again is cost savings for nTelos at Nelson County’s expense.

We are not against technology and development, but we want smart growth, not spot zoning and stupid sprawl. Today it is a cell phone tower (and not just one, mind you, but as many as 10 all total, from what I understand). But tomorrow, it will be a subdivision, and the next day a strip mall, and before you know it, Scenic Byway 151 will look like Route 29 North.

Protests have been voiced at both Board of Supervisors meetings held on the issue so far and will be again on Tuesday, November 18 when the Board makes its decision.

And by the way, one of the major points that nTelos is using to sell their tower is that it will improve the signal that people get while driving up and down Rte. 151.

Just what we need – people talking and texting as they cruise along the “Road to Tragedy”!

Janet