Jan. 16, 2002 – Construction work under way on Mountain Top has some area residents and companies installing a telecommunications tower and transmitting equipment at odds.
Sprint PCS, the international wireless communications company, is installing a microwave transmitter at Mountain Top to send its signals from the Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico.
The Sprint PCS equipment is being attached to a structure being built by SBA Network Services, a subsidiary of SBA Communications Corp., a firm specializing in wireless communications tower construction with offices in Florida and Puerto Rico. Sprint PCS is leasing tower space from SBA, and it expects other telecommunications firms will utilize the same tower, according to Nanci Schwartz, a public relations manager for Sprint PCS.
Former senator Anne Golden, a consultant for SBA Network Services, said the project has all the necessary permits from the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration and the V.I. government.
The tower is being constructed on private land adjacent to the Mountain Top Condominiums, and no one is questioning that SBA has the proper permits in place to build it. But according to Mike Alcorn, a resident of Mountain Top but not of the condo complex, the heavy equipment being used on the project has damaged some telephone lines and the road into the community, and the work has blocked access into and out of the condo area.
Some area residents also fear the proximity of the tower could lower their property values. Some also have expressed concerns about liability in the event the communications equipment should go flying off the tower in a hurricane and smash into nearby residences.
Alcorn said area residents have tried to work out the concerns with those doing the work on the site, but that the companies have not been responsive. Last week, the owner of an adjacent property attempted to keep workers out of the area, saying that they were driving heavy equipment across his private property to gain access to the construction site, Alcorn said.
After posts were put up to mark the property boundary, Alcorn said, the workers moved the heavy equipment across the private property anyhow. He said residents may ask the police to enforce trespassing laws to keep the workers off their land.
According to Golden, the workers have the right to access the property via an existing easement.
Alcorn said residents of the area should have been included in the planning for the construction work. "I realize you have to have towers," he said, "but you should put them up in conjunction with working with people in the neighborhood."
Golden said SBA Network Services has not run into any problems building at three sites on St. Croix and that the objections at Mountain Top are coming from just a handful of neighbors.
With the proper licensing for the project, she said, the company did not see a need to consult all of the residents in the neighborhood. "Why should I have to round up all the neighbors and ask permission?" she asked. "If everyone who wanted to build a house had to ask permission, nothing would ever get built."
Vashi Dadlani, president of the Mountain Top Condominium Association, said many condo owners objected to the project but knew they couldn't do anything to stop it because all of the permits are in order. The size of the construction project has inconvenienced people, he said, and the proximity of the tower site is certain to reduce property values, even though it does not directly obstruct the units' view to the south of St. Thomas.
Schwartz said Sprint PCS will make its wireless communications service available to V.I. residents within the next couple of months, allowing them access to what she described as the most state-of-the-art wireless network in the nation.
Company officials understand the impact of new construction on residents, she said, and as a matter of policy Sprint PCS tries to utilize towers that also cater to other users so as to minimize the number of towers needed. Also, "Whenever we're looking to build equipment, we work closely with the government and community associations," she said.
