Cell Phone Tower Proposed on Historic Cemetery Site

Members of the Mid County Civic Association and concerned residents met last night at the James McCoart Administration Building to discuss a proposed cell phone tower on the historic landmarked site of Bacon Race Cemetery.

T-Mobile, a cellular service provider, is looking to rapidly expand its coverage area with 25 additional service distributors by 2011.

The proposed cell tower will be disguised as a 120-foot-tall flagpole and equipment related to the cell tower is reportedly planned to be held in a false building modeled after the historic Bacon Race Church, which fell into disrepair in 1987.

Currently, a similar "stealth" cell tower is undergoing plans at Bethel United Methodist Church. The cell tower originally was planned to be in a similar flagpole disguise, but members of the community suggested housing the cell equipment in a bell tower instead.

Jim Michal, of Jackson & Campbell law firm, has worked with several cell tower disguises in the past and is now working to facilitate both the Bethel church and Bacon Race Cemetery cell projects.

Official plans for the cell tower have not been submitted to Prince William County as of yet; so Michal is gauging community opinion at this juncture.

In the meeting, Michal noted that the owners of the Bacon Race Cemetery are open to the idea of leasing land for the T-Mobile cell tower because they are in need of the finances in order to keep up with the cemetery's maintenance.

"If there was a tall enough building elsewhere we would be on it," said Michal of alternate building site options. "It saves time and money for everyone involved."

Residents of Bacon Race Road have concerns about the size of the proposed flagpole, and what effect it may have on the historical nature of the cemetery.

Similar flagpole "stealth" cell towers have been erected at a fire station in Fairfax County, standing at a stark 88-foot-tall, and a 120-foot-tall structure a Goshen United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg, MD.

Preliminary site plans call for the antenna to be housed in a 120-foot-tall "concealment pole." Comparably, regular telephone polls top off at about 40-feet-tall.

Handmade signs stating "Cell Tower Here?" were first spotted late last week on the cemetery grounds. Handbills, with meeting information, were also distributed to the Bacon Race community mailboxes prior to the meeting.

The Prince William Historic Commission officially recognized the cemetery site as a historic landmark in 2007.

Documents from two regular Prince William Historical Commission meetings dated March 9 and June 9 note the cell tower proposal.

In the March 9 meeting notes, guests to the meeting answered questions about the "telecommunication tower being considered for the Bacon Race Cemetery location."

At a regular June 9 meeting, the documentation shows that a pre-application meeting was scheduled for a "special use permit at Bacon Race Church site for a cell tower."

Historical Commissioners Bill Olson, who is a Bacon Race community resident, and Sara Anderson volunteered to "draft a policy statement from the Commission regarding tower installations."

Individuals interested in this subject are encouraged to notify their Board of County Supervisors representative and make their voices heard at upcoming public hearings.