County Calls Out Kingsmill on Portable Cell Tower

By Desiree Parker Friday, February 19, 2010

After back-and-forth discussions with Kingsmill, James City County has sent a letter of violation to the resort letting them know it’s not okay to keep a mobile cell tower in a parking lot without the proper permits.

Kingsmill has long struggled with getting good cellular reception, and has been trying to overcome several legal hurdles to get two permanent towers on its property. Back in spring of 2005 Kingsmill put a mobile cell tower on a lot near the resort to support some big corporate and government events at the resort that year.

The arrangement was intended to be temporary until new cell towers were constructed, but it’s been in use ever since. When a resident brought the tower to the attention of the county last fall, county staff couldn’t find the application. Robin Carson, executive vice president and managing director of the Kingsmill Resort and Spa, sent a letter to the county explaining that the mobile tower was critical to their resort business and that they’d move it once new towers were constructed.

County Zoning Administrator Melissa Brown says staff and Kinsgsmill representatives have gone back and forth over the issue since it came to the county’s attention, and this week the county finally delivered a violation notice.

If the county doesn’t hear back in a reasonable amount of time, Brown says, “We’ll pursue further legal action.”

The county could well face a struggle similar to what it went through while trying to get the permanent towers at Kingsmill approved. The Board of Zoning Appeals overturned an approval for the structures, forcing the cell tower companies, Kingsmill and the county to face off against the BZA in circuit court. The whole process lasted about two years, and was an expense for each party involved.

According to Brown, Kingsmill could appeal to the BZA, and the case could very well end up in circuit court again, but this time with the county and Kingsmill on opposite sides.

In a letter to the county dated November 17, Carson wrote, “tax generating, resort group guests began requiring a level of cellular service as terms of their contract, making approval of the permanent, neighborhood tower application or keeping the COW critical to Kingsmill Resort business.”

The letter concludes, “The resort has had all intentions of removing the COW when alternate cellular service improvements were installed in the area that would maintain or improve the current cell service the COW provides.”

Carson hadn’t received the letter of violation as of Wednesday, she told WYDaily, but “should Kingsmill receive a violation, we will do as directed and continue to operate the resort as best as we can.”