Posted 4/25/01 County Board challenged by Qwest over denial of tower permit By Danielle Strenke After denying a conditional use permit (CUP) to Qwest Wireless for the construction of an 185-foot monopole last November, the decision by the Chisago County Board is now being challenged. Qwest sent a letter, via its law firm, to the board April 6, stating that the reasons for the denial were not submitted in written form, as required by law. The correspondence suggested that legal action would be necessary by Qwest against the county if the matter is not resolved. Steve Magnold, with Qwest, was on hand to discuss the issue at the county board meeting last week. ìWe werenít given reasons for the denial, and if weíre not given reasons we canít study those and decide whether we will appeal,î Magnold said. ìThe board made its decision by looking at the planning commission minutes which is against state law.î Commissioner Ben Montzka told him the board had all the evidence needed to deny the permit request. ìIf you think this was based on planning commission meetings, the bottom line here is the facts,î he said. ìDonít come in here and say this board is lazy. If you want to discuss the reasons for the denial, Iím ready to do that, rather than throwing technical legal arguments at us from a fancy lawyer.î County attorney Ted Alliegro suggested being able to find some ìmiddle groundî rather than force the issue into litigation. ìCould they move the tower 200 feet and solve the problem, I donít know,î he said. Magnold agreed that Qwest would not like to see this matter handled in court, but said the company is in a tough situation. ìWe could only find that the commission refuted what our technicians findings were. Our question was how could they refute it when they arenít technicians,î he said. ìWe have an obligation to providing seamless coverage, and if we donít do that our license can be revoked in that area.î The permit application was received by the Chisago County Planning Commission last October, with a recommendation to approve the permit from Chisago Lake Township. The planning commission recommended to deny the application, which was accepted by the county board on November 1. The planning commission stated several findings for their recommendation, including inadequate evidence that the applicant exhausted the co-location possibilities, a land use conflict, and no evidence of need-for-coverage demonstrated for this area. The board and Magnold hoped that an agreement could be reached without litigation. ©Post Review