Planning commissioners shot down a proposal to build a large communications tower just north of Northport.

After a lengthy meeting (and many months of community discussion) the Leelanau Township Planning Commission on Thursday night voted 4-2 to deny a special use permit for a roughly 200-foot tower on Kitchen Road north of Garthe Road.

Commissioners Kristi Fischer, Hugh Scott, Silvia Gans and Brigid Hart voted to deny the permit, with chairman Steve Kalchik and Commissioner Gerald Schatz opposing. Vice Chairman Brian Mitchell was absent (and had abstained from previous discussion since he owns the proposed tower site).

The tower would have been built by Leelanau County and was intended to address spotty cell phone coverage and other communications concerns at the tip of the Leelanau peninsula. The county initially submitted the permit request early last year and sent a revised request in October after some questions from the township.

Dozens of township residents have voiced support or opposition to the tower in written correspondence to the township and/or at township meetings, most recently a lengthy public hearing on Jan. 23.

Commissioners on Thursday discussed many concerns with the proposed tower, including its impact on neighboring homes and whether the tower would actually improve cell service in the township. Some also suggested other sites would make more sense and wondered if advancing technology would render such towers obsolete in a few years. Several also voiced environmental concerns. 

Among a series of individual discussions regarding the application’s adherence with township regulations and requirements for special use permits, they decided the tower met some, but that it might harm nearby farmland, the environment and the "essential character" of the township.

Fischer said she knew several people in support of the tower. But she and other commissioners said the county’s application was not well thought out on a variety of fronts.

“I'm not a fan of NIMBYism at all. That is not why I don't agree with this,” Fischer said, referring to the “not in my backyard” opposition that often meets such projects. “I just feel like the county could work with us and we could do something better.”

Gans, who was particularly vocal in opposition, is adamant that the tower should be built at a different site where it would have less impact and potentially provide better service.

“I’m not against a tower,” she said. “I’m against this tower.”

After the vote, Hart alluded to heightened tensions in the community over the proposed tower and said the decision to reject it was not an easy one.  

“I have to say, I changed my mind on this. I've gone back and forth and back…I'd hear some more information and then it would change my mind,” she said. “So it's been a tough decision for all of us. It hasn't been that easy, and I hope there's not any hurt feelings out there.”

Fischer and other commissioners said they’d be open to discussing other solutions with the county in the future.

“I hope at the end of the day, we're still all working together to get cell service to the people that don't have it. And I'm more than willing to work in any way possible to get that done,” she said. “I hope that we can move forward together because we do have a common goal.”

That said, several commissioners expressed frustration at the county’s handling of the process, a sentiment shared by many in the community.

“I felt a little pressure to be rubber stamping something because money was already spent,” Fischer said. "And that's a position I hope never find myself again.”

Paris Morse, who lives near the proposed tower site and has been a vocal opponent, was delighted by the planning commission's decision.

"I'm thrilled that the planning commission followed the zoning ordinances and master plan which are in place for the common good and to protect the unique character of our community," she tells The Ticker. "I have tremendous appreciation for the time and thought that the planning commissioners put into this process,and...we are so fortunate to live in a community with thoughtful leaders who make wise decisions for the residents of Leelanau."