Pros and Cons of allowing Cell Tower on Property?

[ultrarunner]

My brother was approached this week about placing a cell tower at the farm.

They did a site walk and it looks promising.

Another farm has a better location but absolutely refuses to allow a tower so the provider is scouting alternate locations.

Anything to watch out for?

Any questions we should be asking?

The proposed tower would be at the highest elevation at the property and visible but not necessarily a deal breaker.

Of course the county may nix the idea as it requires approval.

The standard fee is $2500 a month for 25 years... nothing said about free farm access or cell phones.

So far only a 3 hour site walk taking some measurements...

 

[oldnslo]

Not sure on cell towers but in this area windmills have a lot of regulations on where the property owner can drive or how close you can get to buildings, access road, etc. pretty large easement for each mill and they may or maynot pay crop damage if they drive on your crops.

My advice do a lot of research and carefully read the fine print. County was helpful in providing their requirements for mill sites.

 

[riptides]

My brother was approached this week about placing a cell tower at the farm.

They did a site walk and it looks promising.

Another farm has a better location but absolutely refuses to allow a tower so the provider is scouting alternate locations.

Anything to watch out for?

Any questions we should be asking?

The proposed tower would be at the highest elevation at the property and visible but not necessarily a deal breaker.

Of course the county may nix the idea as it requires approval.

The standard fee is $2500 a month for 25 years... nothing said about free farm access or cell phones.

So far only a 3 hour site walk taking some measurements...

ROW and Easement sizes and use.

Towers are not just cellular anymore, microwaves, fiber, various antennas, power (may include heat/ac), etc. etc...

Think tower plus supporting infrastructure.

 

[Raul-02]

Anything to watch out for?

Any questions we should be asking?

He should get a lawyer. The lawyer will be better able to investigate the company and its history with right-of-way arrangements. The lawyer will be more able to negotiate a better agreement with terms of contract more favorable to your brother.
Going alone into such a deal with a high-powered company that has squads of lawyers is a very dangerous proposition

 

[deezler]

Oof, I wouldn't do it. The income might sound nice, but unless you lawyer up first, it might end up a free pass for them to build a wide road to the large tower site and utilities going in any direction they want.

Unless you're talking about 250+ acres and it can be close to a mile from your relative's house. The increased radiation is likely measureable.

 

[LouNY]

The tower site is one thing, the access is another.
If your area is subject to power outages it will likely have a generator and require access at the times of worst weather.
As has been mentioned once the first service is located, others will come out of the wood work like termites wanting to
be on the tower so you can end up with many users all with different schedules for servicing there equipment.

Edited to add this;
I live within easily visible distance to 5 towers, as the crow flys not much more then a quarter of a mile.
Increased radiation has been a consideration but not a concern to me. As far as seeing them and them being an eye sore,
not happening I usually don't even notice them.
And I love it when a company says there standard fee is so much, in my mind there is no such thing as a standard fee.
Get all you can going up from what they wish to call a standard fee.

 

[Diggin It]

I'd be curious to know distance from homes or outbuildings, access rights for crews, if there is a way for them to get in from a public road that doesn't mean them driving by a home, etc.

I've also seen some issues with de-commissioning some years in the future where they take the electronics away, but leave the tower structure.

 

[scaredychicken]

Do they have a choice ?

I wouldn't do that. Give a little now, it will be an acre later (so to speak), not to mention the Health Hazards / Implications of having all that "energy" near you. Associated Migraines etc would make it impossible for my wife.

oh, and they would need general, regular access to the property (trucks, equipment, maintenance), so that compromises the pwners useage of the property ... gates required in fencelines, no permanent building sites etc.

not worth it to me ... imagine the 20 year impact, expansion etc

 

[scaredychicken]

Towers are not just cellular anymore, microwaves, fiber, various antennas, power (may include heat/ac), etc. etc...

EXACTLY

 

[2manyrocks]

Years ago, my parents were hounded by zinc exploration companies to sign an underground mineral lease prepared by the zinc co. My parents wouldn't do it. Today, the payments under those leases look woefully underpriced, there was no price escalation clause, and no way for the landowner to terminate the lease after signing.

If interested in leasing, I'd want a first class real estate lawyer to prepare a lease that's favorable to the landowner. Would not sign lease prepared by lessee and would not rely on a lawyer who isn't an expert in real estate leasing.

 

[oosik]

For that amount of money - it might be very wise to hire a lawyer knowledgable in this particular area.

 

[Cougsfan]

We have a cell tower on our 46 acre property. Unfortunately the previous property owner received all the financial benefits up front and we get no income for the 99 year lease on the 100 by 100 foot chunk of land. They do have a right-of-way to it. It is on the same right-of-way shared by the PUD to bring power to our house. They are in charge of maintaining the road, however I do it because my standards are much higher than theirs. I did talk to the manager, and got them to agree (with no fuss) of buying a couple thousand dollars worth of gravel that I could use to improve the road. Once a month or so a technician shows up for an hour or two to do whatever it is they do in a cell tower. A couple years ago T-Mobile sent in a crew with a giant crane to spend a week changing out their transmitters that supported their 5G conversion. They were nice guys and I spent quite a bit of time just chatting with them. Once a year a guy comes around with a drone and does a detailed inspection of the unit, spray weeds (there aren't many because I have already done it for them), and just clean up.
I have great cell phone reception.
When bought the property, we were a little concerned about the presence of the tower, but after living here for a while, we have found it is really not much of a bother at all.

 

[kenmbz]

We have an old out of commission Cell tower not too far from me.
Looks like they took away what they wanted and left the rest, like the lower mast and some boxes at the base.
Looks weird to see a tower missing the whole top and with no antennas.
I guess their contract ran out and did not have a remove all clause?

 

[Midniteoyl]

Sell them an acre for the $750,000 up front with provisions that the current property owner gets first dibs if the tower gets abandoned.

 

[orezok]

The school district I retired from let Verizon install a cell tower at their district headquarters (no impact on students as that’s a big no no with parents). The issue was that they tied into the districts electrical system and the monthly usage exceeded the monthly lease payment. It should have had a sub-meter.

The installation was handled by M&O, not Facilities which was my department.

 

[bordercollie]

Well, BIL has one on his farm property about a mile at most from the house. . The place chosen already had 3 ph power going down the road to an old oil well site there. There 's a clause for escalating $ by a certain percent every few years. Also is a generator and it has a cyclone fence around the towers pad. There are warning signs about radiation on that fence. Not much traffic at all - maybe the guy that does the generator maintaince every month or so. They did not allow negotiation in regards to our phones being free nor on us limiting addition of other antennas on it. Always getting letters from companies wanting to buy the tower lease for large $$$$$ sums... That's all I can say about it .

 

[ultrarunner]

All good points...

The area is a valley and driving through everyone loses signal and calls drop no matter the carrier... it's a known issue and now more so with the new two million dollar homes going in within a stones throw of the farm but on the city side where brother is rural county.

The proximity issue may be mute because first chosen site is just as far from the homestead as the location on brothers property...

The compensation is a major factor and having reliable service being the second.

Property Tax on the farm is a little over 30k for 65 acres... so the thinking is the rent would offset a lot of the tax in their golden years...

Access would not be through the homestead but farm service road...

Yes to undergrounding new service to to highest elevation and yes to generator and refueling as required and yes to improving the access road used mostly for the Kubota and UTV...

Brother had a preferred location but the surveyor said elevation with clear horizon is what makes a good site and brothers ideal location is 340 degree as compared to hilltop 360 unobstructed...

His hilltop is what blocks signal in the valley as about 20 years ago a big tower went in clearly visible off in the distance from the hilltop but the valley is in the shadow of I understand correctly.

I'm sure the expensive new homes in line of sight is a driving factor...

In town it's the churches doing the most business on the private side...

Most already have towers/steeples and some separation from neighbors and congregations seem to be always looking for income...

 

[MossRoad]

As others have mentioned, he should consult an attorney and definitely address the decommissioning issues. If the company pulls out, leaves, stops using it, etc, who’s responsible for the tower?

I used to know the guy that owned this tower company.

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Did a bit of business with him at my old job to rent tower space to get internet across the state line wirelessly to avoid paying tariffs had we used land lines.

He owned a dozen or so towers, and rented to cell phone companies, businesses, governments, etc.

So is the entity approaching your brother a cell phone company that will only have their equipment on site, or someone that just rents tower space to whomever needs it?

 

[Yellow Fly Fish Camp]

Property Tax on the farm is a little over 30k for 65 acres

 

[scootr]

My neighbor took the deal about 10 yrs ago. Lucky for him they took a spot on the edge of the property where the entrance road came to. They plant the property in wheat, there are no buildings on it. But 2 neighboring homes are real close to it...
At first it was smallish and poorly disguised as a pine tree. Not that we have any pine trees around here . But then they started bringing in large ground boxes 8ft tall and rebuilt a tower twice as big with no attempt to hide it. It clearly looks like a utility substation from a 1/2 mile away now and 2neighbors with homes close by worry about micro waves etc.
$2500 for 25 years sounds good but IDK. Lawyer up sounds like good advice. Start there.