Residents made their opposition to a proposed telecommunications tower at Braman Hill known during a Leelanau Township public hearing last week.
“A tower that will not have guaranteed results, but is guaranteed to destroy our view, is not the answer,” said Northport resident Erica Hallstedt during public comment.
According to the proposal by the telecommunications tower company, The Towers, LLC (Vertical Bridge), the project would include a 195-foot monopole specifically located on property owned by the township at 9995 N. Morningside Drive in Northport.
The proposal for a cell tower at Braman Hill, first presented to the township board in November of 2025, comes after the Leelanau Township planning commission voted 4-2 last year to deny a special land use application for a 200-foot communication tower on Kitchen Road following environmental and aesthetic concerns from residents. In 2021, a Leelanau County Broadband Inventory study found that Leelanau Township was the most underserved population in the county. Since then, the township has been looking for ways to provide better cellular service in the area.
Hallstedt, who noted how she previously worked in the telecommunications industry for 10 years, said telecommunications is a rapidly changing industry, and emphasized how the proposal cannot be the best answer for the community.
“I understand the idea of not wanting a tower, but I also have parents that are aging, and I care about the 911 reception, I want to know that they are safe in this community, but I do not believe that an almost comically placed tower at the top of Braman is the final answer,” Hallstedt said.
Vickie Slot, another Northport resident, followed after Hallstedt’s public comment, and talked about the health concerns she had regarding the cell tower and its possible adverse effects on people.
“I believe putting a cell tower near to the park is concerning… I know its really hard to accept that something we can’t see, hear, smell, or taste can impact plants, animals, and humans, yet evidence is increasingly pointing in that direction. The safety regulations we are relying on are out of date and there is a big reason to be skeptical due to agency capture,” Slot said in public comment.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) states that there is no reason to believe that such cellular/radio towers could constitute a potential health hazard to nearby residents, citing how radiofrequency emissions from antennas used for cellular and personal communications service transmissions “result in exposure levels on the ground that are typically thousands of times below safety limits.”
The tower project proposal states that Verizon Wireless would attach their antennas and equipment to the tower once it’s built, and it would be designed to accommodate collocation of three wireless carriers. The tower would be placed inside an initial 50-by-50 foot fenced compound, and the proposed fence would consist of a six foot chain link fence with three strands of barbed wire. Access to the site would be made through the existing Morningside Drive for ingress and egress.
There is currently poor outdoor Verizon coverage in the area as noted in propagation maps provided to the township. The tower’s coverage would serve as “omnidirectional,” however, the northern portion of Leelanau Township towards the tip of the peninsula and in the Omena area would still fall within the “fair to poor outdoor coverage” zone unless its made taller. The tower’s 195-foot height would mean it would not be required to be lit. Higher towers above 200 feet would increase better coverage, but it would require lighting based on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards.
The tower creates no dust, fumes, noise, vibration or smoke and there would be no cost to the township in terms of construction and maintenance. The proposal also notes that there is no existing towers in the target area to meet Verizon’s service needs. Before the new tower proposal was made, Verizon first considered whether any existing towers in the area could be used to resolve the identified coverage gap. When it was determined that there was none, Verizon came to the conclusion that a new communications tower would be needed at the Braman Hill location to meet its coverage requirements.
While the majority of people that spoke during public comment were opposed to the idea of a telecommunications tower, Northport resident Doug Whitley commented on the fact that there is a serious public need for better cell coverage, and noted how it is in the best interest of the public as a whole to have a new cell tower.
“I think that AT&T should not be the only company providing the service in our township, and I would like very much to see a new tower built regardless of what hill they choose to put it on, we need the service,” Whitley said.
The township board did not take action on the cell tower proposal at the public hearing, but will have to make a decision on the lease at a future meeting. The planning commission would also need to review the proposal as it would need a special use permit to operate.
