SPANISH FORT, Ala. — And the race is on.

Developer Lester Boihem won approval during Monday’s regular City Council meeting for his request to rezone a parcel of property on the Causeway from R-1 to T-1, creating a telecommunications district that would support the construction of a cell phone tower.

The council approved unanimously Boihem’s rezoning request after the Planning Commission forwarded a favorable recommendation.

However, but the action creates the potential for a development clash down the road.

Boihem’s site sits about 600 yards from the site of the former WLVV radio station, owned by the Buddy Tucker Association Inc., which is also seeking to develop a cell tower, but to date has not been able to secure through Johnson Communications the signed commitments from carriers needed to gain site plan approval from the Planning Commission to proceed.

Boihem, however, has produced signed commitments from at least three carriers for his site.

Mike Johnson of Johnson Communications has questioned publicly how the council could consider denying Buddy Tucker what by right the parcel’s zoning allows, but it appears if Boihem constructs his tower before his competitor gains site plan approval the former would be in violation of the co-location clause.

City leaders have stated repeatedly they will not allow construction of more than one cell phone tower within the city limits.

Meanwhile, concerns regarding the city’s enforcement of franchise agreements with utility companies performing work within the city limits dominated Monday’s meeting that began with District 1 Councilman Dennis Dismuke requesting Mayor Joe Bonner cite the particular legal mechanism for his having been called out of order at the July 6 meeting when he initially raised the issue.

Bonner said he exercised extreme caution when he called Dismuke out of order because…

See the rest of this story in the July 21 Spanish Fort Sun.