Time Warner Faces Fight With Residents Over Cell Tower

ORLANDO-Even though some of them may be receiving 300 digit cable channels and HDTV service, residents in one of Orlando’s oldest neighborhoods are lobbying Orange County commissioners to bar Time Warner Communications from expanding its 300-foot cell tower and 5,000-sf office/maintenance building on an 11-acre tract it has leased from the county since 1971.

In letters, faxes and phone calls to commissioners, Lakemont Heights property owners allege Time Warner is expanding its commercial presence in the neighborhood illegally–without applying for a variance from the county’s zoning board.

Residents have been fighting Time Warner for the past seven years. They say a commercial venture such as the leased cell tower doesn’t belong in a quiet residential area. Time Warner maintenance vehicles enter and leave the gated company compound 24 hours a day, residents have told commissioners.