Jackson Cell Tower Giving Residents Health Concerns; County Concerns

A Jackson County cell tower erected on Flynns Creek Road has left several residents about their health.

Jackson County Mayor Randy Heady said that part of the issue is that the county does not have any cell phone tower regulations. Heady said that he and his team are currently looking to see what their best option is in this never-before-seen problem in the county.

“The tower is put way too close to houses,” Heady said. “The federal regulations say that it ought to be 1,300 plus feet from the nearest residence and out there you got this cell phone tower within 200, 250 feet of a residential home. Matter of fact there are several homes that are within that 1,300-foot area.”

Heady said that neither he nor his office received a notice regarding the tower before or during its construction. Heady said that it wasn’t until he began receiving phone calls at his office that he became aware of the issue.

“As time has progressed what we’ve found out is we have no way to stop that from happening,” Heady said. “There needs to be something in place, and hopefully we can take this up the chain a little bit further, we may have to look at going into legislation, I don’t know right now.”

Heady said that the primary concern for him right now is the safety of those living at the residence within the 1,300 range. Heady said there is a need for more towers in Jackson to fix the dead-call zones throughout the county. Heady said as Jackson tries to provide more coverage for industries like tourism, it’s important this situation isn’t repeated.

“Cell phone reception is important, it’s not the be-all-end-all but it is important,” Heady said. “Because people like to take pictures and they like to upload those. And also directional reasons.”