Cell phone tower, crime rate on the rise in New Kent
Another cell phone tower will soon be rising above the New Kent landscape. And judging from statistics released by the county sheriff’s office, crime is also on the rise in the county.
New Kent Board of Supervisors members approved the former and learned about the latter during their Monday meeting.
By a 5-0 vote, supervisors approved a permit application submitted by Richmond-based National Communications Towers and landowner Marion W. Williams to build a 195-foot monopole tower at 8201 New Kent Highway (Route 249) near the intersection with Olivet Church Road (Route 618). The site is 600 feet east of Route 618, behind the former Blue’s Coffee House building on Route 249.
“It was the best possible location we could find,” National Communications Towers president Elliott Harrigan told supervisors, pointing to a need to fill gaps in coverage for wireless carriers while overcoming problems created by the area’s rolling terrain.
Harrigan said three carriers — AT&T, Sprint, and nTelos — have filed letters of intent to locate antennas on the tower while a fourth, T-Mobile, has expressed interest. He added that space exists for six antennas, including one designated for New Kent emergency services use.
Supervisors approved the permit despite a county planning staff recommendation for rejection based on aesthetics and the tower site violating the county’s required 750-foot setback from occupied houses. The closest house is 415 feet away.
Supervisors, meanwhile, pressed Harrigan on what is driving a sudden resurgence in the cell phone tower building industry. He attributed the upswing to changes in technology along with carriers seeking more cell phone customers and filling coverage gaps.
“Before this is all over, how many towers can we expect?” District 5 Supervisor Ray Davis quizzed Harrigan.
“It depends on how carriers want to cover the area,” Harrigan replied.
He added that his company is exploring potential tower sites in Quinton and near the Slatersville area along Route 249. Another tower building company, meanwhile, has filed for a permit for a 250-foot tower at the site of a county-owned water tank, about a half-mile southeast of the location for the tower approved Monday night.
While towers apparently are on the rise in New Kent, crime is doing likewise based on an annual report delivered to supervisors Monday by Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr.
“I don’t know of any better barometer to measure the crime rate in New Kent,” Howard said, pointing to a sharp rise in the cost of housing the county’s prisoners at Henrico Jail East.
New Kent pays $35 per inmate per day. This past December, January, and February, the bill exceeded $55,000 each month. By comparison, the cost totaled just under $24,000 last July.
Arrests, both adult and juvenile, are up, Howard said. In 2008, arrests totaled 585. Last year, the number surged by 111 to 696.
Indictments for narcotics violations reached a record 119 in 2009, he said, making New Kent the most active locality among four covered by the Twin Rivers Narcotics Task Force. The number one illegal drug of choice in the county is crack cocaine followed by prescription medications and heroin, he added.
Among youth, marijuana and prescription drugs top the most popular list. Howard said the county is also seeing episodes of “huffing” where juveniles employ inhalants, including gasoline, in attempts to get high.
In other statistics of note, sheriff’s dispatchers fielded more than 13,000 E911 calls last year. New Kent’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit conducted 344 truck inspections, finding 1,141 violations and issuing 597 citations resulting in almost $43,000 in fines paid to the county. The county’s animal shelter took in 735 strays last year, with 298 getting adopted out.
The sheriff’s vehicle occupant safety program, meanwhile, took part in more than two-dozen events checking child safety seats. Reports indicate that 16 percent of New Kent’s population refuses to buckle their seat belts.