Q. I purchased my home, located across from a grammar school in April 2006. In December last year, a cell phone tower was constructed across the street from my front door, on school property. The tower is 175 feet tall, which violates a city rule against structures over 150 feet tall.

Upon further investigation, I found out that this tower was never permitted by the city. The company that constructed the tower applied for a permit and was turned down. They applied to rezone this area to industrial from residential, and reapplied for a permit. When the city manager was on vacation, his fill-in signed a temporary permit. The city council had not yet approved the rezoning, which would still be in violation of the town ordnance because of the height.

In November, the city council is set to vote on the rezoning. Two members of the city council work for the county school board, which constructed the tower. This seems like a conflict of interest. What recourse do I have?

A. The proliferation of towers has received only a small amount of public concern. Very little is known about the health effects of cell phones and towers.

Based on your letter, the approval to build the tower was not granted and the tower should not have been constructed. The city council members employed by the school system have a clear conflict of interest and, in my opinion, should abstain from voting on the rezoning.

Your best strategy to fight this would be to circulate a petition to area residents, present the petition at the rezoning hearing and have residents attend any public meetings to voice their opposition to the cell phone tower. But you should also be realistic: Cell phone towers are needed for communication purposes and it is likely that your school system is facing financial needs as well.