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Plans to place a 180-foot cell tower on Greystone Mountain near the heart of Townsend have alarmed several residents.

Jennifer Moore, president of the Stonegate Mountain Community Homeowners Association, brought the issue before the Townsend Planning Commission on Thursday.

Stonegate is located off the private Fox Hollow Road.

Moore is working to fight the Greystone Mountain location — or to at least reduce the impact of such a tower on the highest ridge in Townsend.

Moore said the tower would be within 1,000 feet of her home.

"The tower would be visible in 80 percent of Townsend," said Townsend Planning Commission Chairman Michael Talley.

Townsend city planners adopted stringent regulations on cell towers, but it will not be the city that decides whether to allow the tower as a special exception.

The site atop Greystone Mountain, where Comcast had a former satellite installation, is just outside the Townsend city limits. That means the decision will be made by the Blount County Board of Zoning Appeals.

The knob where Wireless Properties wants to install the cell tower for AT&T is located behind the playground at Townsend Elementary School and up from the Townsend Municipal Building.

Talley said his GPS device calculated the elevation at the base of the mountain is 1,834 feet. The Townsend Municipal Building is at 1,100 feet. The final elevation of the tower being requested would be 1,940 feet.

"It's going to be an eyesore," Tally said.

The tower will be a freestanding, brown monopole with no guide wires, according to Moore. Apparently Fox Hollow Road would have to be improved to allow access to the proposed tower. Moore said a four-wheeler would be required to reach the site without improving the access.