WESTMINSTER — Requests for two T-Mobile cell phone towers in Carroll are making their way through the county review system.

A 120-foot tower at 1600 W. Old Liberty Road near Winfield made it through the county's Technical Review Committee, but a stop-order was recently issued because the property was graded without a permit, according to Clay Black, chief of the Bureau of Development Review.

That means the applicants must comply with all storm water regulations before the project can resume, he said. John Condon is listed as the applicant, with T-Mobile.

Another T-Mobile tower, being requested by the company and Judith Anne Reinke, has been under review at the Board of Zoning Appeals this year. That tower is proposed at Misty Riding Stable, 7621 Ridge Road, Marriottsville.

The two would be the first new cell phone towers in unincorporated land in Carroll since 2003, Black said. Since it's been a while since the county has dealt with such requests, Black and Steve Horn, director of Department of Planning, last week presented the Board of County Commissioners with a review of how such towers are considered.

Cell phone and data upgrades are expected across the country over the next few years as telecommunication companies roll out fourth-generation data networks, also known as 4G.

For T-Mobile, the latest towers are part of upgrades to all voice, data and broadband capabilities, said Jason Campbell, senior development manager of the Washington metropolitan area for T-Mobile.

"It's not just about making a call at work, it's about having a reliable, consistent coverage where you work and play," Campbell told The Eagle.

As competitors unveil 4G phones and plans, T-Mobile will focus on what's called high speed packet access, that will provide data speeds at 21 megabits per second, Campbell. Carroll County should see that be unveiled in 2011, he said, while Baltimore city and county and Howard County should be rolled out later this year, he said.

All new communication towers require a location analysis submitted to the county, as well as documentation that there's a need, Black said.

Cell phone towers are not allowed in residential, heritage or mobile park zoning districts in unincorporated parts of the county, Black said. They are allowed in Industrial Restricted, Industrial General, Business General and Business Neighborhood Retail zones, with setbacks, and may be considered, under certain conditions, in agricultural and conservation zones.

Some debates about radiation and safety from the cell phone signals have emerged in tower hearings, Black said, but the county can't rule on those matters — it's up to the Federal Communications Commission.

"If there are studies, those are studies that only the FCC can rule on," Black said in a prior interview with The Eagle.

Campbell said T-Mobile's towers emit the same or less radiation than your household electronics.

"We're often 1,000 times below FCC levels for radio frequency emissions," he said. "Standing next to a T-Mobile wireless facility is about the same as standing next to a cordless phone in your house, a WiFi router or a baby monitor."

Some residents have asked about screening the towers, but it's difficult considering the height, he said.

"I don't know how you're going to screen a 120-foot tower," Black said. However, equipment shelter areas can be screened, and the Planning and Zoning Commission may require screening.

T-Mobile has actually got into the business of replacing church steeples, Campbell said, so its workers can put the cell phone equipment inside of it. In some places, they are placed along or inside flag poles.

Before considering a new tower, he said, T-Mobile also partners with energy companies to place equipment on top of transformers or place the antenna on a competitor's tower.

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