To: The Benton County Planning Board and Local Elected Officials

We, the residents of Cornerstone Ridge, neighbors along S. Morning Star Road, and the surrounding Bentonville communities, are writing to demand that the Benton County Planning Board DENY the Conditional Use Permit for Project 26-246 (Hay-Longwell Telecommunications Tower). We stand united in our absolute opposition to this heavy commercial infrastructure footprint being placed anywhere in this residential agricultural neighborhood.

Our neighborhood consists of established single-family homes, multi-generational families, and scenic rural lands. Introducing a 150-foot industrial steel monopole into this pristine environment would significantly contradict our local land-use character and offer no benefit to our community.

We demand a total denial of this permit based on the following documented facts:

• Severe Drop in Home Equity: Independent real estate studies confirm that commercial towers can slash adjacent residential property values by 5% to 20%.
• The Neighborhood Ripple Effect: When immediate properties drop in value, they become the new real estate "comps" (comparable sales) for our entire area. A drop in bordering property values instantly drags down the market value, refinancing appraisal capacity, and net worth of every single homeowner in Cornerstone Ridge and the surrounding streets.
• Incompatible Industrial Footprint: A 50x50-foot gravel industrial compound enclosed by a heavy chain-link fence does not belong in a quiet residential area. No matter where it is shifted on this parcel, a 150-foot commercial structure will loom over our backyards, completely ruin our views and landscapes, and permanently eliminate the peace and privacy we paid for.

This Project Directly Violates Benton County Planning Ordinances:

• We hold that this tower violates the core legal mandates explicitly codified in the Planning and Development Regulations of Benton County, which strictly govern the board's decision-making power:
• Chapter IV, Section 4.2 (Development Pattern, Item 6): Explicitly dictates that the Board “shall carefully review each proposal... and assess whether such proposed use may in itself reduce the value and viability of existing land uses.”
• Chapter I, Section 1.4 (General Goal 5): Directs the county “to protect and conserve the value of land throughout Benton County... and to minimize the conflicts among the uses of land.”
• Chapter I, Section 1.4 (General Goal 6): Mandates that special developments, specifically “telecommunication facilities... shall be designed in a manner that minimizes conflict with the surrounding development.”

The Documented Economic Impact is Undeniable:

• The University of South Alabama Study (Affuso et al.): This massive study analyzed over 23,000 home sales and found that homes within view of a cell tower decreased in value by an average of 9.78%. This study is critical to our neighborhood because it legally proves that visibility over an open expanse (such as our local ponds) causes the highest percentage of value destruction.
• The Savannah, Georgia Study (Empirical Economics Letters): This research documented that homes near towers sell at a transaction discount of up to 7.6%, with the negative equity impact spiking severely during normal or correcting real estate markets.
• The Florida Case Study (Dr. Sandy Bond, Appraisal Journal): This peer-reviewed appraisal analysis concluded that neighborhood property prices decreased immediately after a cell tower structure was built, severely penalizing properties closest to the site.
• The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR): The NAR formally reports that visible cell towers cut nearby home values by up to 20%, noting that 94% of home buyers would completely avoid or demand a massive price discount for a home near a tower.
• The Appraisal Institute: Real estate appraisers are trained to classify these towers as permanent negative externalities that damage residential aesthetics, blowing a massive financial hole in home equity.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) legal classification of these structures as a "Hazard and Nuisance," 
• University of South Alabama's findings legally satisfy our neighborhood's burden of proof under Benton County Section 4.2(6). This commercial project will cause clear, permanent, and substantial economic injury to our neighborhood's home equity.

We bought our homes, invested our life savings here, and pay our local taxes based on the explicit promise of county residential protection. We ask the Benton County Planning Board to uphold the county's ordinance to protect local families, defend our home equity, and prioritize tax-paying citizens over commercial developers.

VOTE NO on Project 26-246 on July 15th!