Spokane Tribal filing: Butte tower project on hold for redesign

A cellular phone tower that was to be built on the top of Steptoe Butte has hit some snags.

According to Washington State Parks Service Communications Director Virginia Painter, the project that was supposed to be built last spring is being redesigned.

“Apparently the project was deemed an ‘area of interest’ by the Spokane Indian Tribe under Federal Communications Commission guideline/Rule 04-222,” Painter wrote in an email. “What we have been told is that instead of a 140-foot tower, Verizon can build a 100-foot tower.”

The tower project had been announced by Verizon early this year, but the start was later delayed, reportedly to keep the butte open during the time of year when it gets the most visitors. A factor in the high use period is the number of photographers who visit the Palouse in the spring and early summer months.

On Monday afternoon, Painter said by telephone that the Federal Communications Commis-sion is required to consider tribal interest if a tribe determines an area is a historic interest such as Steptoe Butte.

She also said that construction is now expected to happen some time in 2015.

“We try to consider the high use time and intend to try to work around that high use,” Painter said.

At Steptoe Butte, she said there’s a six-week window that begins in May and goes through June when most of the visitors visit the butte.

“There are between 50,000 to 55,000 visits a year,” Painter said. She said the parks service doesn’t actually count the number of visitors but uses a formula to determine the number from vehicle counts.

“I don’t know what the timeline is, except that the project is in design phase according to this new determination,” Painter said.

She said the park service will post any closure of Steptoe Butte on its web site when the tower is being constructed.