COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County commissioners will reconsider a decision to approve a cell tower off Potlatch Hill Road.

About 60 residents gathered Thursday night for a reconsideration hearing, the vast majority of whom asked commissioners to deny the project.

Commissioners voted 2-1 in October to approve a conditional-use permit for landowner Thomas Ingle, AT&T and SmartLink to build a “wireless communications facility to provide the latest 5G and 4G LTE technology.”

Bill Brooks and Chris Fillios voted to approve the cell tower, while Leslie Duncan cast the dissenting vote.

The proposed tower would be located south of the intersection of East Potlatch Hill Road and East Sky Harbor Drive. It will consist of a 150-foot lattice tower and ground equipment on a 7.13-acre parcel of land in the agricultural suburban zone.

The tower would be within a 70-by-70-foot fenced area accessed from Potlatch Hill Road. The site is currently vacant land located within the city of Coeur d’Alene.

Community members have provided overwhelmingly negative feedback. A group of 47 Kootenai County residents requested the reconsideration.

Before Thursday’s hearing, the county received 55 comments that supported reversing commissioners’ earlier decision and five comments that opposed a reversal.

The most frequent concern expressed by residents Thursday was about the potential for lightning strikes.

“Fire travels uphill more quickly than on level land,” said Marcy Coulter. “Our homes are especially vulnerable to this danger.”

Residents said Potlatch Hill Road is a single-lane dirt road, narrow enough that school buses or other large vehicles are unable to turn around and must instead back down the hill. The wells on the hill would provide insufficient water to fight a fire, some commenters said, and residents would be unlikely to escape in the event of a fast-spreading fire.

“I appreciate that they’re going to put an antenna (on top of the tower),” said Virginia Tate, who lives about 100 feet from the site chosen for the tower. “But the antenna is there to reflect the lightning to the next tallest thing, which will be a tree that catches fire and runs up the hill.”

Kootenai County Fire and Rescue approved the proposal with no conditions.

A grounding system would be installed at the base of the tower and around the fenced area. AT&T would also comply with Kootenai County’s FireSmart program to reduce the risk of wildfire.

Other commenters expressed concerns about the visual impact of the tower and potential health risks.

AT&T’s representative, Josh Leonard, said he objected to the reconsideration process because he believes opponents of the cell tower have not provided new arguments or evidence, nor have they demonstrated that the county erred when it approved the project.

“This is essentially a do-over of what we did before,” he told commissioners, adding that approval is not meant to be based on the popularity of a proposal but on whether it complies with laws and ordinances.

Leonard said Thursday that the tower would increase the coverage area by 20 miles.

The Potlatch Hill Road site is the best place for the project, he said. AT&T reportedly identified 16 alternate sites for a tower that ultimately proved unsuitable. Existing towers would cover between 10% and 52% of the 20-mile area.

“The best we could do from these other sites is only 50% of the targeted area, leaving a significant gap,” Leonard said.

Commissioners Bill Brooks, Leslie Duncan and Bruce Mattare will meet Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. in the Kootenai County Administration Building to deliberate the reconsideration.