subject: What Land Owners Should Know About A Tower Lease [print this page] If you are a land owner who has been approached by a company about a cell tower lease, you need to know many things and be aware of what is going on that could affect your agreement and your guaranteed rental income. Knowing what goes on in these types of negotiations is the key. When offers come in and you are considering leasing your property and entering into a tower lease, it will be to your advantage to be in the know from the very beginning and to know exactly the advantages, benefits and disadvantages that go along with these agreements. Your goals are to maximize the guaranteed revenue from these cellular phone companies that they pay you to build a tower on your land, and at the same time you want to minimize your obligations, too.
One of the main things you need to know as a land owner is the location and topography of your land. A wireless cell phone carrier will want to send representatives to hold an investigation of the site to see how feasible it would be to put up a tower. This is common and is not a strange request by any means. Most of the time, a suitable site will be one that is at least 2,500 square feet in area on a part of the land that is flat, has few natural barriers in the way and is easily accessible for them.
Request that the company builds a fence around the tower and around your property to keep intruders out, and also request that they pay some of the utility costs and taxes that will be affected by having a tower there on your land. Also, you need to request that they carry your property in their insurance. You have the obligation of informing your personal insurance company that there is a cell tower lease in effect and there is a tower on your insured property.
To protect yourself, you have to be familiar with any local ordinances that are in place to make sure that you are permitted to have that tower erected on your property. Oftentimes you will be required to get a variance or exception granted before construction can begin and a cell tower lease is signed. Make sure that it will be understood that you want the carrier to obtain all necessary permissions and permits before anything is begun.
Finally, you should know that the average term of a cell tower lease is 20 to 25 years, and some agreements consist of installment periods of five years, at which time different terms can be negotiated. Although revenue for the land owner for a cell tower lease differs, you can expect usually anywhere from $700 to $2000 per month from these agreements.
