A growing need for wireless communications has one company eyeing some Addison Township property.

Verizon Wireless has proposed to place a cell tower on a 5-acre piece of township property, located at the northeast corner of Hosner and Oakwood roads.

Though the process has only just begun, last week the Addison Township Board took the first step by voting 7-0 to forward the cell tower proposal to the planning commission to obtain special land use approval. It would eventually have to go before the zoning board of appeals as well.

Special land use requests require a public hearing and notification of property owners within 300 feet of the affected parcel, according to the township’s Code of Ordinances.

“This is all preliminary and it will come back to us,” said township Clerk Pauline Bennett at the Dec. 19 board meeting.

The proposed cell tower (a monopole) would stand approximately 190 feet tall and have the ability to collapse upon itself in the event of failure.

Revenue from the 25-year license agreement would go directly into the township’s general fund budget, according to Supervisor Bruce Pearson.

“My philosophy is that everyone should benefit from something that everyone has to look at,” Pearson told the board.

“I know the one that we have in (Watershed Preserve) Park, the park benefits greatly from (it) and it enables us to purchase canoes and docks and pathways and tractors without any expense whatsoever to the taxpayers . . . I always say it’s the goose that keeps laying the golden eggs.”

According to Pearson, it’s still being negotiated how much revenue the township would receive annually from the project, but it will likely be comparable to the amount generated by a cell tower Verizon erected in Watershed Park in 2011.

The cell tower in Watershed generated $17,000 in revenue the first year. After that, the rent increased by 2.5 percent annually.

During the current fiscal year, the Watershed tower is expected to bring in $18,882, according to Treasurer Lori Fisher.

“Every month we get money for those (towers), they’re assets… We’ve had great success with the one in Watershed Park,” Pearson added.