If you build it, you will pay.

That's the message city officials hope to deliver to a Tampa cell tower company that wants to build a 150-foot tower near Tarpon Springs High School.

Three months after the City Commission rejected a request by Ridan Industries to put a cell tower on a vacant, privately owned lot at Gulf Road and Tarpon Drive, city officials say they have a better idea.

They are considering whether to lease cell phone companies locations on city-owned property.

"If we're going to have to do this, we need to put it on city property so we can at least generate some revenue for the taxpayers," City Manager Ellen Posivach said Tuesday.

Last month, Ridan Industries filed a federal lawsuit against the city that said commissioners had no good reason to deny the company's rezoning request. The suit contends that there's a gap in cell phone coverage in western Tarpon Springs. It also says no existing zoning in that area allows telecommunications towers to be built. Not only that, but the city didn't own any property that met the needs of the company.

Besides the Gulf Road site, Ridan is also considering building the tower on a small plot of land owned by the Church on the Bayou Presbyterian Church in western Tarpon Springs, said J. Kevin Barile, the company's president.

"There are other parcels that are not city-owned that are more viable for a tower as per existing (city) code," Barile said.

That may be true, say Tarpon Springs officials, but companies like Ridan may have to spend a lot of time and money to prove that in the future.

"You can prioritize where the cell carriers can go," said city planning and zoning director Renea Vincent. "They have to be able to demonstrate that those city-owned sites in no way, shape or form will work for their needs."

City officials have not designated a specific city-owned site for Ridan's tower yet, but they want to draft an ordinance that would encourage companies to build towers in nonresidential areas. Under the proposed law, tower companies would preferably lease city-owned land where taxpayers can reap the benefits of monthly fees paid by the companies.

But before the city can do that, residents will have to vote on whether the city should extend the length of any such leases for up to 20 years. A referendum item scheduled to be included on the citywide March 9 election ballot also calls for Tarpon Springs to collect up to $2,500 a month from telecommunications companies that build towers on city property for the duration of the lease.

Tarpon Springs' charter currently requires a referendum when city- owned land is leased for more than five years. A majority vote in favor of the cell tower referendum in March would effectively eliminate the hassle of voters returning to the polls and ensure that the city collects substantial revenue from any cell tower deal, said City Attorney John Hubbard.

"The obvious benefit is you get the revenue stream," Hubbard said Tuesday. "But there's a second benefit in that if someone is building something on your property, you get to say what gets built there and how it gets built."

Oldsmar and Dunedin adopted similar ordinances in recent years, essentially making it easier for companies to build cellular towers on city-owned land and in areas zoned for industry and heavy commercial use.

Posivach said such an ordinance could guarantee hundreds of thousands of dollars of future revenue for Tarpon Springs. If a telecommunications company agreed to pay a monthly fee of $2,500 to lease city land for 20 years for a single tower, as proposed, it could add up to a $600,000 windfall for Tarpon Springs over the life of the lease.

Barile agrees that the city needs to update its laws to accommodate rapidly growing cell phone use in the area, but he's not entirely sold on the idea of leasing city land. Ridan recently entered into negotiations to lease land from the Church on the Bayou that would cost the company considerably less money, he said.

If that deal goes through, Ridan would pay an unspecified amount to lease a small plot of land behind the Whitcomb Boulevard church and build a cross shaped cell tower, said church member Jim Payne. But such a move would still require the city to approve a change in zoning from residential to commercial.

State law says towns must accommodate the placement of enough towers to ensure that 911 callers can be located and that proper coverage is provided. That's not the case in Tarpon Springs, according to Ridan's lawsuit.

Hubbard said the city has little choice but to change its ordinances, because most courts have sided with the telecommunications industry on the issue. The city and Ridan officials are working to find a solution while the suit is pending, he said.

Meanwhile, the city is considering hiring a consultant to help both sides navigate the complex thicket of issues surrounding cellular tower construction in Tarpon Springs, Posivach said.