The city has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a Tampa cell phone tower company late last year.

City Attorney John Hubbard said the city reached an agreement with Ridan Industries earlier this month to build a 150-foot cell tower on city-owned property.

Under the settlement's terms, Ridan will lease space behind Tarpon Springs Fire Rescue Station No. 70, 1025 Gulf Road. The lease calls for Ridan to pay the city $2,500 a month for 20 years. But city commissioners will have to sign off on the deal and finalize the settlement before Ridan can begin construction on the tower, Hubbard said.

The impending settlement was welcome news to Ridan president J. Kevin Barile, who said Wednesday that he hopes to begin construction on the tower before year's end.

"I think it's a fair balance between the city getting the benefit of the tower and the impact on the community," Barile said. "It might not be perfect solution, but it seems to be the best one at the moment."

The agreement comes nearly seven months after the City Commission voted to reject Ridan's request for a zoning change that would have allowed the company to build the tower on a privately owned vacant lot at Gulf Road and Tarpon Drive. Several neighborhood residents complained then that the tower would undermine property values and create a nuisance. One month later, Ridan filed a 29-page lawsuit against Tarpon Springs in federal court in Tampa, saying the city had no grounds to deny the request.

A 1996 federal law says towns must accommodate the placement of enough towers to ensure that 911 callers can be located and that proper coverage is provided. Ridan contended in court that the city's denial contradicted that law, arguing that a gap in cell phone coverage on the city's western end has existed for years. Without a tower in that area now, wireless carriers cannot determine the location of a cell phone user who is calling 911 with the accuracy required by the federal government, the suit said.

To head off a potentially costly legal battle, city officials drafted an ordinance that encourages companies to build towers in nonresidential areas. Under the law, tower companies will preferably lease city-owned land where taxpayers can reap the benefits of monthly fees paid by the companies.

In March, voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum supporting the ordinance and calling for Tarpon Springs to extend the length of leases on city property to 20 years. The approved referendum also allows the city to collect as much as $2,500 a month from telecommunications companies that build towers on city property for the duration of the lease.

Barile said Ridan's settlement with the city will effectively end the company's earlier efforts to negotiate a lease with the Church on the Bayou on Whitcomb Boulevard. Barile had hoped to build a cross-shaped tower there for roughly half of what it will cost Ridan to lease the fire station property.

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out with the church, but it seems that the collective interest of the community as a whole has to win out over the interest of a small group," Barile said. "I'm paying more on city property than I would have paid on regular property, but that's just the way it goes."

Jim Payne, a church member and the church's chief negotiator on the deal, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

So far, two telecommunications companies - T-Mobile and Verizon - have agreed to rent space on the tower. Barile expects several other major carriers to follow suit in the coming months.

The City Commission is expected to vote on whether to approve the settlement within the next month.