OLD MIAKKA, Fla. — A Sarasota County resident is voicing her concerns about a proposed telecommunication tower that would be built on the property of an Old Miakka church.

The church is a special place for Lindsey Leigh.

“We have so many community events here," she said. "It is a landmark. It’s just a magical, sacred space."

She’s lived in Old Miakka for six years and says the community here is her family.

“We love it here. We moved here to get away from all of the nonsense,” she said.

But she recently learned about a proposed special exception petition to be considered by the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners that she worries will change the “old Florida” feeling of the area.

A nearly 200-foot-high monopole telecommunication tower would be built on the Old Miakka Church property at 1620 Myakka Road. She says the place she loves so much would no longer be the same.

“Without getting emotional, it’s so close to home," she said. "We have so many families surrounding this area. We have livestock and children."

On Monday, Leigh started an online petition about the proposed tower, saying she is concerned about the environmental impact, the affect the aesthetics of the tower will have on the area, and health concerns, among other things.

“Not only that, I think from an aesthetic standpoint, it defeats everything that we’ve been doing," she said. "We have fought to keep the country, country."

While Leigh works to keep Old Miakka the same, she knows that things could change soon.

There will be a public hearing regarding the telecommunication tower at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Sarasota County Administration Center. Spectrum News has asked the Sarasota County Commissioners for comment but has not received a reply.

Representatives from the county's Planning and Development Services Department said the public hearing is standard for special exception petitions.