Call them concealed cell towers, camouflaged telecom towers, or even their cheeky — and sometimes derisive — nickname: frankenpines.

Designed to resemble evergreen trees, two such cell towers sprouted in Toledo’s suburban Springfield Township, with the most recent located in a highly visible location along I-475/​U.S. 23 just south of the Airport Highway interchange.

“It’s a requirement in our code for residential districts: They need to fit in with their surroundings,” said Jacob Barnes, the township’s zoning officer.

The township’s two towers — both operated by Verizon — stand near Raymil Road, tucked beyond the Springfield High School softball field’s outfield, and along the freeway at the edge of property belonging to the Wolf Creek YMCA.

Not that they look unmistakably like trees. To function as telecommunications towers, they’re a bit taller than surrounding treetops. They’re also perfectly straight, unlike nature’s imperfect creations.

Early versions first erected a quarter-century ago tended to be a bit sparse on “branches” — especially closer to the ground. Their appearance attracted a fair amount of derision. Springfield Township’s new tower trees, by contrast, have fairly lush branch canopies.

“The township is happy with how it turned out. I assume the residents are as well,” Mr. Barnes said of the new tower by the YMCA, which, at 120 feet, is as tall as township regulations allow.

It’s near the Shadow Valley subdivision. Several subdivision residents turned out to object to the tower when it went before the township’s Board of Zoning Appeals for a permit last fall.

Brian Rogers, who lives in the 6200 block of Wyandotte Drive, said Wednesday that while he saw the concealment effort, “I’m still not happy that we have a cell tower in the area” because of “the side effects of the signals.”

“There’s plenty of proven data” that cellular signals have harmful health effects, he said, especially for children.

The tower’s tip can be seen peeking over the treetops from Joel Curcio’s nearby driveway. The Estateland Court resident said he suspects there are greater health consequences from carrying cell phones than there are from the towers.

“People my age, we just are happy to have better cell phone service,” Mr. Curcio said. “I like how they disguised it. ... My wife drives by it all the time and she didn’t even notice it.”

Mr. Barnes said the township has “not heard a thing since it went up.”

It’s much more obvious from the freeway and the YMCA, which is leasing the 60-foot-square site to Verizon.

“We’re very happy with how it looks,” said Brad Toft, president of the YMCA of Greater Toledo. “All the feedback I’ve heard has been very positive.”

The YMCA is open to the idea of hosting similar towers on its other area properties, Mr. Toft said.

Verizon did not respond to a request for comment.

Sean McLernon, CEO of Stealth Concealment, a Charleston, S.C., firm involved in the industry since its infancy, said camouflaged towers typically cost 30 to 40 percent more than conventional ones.

“... But [telecommunications companies] aren’t going to get the site if they don’t do it,” said Mr. McLernon, whose company was not involved in the Springfield Township towers.

Mr. McLernon said his business now is mostly involved in other forms of concealment that feature hiding telecommunications transmitters on or inside purpose-built structures designed to look like other buildings, such as clock towers or church steeples.

Contact David Patch at dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

First Published July 20, 2017, 4:00 a.m.