A cell-phone company wants to build a 60-foot antenna made to look like a palm tree at the historic Manoa Chinese Cemetery.

T-Mobile has been trying to get an antenna put up in Manoa for more than three years, but an earlier plan to install an antenna on a private residential lot was fiercely opposed by residents and so was scrapped.

A presentation on the issue is set for Sept. 5 at a Manoa Neighborhood Board meeting. T-Mobile is seeking a minor conditional use permit and a zoning waiver to exceed the maximum height limit.

Reaction to the new plan is mixed.

"That's OK, let them build it," said Kathryn Kemoto, who has lived in Manoa for 60 years and has a house across from the cemetery. "As long as they don't make noise."

But Art Muraoka, a resident of Manoa since 1964, said he didn't want to see the antenna marring the landscape — especially of the cemetery. "I would be opposed to it," he said.

With more than 10,000 graves on 11 acres, Manoa Chinese Cemetery is the oldest and largest Chinese cemetery in the Islands. It is listed on the state Register of Historic Places.

Every year in April, hundreds descend on the cemetery to celebrate the Ching Ming festival, cleaning gravestones and offering prayers and gifts to honor their ancestors.

The Lin Yee Chung Association, which owns the cemetery, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Hawai'i T-Mobile General Manager Roy Irei said the nonprofit has agreed to lease a 400-square-foot parcel for the antenna, which will sit on a concrete pad.

Terms of the lease were not disclosed.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting will decide whether to approve the conditional use permit and height waiver after a final environmental assessment on the project is submitted.

If given the go-ahead, T-Mobile plans to start the project immediately. It will take about six weeks to build the antenna, which will be enclosed by a fence and next to a pavilion near the entrance of the cemetery. Its "fronds" will disguise six antennas for cell-phone reception.

"It's going to blend in," Irei said.

The draft environmental assessment conducted for the antenna pointed out there are palms nearby that will further disguise the pole.

The antenna "will be consistent with the character of the surrounding vegetation," the study said.

Similar antennas, made to look like palm trees or pines, are in place elsewhere in the Islands. They are designed to extend coverage to more places. And in the case of Manoa, T-Mobile wants to better serve customers in the back of the valley and hikers who use nearby trails.

Irei said he hasn't heard any complaints from residents about the proposal.

Other neighborhoods have raised concerns about the antennas over fear they emit radiation that could affect people's health, though studies about the effects of the antennas are inconclusive.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.