The Annapolis City Council introduced legislation to lease a radio tower and small production studio to an area business Monday night.

The four-year lease with Bethesda-based Cortona Media has not yet been signed. The media company would pay “the greater of either” $500 a month or “the tenant’s monthly ‘Advertising Rent’ equal to one percent of [its] monthly gross advertising revenues generated through the operation of the radio station…,” according to the proposed lease.

“Steve and I love Annapolis. We are making plans now and we’ll see how it goes,” Kirk Litton, executive manager for Cortona Media, said last week, referring to Steven Kingston, Litton’s business partner.

In 1998, Kingston, a career radio broadcaster, purchased WRNR as part of a $2.4 million deal. Kingston’s studio was located in Annapolis and broadcast adult alternative rock for nearly 25 years using equipment based in Grasonville before selling the station in 2022 for $1.54 million to the Timonium-based Peter and John Ministries Radio Fellowship. Kingston ceased broadcasts in February 2023, after the sale was finalized.

The lease must now be reviewed by the Finance Committee, according to the legislation. The legislation takes effect upon passage, although Cortona Media would still need to sign the lease, Mitchelle Stephenson, spokesperson for the city, said.

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