Property is township-owned
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township officials are forging ahead with a suggestion to locate up to two cell towers on township-owned land on Carter Road, near the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Township Council authorized Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun to prepare bid specifications for putting the towers on the 2-acre property Tuesday night. A contract to erect a tower or towers on the site would be awarded to the cell phone carrier that offers to pay the most rent, he said.
The issue of locating cell towers on the Carter Road site was raised during the course of the Cellco Partnership’s use variance application for a cell tower on the Peterson’s Nursery property on Route 206 at Province Line Road, which is pending before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The zoning board was expected to hear additional testimony on the application as the Ledger went to press. A use variance is needed because cell towers are not permitted in the Environmental Protection-1 residential zone that Peterson’s Nursery occupies.
A radio frequency engineer hired by the Cellco Partnership identified the Carter Road property — located north of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s driveway — as a possible site for a cell tower during the series of public hearings on the use variance application. The Carter Road property is zoned Research and Development 1, which permits cell towers.
Tuesday night, Mr. Krawczun suggested moving ahead with the possibility of locating one or two cell phone towers on the Carter Road site. The radio frequency expert for the Cellco Partnership said a cell tower on the site would close the gap in cell phone coverage that exists on Route 206 in the northern part of the township.
”It would be my recommendation that we try to market this site as an alternate (site to the Peterson’s Nursery property),” Mr. Krawczun said. “We could go out to bid with some restrictions in place.”
Councilwoman Pam Mount agreed that the township could incorporate conditions in the bid specifications. If the technology changes and the cell towers are not needed, the township could require the cell phone carrier to remove the towers as one of the conditions, for example, she said.
Councilman Rick Miller pointed out that the towers — which could be as tall as 180 feet — would tower over the tallest trees in the area. The township’s radio frequency consultant suggested that with new technology, the towers could be 160 feet tall — not the 180 feet that has been suggested.
After the meeting Tuesday night, Mr. Krawczun said he expects to begin work on preparing the bid specifications. He said he did not know what impact, if any, Township Council’s decision would have on the Cellco Partnership application.

