About 50 people turned out for issue
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Township Council got an earful from about 50 people — a mix of township residents and Bristol-Myers Squibb employees — who spoke out against the proposal to put up one or two cell phone towers on township-owned land on Carter Road.
The Township Council meeting room at the Municipal Building was nearly full as the council listened to 16 speakers voice their objections Tuesday night, but no action was taken. The council may decide whether to go forward with the plan at its May 20 meeting.
Tuesday night’s meeting followed the Planning Board’s endorsement of the proposal last month. Under state law, a municipality may present plans to the Planning Board for a courtesy review of a project it has proposed, but the board’s approval is not needed.
At Township Council’s request, the Planning Board reviewed bid specifications for the two towers over the course of three meetings. Now, it is up to Township Council to decide whether to approve bid specifications for the towers and then seek bids.
The selection of the township-owned Carter Road site grew out of the Cellco Partnership’s request for a use variance to build a 145-foot cell phone tower on the Peterson’s Nursery property on the corner of Route 206 and Province Line Road. The Zoning Board of Adjustment denied the use variance application in December. The use variance was required because the Peterson’s Nursery property is zoned residential and does not permit cell towers.
The Carter Road site, which is adjacent to B-MS, is zoned Research and Development 1, which permits cell towers. The site was identified by a Cellco Partnership radio frequency expert as a suitable site for a cell tower during the course of the public hearing on the use variance application. Tests were conducted and showed that building a cell tower on that site would close a previously presented cell phone coverage gap in northern Lawrence Township.
Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun told the audience Tuesday that township officials had asked B-MS whether it would be interested in providing more land to the township so the towers could be moved away from residences. He also asked if it would be interested in either swapping land or locating the towers on its property. The answer to all three questions was “no.”
Planning Board attorney David Roskos acknowledged audience members’ concerns about radio frequency emissions Tuesday night, but he added that township officials cannot deny the cell phone towers because of those concerns.
”The Planning Board and the zoning board can’t get into health concerns. It is not our bailiwick. That’s pretty much where you find yourselves,” Mr. Roskos told Township Council and the audience.
When the Township Council meeting was opened for public comment, Larkspur Lane resident Cristina Casole handed the council copies of a petition protesting the location of the cell towers. Most of the signers are the parents of children enrolled at B-MS’ day-care center, less than 600 feet from the proposed towers.
The towers would have a “significant impact” on the 200 to 300 children enrolled at the day care center, said Ms. Casole, whose two sons attend the center. The center is only open to B-MS employees and their families. Many parents only learned of the issue Monday, she said.
”We want you to be aware that parents are highly concerned,” Ms. Casole said. “I am coming to you as a mother. I want to protect my children. Most studies (on the effects of radio frequency emissions) are conducted on adult males. The long-term effects (on children) are not known. We need to think about the future of our children.”
Michelle Gara, whose daughter attends the day-care center, said she has read studies that suggest there are physiological effects on humans who live or work less than 1,200 feet away from the towers. The Langhorne, Pa., resident said other countries have conducted long-term studies on the issue and the results show increases in prostate, bone and skin cancers.
Tomlyn Drive resident Steve Parrish, whose home is near the Peterson’s Nursery property, said “the real issue” is which is the better site — the Peterson’s Nursery property or the Carter Road parcel. That determination was made some time ago, because the Carter Road site is zoned for cell towers, he said. The township should follow its own Master Plan and zoning ordinance, he added.
Sondra Marcus, who also lives on Tomlyn Drive, agreed with Mr. Parrish that township officials should abide by the Master Plan — which sets out the vision for the town — and the zoning ordinance, which gives its life. Township residents “rely on the integrity” of those two documents, she said.
Eric Wimmers, who lives on Tall Timbers Drive, and David Augeri, of Carter Road, said it is about choosing one neighborhood over another — the one behind the Peterson’s Nursery property, or the one on Carter Road.
Mr. Wimmers said the Carter Road neighborhood is pastoral, and also noted the proximity of the B-MS daycare center to the proposed towers. The Peterson’s Nursery property already has a business located on it, as well as billboards, he said, adding that the Peterson’s property is the better site.
When Mayor Mark Holmes closed the public participation portion of the meeting, Councilman Bob Bostock said, “It is clear, no matter what Township Council does, no one will be happy. This is one of those ‘Solomonic’ decisions.”
Councilman Michael Powers said “it’s déjà vu all over again” because Township Council is pre-empted by state law. The council could not adopt a living-wage ordinance because the state would not allow it, and now the township must make provisions for adequate cell phone coverage by law, he said.
Mr. Roskos agreed. “There are rules we have to live by. I have listened to the residents. I have been living with this for nine years,” Mr. Roskos said. He was the attorney for the Zoning Board of Adjustment when the Cellco Partnership sued the board for rejecting an earlier application in 1999.
Mayor Holmes said that “all across the state, this (cell towers) is a problem.” It’s difficult to make a decision, he said, adding that the only time people come out is when there is an issue that affects them.
”If we proposed putting the tower somewhere else, none of you would be here,” Mayor Holmes said. “Having said that, we tried to be transparent in the whole process. We will be deliberating on this issue in the next two weeks. We have to come to a decision. We were elected to make decisions for the good of the township.”
Once Township Council moved onto other business, the entire meeting hall cleared out.