By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — On the heels of its controversial approval in May of cell phone antennas in a residential neighborhood, the township Planning Board found itself again faced with an application from a wireless company at its meeting Wednesday night.
The board finally approved the application after more than three hours of discussion and testimony from experts on the plan, which calls for the addition of Verizon Wireless antennas on top of an existing 128-foot electric tower, extending its height by 19 feet.
The site is off Old Trenton Road, east of Edinburgh Road, between Colt Circle and Newport Drive, on the opposite side of the road. The tower, which already holds T-Mobile antennas, is 190 feet from the road on township-owned property that has been designated for farmland preservation. The nearest home is located across the road, about 390 feet from the base of the tower.
Also approved was an 11-foot by 30-foot equipment shelter that will be surrounded by a fence covered in fake shrubbery for aesthetic purposes.
A dissenting vote was cast by board member Michael Huey, who expressed serious concerns about the safety of the tower because of its proximity — less than a mile — from a community of senior citizens and the possible effects of cell signals on medical devices.
The board spent an extended period discussing this issue although the application met all requirements by the Federal Communications Commission on radio-frequency emissions from the tower by a very large margin, according to experts from the applicant and the township.
Once this has been established, the township has no jurisdiction over possible safety concerns related to the tower, according to Planning Board attorney Gerry Muller.
As with the earlier application, there were no variances required from the existing township ordinance, and the board had no choice but to approve it or face legal action. The board was, however, able to put a series of conditions on its approval in order to improve the aesthetics of the proposal.
Currently, there is a “substantial gap” in coverage for Verizon customers in the southeast section of the township, according to Paul Dugan, an engineer who testified for the company. He conducted extensive tests of signal strength and service in the township, he said, and determined the tower selected was the best to fill some of the gap.
The new antennas will improve signal in a radius of a couple of miles in each direction from the tower, he said, improving reception for drivers on several highly trafficked roads.
The board’s approval comes as township professionals work on an amendment to West Windsor’s ordinance on the placement of telecommunications facilities, which now encourages colocation on existing towers.
It is in response to residents’ concerns following the May approval of the attachment of nine T-Mobile antennas to an existing 111-foot tower, located southeast of the intersection of Penn-Lyle Road and Cedar Court, to extend the height of the tower another 6.5 feet. The tower is located in a utility right of way through a residential neighborhood and stands about 200 feet from the nearest home.
After they unsuccessfully opposed Planning Board approval of this tower, residents of the neighborhood asked the Township Council this month to pass an ordinance that would prevent such construction in the future.
Mr. Muller said a proposal is expected to be presented to the council at its meeting Monday night. It will try to improve the aesthetics of the towers, encouraging colocation on buildings rather than towers and the use of cabinets instead of sheds for electrical equipment, he said. It also will ask the applicant to demonstrate the proposed facility is the best to fill all gaps in coverage, now and in the future, he said.
Wednesday night, Mr. Dugan admitted there still were gaps in coverage for Verizon customers in West Windsor, but could not predict if or how those gaps might be filled in the future.
Mr. Muller said the proposed ordinance seeks to prevent wireless carriers from putting towers in one by one without looking at the bigger picture.
”We want to make sure there’s a showing they’re necessary, and there are no better alternatives,” he said.
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