LAWRENCE: Hearing on cell tower postponed

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The public hearing on Liberty Towers LLC’s application to build a cell tower at the Trenton Farmers Market, on Princeton Avenue and Spruce Street, has been postponed until the Planning Board’s Sept. 19 meeting.
   Planning Board Chairman Paul Penna made the announcement at the start of the board’s Monday night meeting. The applicant had submitted some information with the Planning Board’s radio frequency consultant Friday, and there was not enough time to review it, he said.
   The public hearing on the application began in February, but subsequent meetings were postponed because of outstanding issues that the applicant had not been able to answer, such as the height of the tower and whether there is an existing tower nearby that would be suitable.
   Liberty Towers LLC is seeking minor site plan approval and a conditional use variance to build a 150-foot-tall tower on an unused portion of the Trenton Farmers Market property. A cell tower is permitted as a conditional use in the Highway Commercial zone.
   The tower would be constructed on land behind businesses, such as Dunkin’ Donuts, that have frontage on Princeton Avenue.
   The nearest residence in the Tiffany Woods development, off Spruce Street, is about 350 feet away from the base of the tower.
   But several residents — mostly those who live in the Tiffany Woods duplex development — have expressed concern that the proposed tower would negatively affect their property values.