JACKSON — A message of discontent from residents regarding a proposed cellular communications tower was heard loud and clear at the Jackson Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting on Dec. 19.
The applicant, Wireless Edge Towers LLC, is expected to return in February to consider making its case for the cell tower.
Dozens of people who live on Eltone Road and in the nearby Four Seasons at Metedeconk Lakes community came out to oppose the tower. The applicant was seeking nine variances from the zoning board.
The application calls for the cell tower to be built on a heavily wooded piece of municipal property just off Exit 22 on the westbound side of Interstate 195.
The tract’s close proximity to a number of residential properties along Eltone Road was the chief concern for Brad Gagnon, who purchased his family’s home a year ago and said he would be the closest residence to the cell tower.
According to the application, the tower will stand 120 feet tall.
However, according to Gagnon, that figure does not take additional radio antennas and a lightning rod into account, which could put the tower’s actual height at 130 feet.
According to the objectors, that 10-foot disparity could impact the tower’s required safety calculations because Jackson’s municipal code requires that there be a 150 percent fall-zone radius in the event of a structural failure.
At the 120-foot height, the safety radius would be 180 feet. However, at the 130-foot height, the safety radius would be 195 feet.
Gagnon said his home would be about 193 feet away from the cell tower.
“So that would fall about 3 feet into my bedroom. That could be where my head is,” he said. “Regardless of the safety factor, it could fall within my property line.”
A variance for the cell tower’s fall radius was one of the nine variance requests placed before the zoning board.
Other concerns expressed by the objectors included a potential negative impact on property values if the tower was built in a residential zone. For the residents of Four Seasons, the cell tower could also be considered an eyesore.
“The reason why zoning codes are written and hopefully enforced is to maintain a certain quality of life that cannot hurt property values,” Gagnon said.
Other variances being sought include a tower height variance, as a single-carrier tower can be a maximum of 100 feet tall, according to the township code; front and rear setback variances due to the narrowness of the property; a conditional use variance due to the tower’s location in an R-1 residential zone (cell towers are not permitted in that zone); and a lot zone variance that would waive the township’s 5-acre requirement for communications towers.
In an attempt to be proactive, the residents proposed two alternate locations for the cell tower. One location is the Jackson Township Municipal Utilities Authority water treatment site off Hyson Road, which already has two cell towers on the property. The second location is the Vista Center, which is more than 100 acres of open space.
“We understand the need for cell towers. We don’t live in 1990 anymore and this is a part of our existence,” Gagnon said. “Our argument is that there are appropriate places to put [the tower].”
When the public comment portion of the Dec. 19 meeting ended, the professionals representing Wireless Edge Towers opted to table the application until February and to consider the suggested alternate locations and the residents’ concerns.
Barry Calogero, who at the time of that meeting was the chairman of the zoning board and is now a member of the Jackson Township Council, said, “I think it was a great opportunity for the residents to be heard and I think it was a great outreach by the applicant to say, ‘You know what, let’s move the application to February and see if there is a better site available.’ ”