LAWRENCE: Proposal to raise height of cell tower from 100 to 150 feet

A straightforward application to the Lawrence Township Planning Board to increase the height of a planned cellular communications tower on the Trenton Farmers Market property Monday nig

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   A straightforward application to the Lawrence Township Planning Board to increase the height of a planned cellular communications tower on the Trenton Farmers Market property Monday night has morphed into one that could change the design of that tower.
   New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC wants to increase the height of the 100-foot-tall tower — which was approved in 2011 but has not yet been built — by 50 feet to accommodate its antennas. The tower is planned to be built near the Princeton Avenue entrance into the farmers market property.
   The Planning Board wants more information from the applicant, which agreed to continue the public hearing to the board’s May 5 meeting. The 7 p.m. meeting will be held in the lower level conference room at the Municipal Building.
   The initial application filed by Liberty Towers LLC called for a 150-foot-tall tower, but the height was reduced during the Planning Board’s public hearing on it in 2011. Now, New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC — which is also known as AT&T Mobility — wants to increase the height to 150 feet. It will rent space on the tower.
   The tower that was approved in 2011 was designed to be a unipole, which would hide the antennas inside a flagpole-like structure. But during the public hearing Monday night, there was some discussion that the design of the tower might be changed to a monopole, in which the antennas would be placed on the outside of the tower.
   Mark Rubin, a radio frequency engineer for AT&T Mobility, told the Planning Board Monday that the company looked for other sites for its antennas in an effort to fill in the gaps in service. The company learned of the Liberty Towers LLC tower, which it believes is geographically positioned to provide good coverage to its customers.
   ”The brochures in the phone store represent the areas that they cover, but not in detail. You would need a map the size of this room to do that. If you zoom in on the map, you’ll see there are pockets of unreliable service,” Mr. Rubin said.
   AT&T Mobility has broader needs because its customers have more devices, such as iPhones, iPads and tablets, Mr. Rubin said. And given the density of population and the major road networks that commuters use, “this is a great area for a carrier to want to put an antenna,” he said.
   Mr. Rubin recommended changing the design from the unipole/flagpole design to the monopole design because it would allow more carriers to “co-locate” on the tower. There would be three carriers with antennas on the tower — AT&T Mobility and two others, he said.
   His client’s primary goal is to extend the tower’s height by 50 feet, Mr. Rubin said. He said he was only suggesting a change in the design of the communications tower. All the carriers are jockeying for position, he said, adding that AT&T Mobility would like its antennas to be located at 135 feet and 145 feet above the ground.
   Planning Board Vice Chairman Kim Taylor said the concern that was raised during the 2011 public hearing on the communications tower was “an enormous tower in the backyard” of nearby homes in the Tiffany Woods development. That’s why the height of the tower was reduced to 100 feet, she said.
   Planning Board attorney Neil Yoskin said people may object to the aesthetics of the tower, but a shorter tower might affect the coverage area. Many people have abandoned their landlines for cell phones and smart phones, he added.
   Bruce Eisenstein, the Planning Board’s radio frequency expert, said the unipole design does not allow for enough antennas to be placed inside it. He suggested that it might be better for the township to have a traditional monopole at a lower height and that can accommodate more antennas.
   ”It makes an uglier tower at a lower height,” Mr. Eisenstein said, but there will be more coverage.