FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — An application that proposes the construction of a wireless communications monopole has drawn the attention of residents who say they will fight the proposal.
New York SMSA Limited Partnership (Verizon Wireless) has filed an application with the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment and is proposing to construct a 120-foot-tall monopole with antennas in a residential zone at 391 Monmouth Road (Route 537) and Francis Mills Road, near Freehold Township’s border with Millstone Township.
The proposal also includes a 128-foottall lightning rod. The monopoles would be contained in a 50-by-50-foot compound with an equipment shelter and a 7-foot-tall board-on-board fence.
The proposed use is not permitted on the land that is zoned R-80 (2 acres) for lowdensity residential development and Verizon will be seeking a variance for the use it is proposing.
According to the application, the proposed facility will fill a gap in wireless services for Verizon Wireless customers.
The zoning board is scheduled to hear the proposal at 7:30 p.m. April 23 at the municipal building, Stillwells Corner Road.
Residents of the neighborhood have been meeting informally for the last month to discuss their opposition to the proposal, resident Mike Cavanaugh said.
“We have been getting educated on what happens when cell towers are placed,” he said.
The residents have learned that two major concerns they have about cell towers — health risks and a possible decline in property values — have been determined in previous cases to not be acceptable reasons for rejecting tower plans, Cavanaugh said.
Because of that precedent, the residents are “leaning toward fighting the [requested] variances,” resident Tuula Silverman said.
Because the granting of a variance by the zoning board is supposed to bring improvements and add value to a community, the homeowners are focusing on that aspect of the issue.
The cell tower “does not add value to our neighborhood,” Cavanaugh said.
Residents are also concerned with the proximity of the proposed cell tower to existing cell towers.
Teng Teng Kleiner, who lives near the site in question, said residents are being deprived of their rights and are scared.
“We are shocked that this is such an unsuitable lot,” she said, adding that what is best for the township is not best for residents.