By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE – An application to construct a cellular communications tower at 237 Woodville Road in Millstone Township has been approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
A Google map indicates Woodville Road is also known as Smithburg Road and as Monmouth County Route 527A, and that 237 Woodville Road is in the vicinity of Roberts Road.
On Sept. 28, board members granted a use variance, height variance and preliminary and final site plan approval to telephone and broadband provider Gaelic Communications to construct a 125-foot-tall monopole tower. The tower will be extendable to 145 or 153 feet.
Representatives of Gaelic Communications made their second appearance before the board to request approval for the tower’s construction, following an appearance on May 25. Attorney Joseph O’Neill presented the application.
According to previous testimony, the company was awarded a land lease for a telecommunications tower in 2015 by the Township Committee following a municipal bid process.
Because the planned construction of the tower will occur on municipal property, zoning board attorney Gregory Vella said he did not believe the firm’s appearance before the board was necessary, but was required by the township for purposes of transparency.
According to Dominic Villecco, the president and founder of telecommunications engineering company V-COMM, the purpose of the Woodville Road tower will be to correct cellular coverage inconsistencies in the area.
Neighboring cell tower sites to the proposed cell tower are at Sweetmans Lane in Manalapan; at Route 527 and Siloam Road in Freehold Township; and at Back Bone Hill Road and at Route 33 in Millstone. The proposed tower is approximately in the center of those existing sites.
A computer-generated map previously provided by Villecco showed that cellular coverage at the existing sites did not fully extend to the location of the proposed Woodville Road tower.
“We do not have very good continuous coverage throughout this area,” Villecco said. “The purpose for this site is to fill this gap.”
At the Sept. 28 meeting, planner David Karlebach, representing the applicant, made a case for the Woodville Road site being a suitable location for the cell tower in other ways.
“This (site) allows for the tower to be located in a manner which increases distances from roads and homes and maximizes buffering,” he said.
According to Karlebach, the New Jersey Supreme Court found that the most significant detrimental effect to the public of granting a use variance for a monopole is generally the monopole’s aesthetic appearance. He said he does not believe the proposed monopole will cause a problem in terms of visibility.
“The mature vegetation surrounding this site, the rolling topography and the curvilinear road network in concert help to reduce or eliminate the visibility of the monopole,” he said. “Photo simulations indicate the majority of visibility occurs from Woodville Road/Smithburg Road. (The monopole) will have limited or no visibility from the other local roads.”
The planner said the height variance was necessary for Verizon Wireless, which will be a carrier on the cell tower, to fulfill its federal mandate to provide reliable coverage to the area.
Public benefits of the tower, according to Karlebach, are access to Verizon’s 4G LTE network and enhanced public safety through improved wireless communications, increased work productivity and efficiency.
“The public benefits that are derived by improved wireless communications in the area outweigh any detriment associated with the variances,” Karlebach said.
Residents Arlene Yarbrough of Woodville Road and Melissa Foster of Roberts Road expressed concern about the impact the tower would have on their homes.
“All and all, I think that as board members, I want you to deeply consider what effects (the tower) will have on the area,” Yarbrough said. “Even though it may only be a small community, I think we deserve more than a cell tower right in our backyard. I hope you will consider what it will do to our way of life.”
“I moved (to Millstone) for the environment that is present here, a rural area known for peace and quiet,” Foster said. “I feel disappointed we are losing that rural feel. I think something like this would be better in a commercial area.”
Foster said she does not believe trees will obscure the tower, particularly when they lose their leaves in the winter.
O’Neill said the monopole is necessary and he said it would be as unobtrusive on the environment as possible.
“(The tower) is on a heavily wooded lot, it is set back, it is away from the road,” O’Neill said. “The tower is not invisible and if you are standing next to the generator/air conditioner (at the site), you will hear that. We have taken as many steps as we possibly can and that are required by the township to mitigate all of those conditions, but the tower is set back in a rural area away from as many people as possible.”
Prior to voting on the application, zoning board Chairman Michael Novellino said, “Nobody wants (a tower) in their backyard and I understand fully the residents’ concerns about that. The sad truth is that it has to go somewhere in town and somebody has to be next to it. Is it unfair? Yes. Is there much we can do about it? If the federal government says we have to let them put towers up, then there is not much we can do about it.”
Board member Barry Frost voiced his support for the cell tower because he said its presence will enhance communications for emergency personnel and improve safety in the surrounding area.
“If it is a matter of emergencies and something that somebody needs to save their life, there is nothing more important,” Frost said. “Even the rural (nature) of this township pales in comparison to the preservation of life. I will vote in favor of the application because to me it can become a matter of life and death, and that supersedes any importance about the beauty of anything. Life to me is more precious than anything else.”
Novellino, Frost, Steve Morelli, Steve Lambros, Robert Bailey, Anthony Conoscenti Al Ferro voted in favor of the application under conditions set forth in the resolution of approval.