By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
A planning expert testified against Verizon Wireless’ proposed cell tower at the Woods Road firehouse last Wednesday, as members of the Hillsborough Township Zoning Board of Adjustment continue to consider the telecommunication giant’s ongoing application., Attorney Robert F. Simon called upon Peter G. Steck, a community planning consultant, to testify during the April 5 hearing on the project’s potential impact on nearby residential properties., Verizon wants to build the proposed tower on the property of the Woods Road firehouse to improve service, especially with 4G phones that people increasingly use to reach high-demand internet service, to the 2,200-home area., The telecommunications company would then pay the fire company an undetermined amount per year for the right to operate behind the firehouse, beyond the outfield of a baseball field., The proposal needs zoning variances, primarily to place a cell tower and house equipment in a residential zone, close to homes. The ordinance says a tower must be 1,000 feet from a residence., Verizon is also asking the Board of Adjustment for a variance to come within 2,000 feet of the Woods Road Elementary School (the proposed tower is 940 feet away), and to exceed the allowable maximum 35-foot height for a structure in the zone. The proposed tower is planned to stand 126 feet tall, including the lightning rod., The proposal not only calls for the construction of a 120-foot cell tower, but also the corresponding facility will be powered in an emergency by a natural gas generator., One of the main issues he brought before the board, which did not have Chairman Dr. Steven Sireci Jr. or Vice Chairman Frank Herbert present at the time, was the proposed monopole’s high visibility., To illustrate his point, Steck provided aerial and infrared imagery from the state Department of Environmental Protection of the Woods Road firehouse property and the surrounding area from 2007 and 2012., “Because the area is not heavily wooded and because it’s a single-family area where people typically have open grassed rear yards, this is a facility that’s visible from a lot of different locations,” Steck said. “Despite the fact that there can be stealth technology, that doesn’t make this site, in my opinion, tolerable because of its high visibility.”, During a January meeting, testimony from William F. Masters Jr., a professional planner, suggested that a potential flagpole “stealth” variant of the cell tower could allow for a monopole that would have less of an impact on the residential area. Other stealth options, such as making the pole look like a tree, are also available., Another problem with selecting that location, Steck said, was that he felt Verizon had an opportunity to search for a suitable property in a wide area given the largely flat topography of the region., “In my opinion, there’s a lot more flexibility in finding a suitable location than otherwise would be the case,” he said. “It seems to me, based on what I read in the record, that the half mile search area is essentially artificially restrictive,” Steck said., With “more flexibility, more opportunities” to find a suitable property for the pole, Steck said there were bound to be more suitable options to the company., Steck also testified that under township regulations, the firehouse property is only allowed to have a single principal use. Currently, however, there are two uses, since adjacent recreational baseball fields are part of the same property. Adding the cell tower, he said, would create a third use and as such, would require an additional variance., The planner also echoed previous testimony that warned of a potential increase in the monopole’s height once other communications carriers begin co-habitating the pole., The next hearing on the proposed Verizon cell tower is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hillsborough Township Municipal Complex.
