By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A cellular communications tower proposed by Verizon Wireless will be constructed at 363 Monmouth Road (Route 537) after a state Superior Court judge directed the Freehold Township Planning Board to approve the company’s application.
The board formally approved the cell tower’s construction on April 20.
New York SMSA Limited Partnership (Verizon Wireless) was seeking a use variance that would permit the company to install a 120-foot-tall monopole cell tower at 363 Monmouth Road.
The 6.3-acre parcel is an undeveloped wooded lot with a clearing in the middle of the tract where the monopole will be placed. The property is in the vicinity of open space parcels, YMCA Camp Topanemus and residences.
A wireless communications facility is not permitted in the R-80 residential zone where Verizon Wireless wants to place the cell tower in order to fill a gap in coverage in this area of Freehold Township and neighboring Millstone Township.
The application also proposed the construction of a fenced-in compound that will contain the cell tower and an equipment shelter.
In September of 2016, following the presentation of testimony by professionals representing Verizon Wireless and objections from neighboring residents, the Freehold Planning Board denied granting a use variance needed for the cell tower’s construction.
Although board members voted 4-3 in favor of a motion to grant the use variance, five affirmative votes were needed to grant the exception from municipal law which prohibits cell towers at the location where the company sought to place one.
In response, Verizon Wireless filed legal action against the board and the matter moved to Superior Court. The court ruled in favor of Verizon Wireless and on March 28, Judge Dennis O’Brien directed the board to approve the cell tower application.
According to O’Brien’s order, the court found that the board acted in an arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable manner in denying Verizon Wireless’ application for variance and site plan approvals for the cell tower.
Following a final review of the application, board members voted to approve the plan during the April 20 meeting.
Verizon Wireless has legal action pending against Freehold Township for a 2015 denial of a cell tower at 391 Monmouth Road (Route 537). As of April 20, that legal action is on hold, according to representatives of Verizon Wireless.
In June, the board will hear a new application from Verizon Wireless, which is proposing to construct a cell tower on Robertsville Road. That application is expected to have its initial hearing on June 15.