February 14 session
By:Marianne Hooker
At its Feb. 14 meeting, the Pennington Planning Board approved several hardship and use variances requested by Nextel Communications.
The board also gave Nextel preliminary and final site plan approval for its project. Nextel proposes to install an additional antenna on the monopole tower at the Pennington Fire Company building, and to build an auxiliary equipment shelter nearby. The Pennington Fire Company headquarters is at 120 Broemel Place, which is in the R-80 zone.
Attorney Doug Heinold presented the case on the applicant’s behalf. His witnesses were Chris Thomas, a radio frequency engineer; Kevin Wolf, a surveyor and planner; and Adam Braillard, a Nextel staff member who is responsible for site acquisition.
Mr. Heinold said Nextel provides two types of cellular communications: wireless phone service, and a two-way radio system. The company is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to provide cellular service at a certain frequency. In return, Nextel is responsible for providing coverage to the public that is "seamless." If they do not improve their coverage in areas that are poorly served, the FCC could revoke their license. At present the Borough of Pennington is one area where Nextel customers frequently lose calls. Installation of the proposed antenna is expected to remedy this situation.
Mr. Heinold said Nextel was requesting two use variances: one due to the height of the proposed antenna installation, and one because cellular towers are not a permitted use in the R-80 zone. He noted that when the tower at the fire facility was first approved, the board recommended that space be provided so that two other carriers could locate their equipment there. The proposed installation would represent just such a collocation.
Nextel also was requesting some hardship variances for the proposed equipment shelter, which would be a 10- by 20-foot "pillbox" located near the rear corner of the property. The variances included a rear yard setback variance, a side yard setback variance, and a variance for the total amount of impervious surface coverage on the lot. As proposed, the shelter would be 4 feet from the rear property line, and 4½ feet from the property line on one side. The amount of impervious surface coverage on the lot would increase from 84 to 86 percent of the total surface, assuming that the equipment shelter was installed as planned, and also assuming that the building expansion now planned by the fire company was approved and constructed.
Mr. Heinold said the new installation would benefit the fire company, which uses Nextel for some of its emergency communications. He said Nextel considered two other sites on existing towers as possible homes for the new antenna. One of these towers is already fully occupied, and the other has a less desirable location from the standpoint of coverage.
To document the present gaps in Nextel’s service coverage, Mr. Thomas showed a map depicting areas where their calls are most often dropped. He said that Nextel’s technology is unique to the company. With other cellular providers, a call that is dropped may be switched to another carrier, but this is not true in the case of Nextel. The coverage radius of the proposed antenna would be approximately two miles.
Mr. Thomas also addressed the issue of electromagnetic fields. He said the proposed installation would create emissions that were less than ¼ of a percent of the maximum amount permitted by the FCC.
There was some discussion among board members concerning the appearance of the proposed shelter. They liked the idea of giving the shelter a stucco façade, so it would match the main fire company building. Nextel’s plans called for a 6-foot fence around the shelter, but most of the board thought this would be unnecessary. Mr. Heinold thought a fence might be required by Nextel’s insurance carrier.
Bill Naylor, fire company president, also testified on the Nextel application. He confirmed that the fire company uses Nextel’s cellular service, and said they would like to see the new antenna installed as quickly as possible. The system works well within Hopewell Township, he said, but calls are often dropped in the area around the firehouse.
Board member Kate O’Neill said she was concerned about the recent proliferation of cellular towers. She asked where the next Nextel installation was likely to go. Mr. Thomas said it would probably be somewhere around Bear Tavern Road.
At this point the board voted unanimously to approve the variances and the site plan for the Nextel installation, subject to the following conditions:
* The letter from Nextel’s structural engineer will be reviewed by the Borough engineer.
* The shelter will be built with a stucco finish that is compatible in appearance with the firehouse building.
* Nextel will submit a landscape plan that meets the approval of the Borough’s planning consultant.
* Nextel will ascertain whether the proposed fence is required for insurance reasons; if it is, it will be moved inward toward the shelter by about 2½ feet.
* Nextel will submit plans to install bollards to protect the equipment shelter.
* Nextel will remove the equipment shelter if it is no longer being used by Nextel or a successor to house communication equipment.
* Nextel will comply with the items mentioned in the borough engineer’s memo.
In other business, the board adopted a resolution of memorialization to formalize its approval last month of a variance request by the Pennington First Aid Squad.