Proponents were expected to speak about a proposed 140-foot cell tower on the Peterson’s Nursery property on May 16
By: Lea Kahn
A radio frequency expert is expected to outline the need for a proposed 140-foot cell tower on the Peterson’s Nursery property when the Zoning Board of Adjustment continues its public hearing on the Cellco application Wednesday, May 16.
The 7:30 p.m. meeting, which will be dedicated exclusively to the Cellco Partnership application, will be held in the lower level conference room at the Municipal Building on Route 206.
Dominic Villecco, a principal in V-COMM LLC, had already testified at the board’s March 28 meeting on the need for a cell tower on the Peterson’s Nursery property at the corner of Route 206 and Province Line Road for Verizon Wireless. Next week, he will discuss the need for the antenna by co-applicants Sprint-Nextel and Cingular-AT&T.
Mr. Villecco told the zoning board that unless the cell tower is built, cell users would continue to experience poor quality service. Putting up the tower would cut down on the number of failed calls, he said.
In his testimony, Mr. Villecco told the zoners that call failures for Verizon Wireless users average 3 percent of all calls in the vicinity of the Peterson’s Nursery property. A failed call means a call that has been dropped or blocked. The general industry standard for failed calls is in the 1 to 2 percent range.
The Cellco Partnership, which has joined with Sprint-Nextel and Cingular AT&T wireless phone carriers, is seeking a use variance for the cell tower. The use variance is needed because cell towers are not permitted in residential zones in Lawrence. The site is zoned Environmental Protection-1, which is a residential zone.
Under Cellco’s proposal, three equipment sheds would be built within a 50-by-55-foot area at the base of a 140-foot cell phone tower. The tower and equipment sheds are proposed for an area at the rear of the Peterson’s Nursery property. The equipment would be shared by Cellco and its co-applicants.
Cellco has been battling Lawrence Township officials for eight years in its quest to build the tower, which it claims is necessary to provide reception for cell phone users. The zoning board rejected the company’s use variance request in 1999 for a 120-foot tower that would have been used only by Verizon Wireless.
After its application was rejected by the zoning board in 1999, the Cellco Partnership sued the board in state Superior Court and lost. Cellco appealed the case to the Appellate Division of state Superior Court, which upheld the lower court’s ruling in 2002.
Last year, the Cellco Partnership teamed up with the other carriers to build a 140-foot shared tower. The zoning board refused to hear the use variance application, claiming it was too similar to the 1999 application.
The Cellco Partnership sued again, and state Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg ruled that the zoning board should hear the application. The judge ruled the application is different because the tower is taller and it involves four co-applicants, as opposed to one.