Cell Tower Application Delayed

Residents will have to wait until the Aug. 31 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting to hear more information—and to comment--on a proposed T-Mobile cellular antenna.

The board ran out of time to hear the full application during its meeting Tuesday.

Only four residents were able to ask the first of T-Mobile's experts questions about the tower application because of the zoning board's 10:30 p.m. adjournment time. The cellular tower antenna, which is slated for a flagpole that would be installed at the Green Knoll Volunteer Fire Company, was the second item on the agenda.

"Normally, these applications take two or three nights, at least," Zoning Board Chairman William Vornehm said. "If the expectation that you're not going to be able to comment tonight doesn't appear, you will be given a chance to ask questions of each witness as they appear."

Testimony on the first item, where a resident requested additional lot coverage for a pool and decking, ran over an hour, so representatives with the T-Mobile request could not present their case until almost 9 p.m.

The T-Mobile application discussed attaching six cellular power antenas to a flagpole that would be at the fire house, in addition to placing new radio equipment in a container at the base of the flagpole. Since the antenna and equipment would be in a residential zone, T-Mobile must seek a use variance in order to place the antenna panels on the flagpole, as well as variances for height, lot coverage and fence height.

Jennifer Carillo-Perez—of Trenk, DiPasquale, Webster, Della Fera & Sodono, P.C.—represented T-Mobile for the application, with the intent of having four witnesses supporting the application. The witnesses would have been a health and safety expert, a radio frequency engineer, an engineer and a planner, Ms. Carillo-Perez said. The health and safey expert, Daniel Collins of Pinnacle Telecom Group, was the only witness with time to testify Tuesday.

According to Collins, the proposed antenna's radiofrequency emissions would only a tiny fraction of the limit set by Federal Communications Commission. As per FCC regulations, the firm used a standard engineering formula for determining cellular tower frequency waves.

"It's built to be conservative," Collins said. "It overstates reality. It results in a radio frequency calculated level that's higher than the actual level that would occur because of conservative assumptions."

Check back later today for additional coverage of the beginnings of the cell antenna application.