When residents who oppose the placement of a cellular communications tower on Robertsville Road in Freehold Township continue to make their case at the Oct. 30 meeting of the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, they will be trying to convince the board not to grant a variance to the applicant, Omnipoint.
Omnipoint, more commonly known as T-Mobile, is proposing to construct a 120- foot-tall monopole with cellular antennas and a related equipment shed at 169 Robertsville Road. The application requires a use variance because a cell tower is not a permitted use on the residential property.
The previous hearing on the application was held at the zoning board's Sept. 25 meeting.
The Oct. 30 hearing will be held in the main meeting room of the Freehold Township municipal building, Stillwells Corner Road.
The Freehold Township residents may want to consider the successful fight against a cell tower that was recently waged in Franklin Square, Hempstead, N.Y. Residents in that Long Island community knocked down a proposed cell tower with a final vote on Oct. 2.
In that case, Omnipoint wanted to build a 65-foot-tall cell tower in front of the Franklin Square Shopping Plaza. Community members were outraged at the idea and came together to form the Franklin Square United Neighborhood Association.
The association's first order of business was to hire attorney Tom McKevitt.
"It is difficult finding attorneys to represent towns in these cases because usually all the attorneys in this business actually work for the major companies," McKevitt told the News Transcript this week.
He said the first meeting with the zoning board took place in September 2006 and ran for 10 hours. Another hearing in May 2008 lasted for about nine hours.
"It is rare for a zoning board to find in favor of the community, but the residents were very adamant in not having the tower built," McKevitt said. "I told the community before I took the case that no one was allowed to mention environmental or health aspects (connected with cell towers), since neither are proven just yet. I told them if they mentioned that, I would leave the case immediately."
At the Freehold Township zoning board meeting on Sept. 25, representatives of Omnipoint began presenting testimony to support their contention that a tower is needed on Robertsville Road to close a gap in coverage. Residents indicated they do not want a tower near their homes.
Last week a flier was circulated in Freehold Township which states that residents have come together to form Freehold Against Cell Tower (FACT).
In a statement provided to the News Transcript, the residents said, "We, residents of Freehold Township, have gotten together and formed the FACT coalition to oppose the placement of a 120-foot tall cellular tower right in the middle of our residential neighborhood. The area they want to place this 12- story structure in is located between Green Acres and a Scenic Corridor Roadway (establishedApril 2002 by Monmouth County).
"In addition, there are two schools within a half-mile, as well as three parks. Furthermore, the site is in a valley and is definitely not the proper location. T-Mobile already has a tower on Dutch Lane. If they are permitted to put up this tower in a residential area, a precedent will be set.
"Being exposed to electromagnetic radiation 24/7, decreased property values, the aesthetics, additional traffic the tower's maintenance and infrastructure will create — all these are enough reasons for us to come together and let Freehold Township and Omnipoint know that we strongly oppose this tower's placement in a residential area."
Meanwhile, McKevitt offered some advice to residents who do not want a tower on Robertsville Road.
"I would give the residents two pieces of advice for fighting this cell tower. First, prove that you don't need the tower. We had a group of people make approximately 140 calls in the area (of Franklin Square where the tower was proposed), showing that service for TMobile was fine the way it was.
"Second, we brought in a landscape architect who proved that the tower was a bad idea aesthetically. The tower was 65 feet tall and the nearest residential property wasn't even half that size," he said. "Also, it is important to note that even though the zoning board found in our favor, the applicant can bring the issue to federal court, so nothing is completely over just yet."
It is expected that Omnipoint will present testimony from additional witnesses when the hearing in Freehold Township resumes on Oct. 30.
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Group forms in opposition to cell tower
Source: News Transcript
Date: 10/29/2008
