To the editor:
I started the petition on change.org on behalf of the Hillsborough Tower Brigade because I feel very strongly against this cell tower being erected in a 100 percent residential neighborhood.
It is hard for me to believe that a small group of volunteer firemen on Woods Road can strike a deal with Verizon for their own “non-profit group’s” financial gain, at the expense of the residents and neighbors who are vehemently against it, as well as Hillsborough Township’s residential zoning laws. The volunteer fire department’s necessary expenses are already covered under taxpayer dollars.
I also feel that the residents of Hillsborough (especially those outside of the immediate neighborhood) may not fully understand the issue at hand. It is really a combination of Verizon and the Hillsborough Volunteer Fire Department on Woods Road that is causing this issue to reach this point of unnecessary hardship and heartache for our community and setting a very dangerous precedent.
The fire department could drop this issue at anytime and are choosing not to do so, even after neighbors pleaded with them to do so, and had even offered to handle additional fund raising for them.
There are other options, including alternate locations that are not residentially zoned and technologies, before a 126- to 150-foot tower (or 9 to 10 1/2 stories) is plopped down in the middle of a rural neighborhood, ruining the aesthetics of our community, cause possible health issues for our families and destroy our property values.
I would like to encourage concerned residents to sign our petition, which will be delivered to the Hillsborough Board of Adjustment, because this issue impacts all of us, not just those in the immediate area of this proposed tower and to attend the zoning board meeting on Wednesday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hillsborough Municipal Courtroom.
Linda Ford
Hillsborough
