JACKSON – Testimony on an applicant’s plan to construct a cellular communications tower on a residential property on Cassville Road is expected to resume on March 21.
Representatives of T-Mobile Northeast LLC/Eco Site LLC/Pyramid Network SVS LLC testified during the Feb. 7 meeting of the Jackson Zoning Board of Adjustment and said they will stick with the property they have identified on Cassville Road as the preferred site for a 100-foot-tall monopole.
Attorney David Kenny, radio frequency engineer Adam Feehan, engineer Jeremy McKeon, real estate appraiser Mark Tinder and site acquisition specialist Gino Sainte-Rose represented the applicant.
The tower is being proposed to close a gap in the company’s service area, according to the firm’s representatives.
A lightning rod to be placed at the top of the monopole will bring the height of the tower to 105 feet, according to testimony presented to the board.
The Cassville Road property where T-Mobile wants to construct the monopole is zoned for residential use and requires the applicant to seek a use variance from the zoning board in order to construct the tower.
During a previous meeting, board members informed the applicant’s representatives that several acres near the proposed Cassville Road site had recently been donated to a fire company. Board members suggested the donated property might be a suitable site for the monopole.
On Feb. 7, T-Mobile’s representatives said they researched the possibility of constructing the tower at other locations, but decided to stay with their plan for the parcel on Cassville Road which is the subject of the application.
“Last time we looked at (the property that was donated to the fire company), it is located too close to an existing tower (that T-Mobile) is using,” Feehan said.
“Putting another tower (nearby) would not simply cause interference, it would actually cause harm to the T-Mobile network. The only way the (land that was donated to the fire company) could be used is if the existing (tower) was decommissioned,” he said.
Board member Scott Najarian asked if that assertion was a proven fact.
Feehan said, “By putting two sites right next to each other they are covering the same area. Not only are they covering the same area, they are contributing noise to one another.
“To put it in terms of (a conversation), if I am talking to everyone in this room at a certain volume and there is a second person standing next to me talking at the exact same volume, you will have a lot of difficulty understanding one another,” he said.
“How many more (towers) do you want from us?” Najarian asked Feehan, adding that he does not want to keep putting such facilities in Jackson.
The board’s chairman, Steve Costanzo, said T-Mobile’s representatives are testifying for one pole at one location. He told Najarian he might be making more out of the issue than the applicant was presenting.
Najarian said he was looking at “the whole general picture.”
“In the picture presented to us, the applicant is coming to us with one pole for this (Cassville Road) location. (T-Mobile) is going to provide coverage within a gap they have identified,” Constanzo said. “If (the applicant) has to come back for more poles, so be it, he has to come back. I understand you (Najarian) said you do not want poles all over the place, but there is also a need for coverage for over 3,000 users who are lacking in coverage.”
Najarian said his issue is with setting a negative precedent.
Costanzo responded, saying, “We normally do not see these types of applications, this is probably the first application of its nature where the applicant is proposing a (tower) on private property.
“That is what is before this board, so to say you are looking at the big picture and it is two or three poles, at this point I am looking at this application on its own merit. I am not going to sway my opinion because (T-Mobile) may need more poles down the road. That is not before us,” the chairman said.
At the same time T-Mobile has the Cassville Road application pending before the zoning board, the company proposed constructing a 100-foot-tall monopole on residential property on West Veterans Highway, also for the purpose of closing a gap in its service area.
T-Mobile’s application seeking a use variance regarding the West Veterans Highway location was denied by the zoning board on Feb. 21.
