FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A permit has been issued to T-Mobile that will allow the company to construct a long-planned cellular communications tower at 169 Robertsville Road, Freehold Township.
The permit was issued to T-Mobile by construction official Paul Vitale on or about Feb. 13, according to Township Administrator Peter Valesi. The permit is part of T-Mobile’s longstanding effort to construct the cell tower. The issue has been contested for more than a decade.
The property at 169 Robertsville Road in a semi-rural area of Freehold Township was targeted for a cell tower by T-Mobile in 2007. Residents of the neighborhood have consistently voiced their opposition to any plan that calls for the construction of a cell tower at the location.
After the company’s application was denied in 2009 by the Freehold Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, which has since been combined with the Planning Board, T-Mobile received permission from the New Jersey Superior Court to build the cell tower in 2011. The project did not advance at that time.
In late 2017, equipment and materials that are used to drill foundations were reported to have been mobilized at 169 Robertsville Road, prompting municipal officials to issue a stop work order.
Municipal officials said the stop work order was issued because the construction permit T-Mobile possessed had expired and the company no longer had a valid construction permit.
T-Mobile’s subsequent application to construct the cell tower was denied by the township’s zoning officer and the denial was upheld by the Planning Board in 2018.
In response, T-Mobile filed a motion in Superior Court to enforce its rights. A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of T-Mobile in 2019, allowing the telecommunications project to proceed.
