Firm Exploring Alternate Cell Tower Site In Bethel

By Andrew Gorosko

An industrial firm is seeking to build a 150-foot-tall cellular telecommunications tower at 62 Codfish Hill Road in Bethel, following some stiff opposition to a proposal to build such a facility behind Dodgingtown Garage at 61 Dodgingtown Road.

In an April 27 letter to Steven Palmer, who is the planning and zoning official for Bethel, Infinigy Engineering of Latham, N.Y., seeks to learn whether constructing a cell tower at a 50-acre property at 62 Codfish Hill Road would pose any negative effects on historic properties in that area. The engineering firm explains that it is preparing an environmental review for the property on behalf of North Atlantic Towers.

Engineering drawings submitted with the letter indicate that a cell tower proposed for the site would hold telecommunications antennas and equipment owned by AT&T.

AT&T, doing business as New Cingular Wireless, PCS, LLC, of Rocky Hill, also has proposed the construction of a freestanding 150-foot-tall monopole cell tower at 61 Dodgingtown Road.

That proposal has drawn strong opposition from a Dodgingtown residents group and from the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School at 40 Dodgingtown Road.

Holly Kocet of 2 Karen Boulevard, who is among the Dodgingtown residents opposing cell tower construction there, said on May 12 that the Codfish Hill Road site would be a better location for a cell tower considering that the tower would be positioned on a large site, well away from nearby houses and not relatively close to houses and a school, as a cell tower would be in Dodgingtown.

A Dodgingtown cell tower would have negative effects on the nearby Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, she said.

Ms Kocet said she hopes that AT&T does not resume its efforts to construct a cell tower in Dodgingtown.

David Freedman, a spokesman for the Waldorf School, said the Bethel site would be a better location for a cell tower. Because the 50-acre Bethel site is much larger than the 7-acre Dodgingtown site, a cell tower in Bethel would have less impact on neighboring properties, he said.

Attempts to reach attorney Daniel Laub, who represents AT&T, for comment on the cell tower issue were unsuccessful.

Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra and Newtown Director of Planning and Land Use George Benson said that they had learned that AT&T is now pursuing the Bethel site instead of the Dodgingtown site for a cell tower.

Mr Benson cautioned, however, that AT&T could resume it efforts to construct a cell tower in Dodgingtown if the Bethel site does not prove promising.

The Connecticut Siting Council is the government agency that reviews proposals for cell tower construction, whether it be in Dodgingtown or in Bethel. The council had not received applications for either the Dodgingtown site or the Bethel site before the deadline for this edition of The Newtown Bee.

The Dodgingtown residents, who have circulated petitions against a cell tower there, say they have three main concerns. They charge that such structures are unsightly in a residential area, would damage nearby property values, and would pose possible health risks to those nearby, especially children, in terms of the electromagnetic signals processed by the electronics equipment associated with cell towers.

AT&T had considered three other possible locations in the Dodgingtown area for a cell tower, but dismissed them as being unsuitable to meet its telecommunications coverage goals.