P&Z Concludes Telecom Tower Won’t Affect Aquifer

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has determined that a proposal to erect a 150-foot-tall wireless telecommunications tower off South Main Street would have “no significant impact” on the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer, the town’s sole source aquifer.

P&Z members July 20 unanimously approved Omnipoint Communications, Inc.’s, request for a special exception to the zoning regulations for aquifer compliance, after reviewing an environmental study on the project prepared for the applicant.

Omnipoint will now submit the tower proposal for review by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).

Omnipoint of Bloomfield is proposing construction of a monopole-style tower at 201 South Main Street at the Georgia-Pacific Corporation’s lumber handling and storage facility. The 21-acre property, south of Ethan Allen Road, is adjacent to the town animal shelter and waste transfer station. The site is in an M-2 Industrial zone. The site is north of United Water’s wellhead into the Pootatuck Aquifer. The wellhead is part of United Water’s public water supply system, which serves more than 1,100 local customers.

The P&Z action follows a finding by the Conservation Commission that a tower construction project would have “no significant impact” on the aquifer. Because the site lies within the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), the application is subject to review by the Conservation Commission, acting in an advisory capacity to the P&Z.

ZBA review of the proposal is expected at an upcoming ZBA meeting.

Joe DiBernardo, representing Omnipoint, told P&Z members July 20 the proposed tower is designed to accommodate future antenna placements by multiple telecommunications companies.

Arthur Simonian, representing Omnipoint, said no environmentally hazardous materials would be stored on the site. Mr Simonian said the dogs kept in the nearby municipal animal shelter would not be affected by the presence of the tower.

Omnipoint proposes locating a sky-gray tower on a 240-square-foot site. Omnipoint would lease the site from Georgia-Pacific. A chain-link fence topped with barbed wire would enclose the tower. Several beige electronic equipment cabinets would be positioned nearby. The site would be landscaped with arborvitae bushes.

Omnipoint states the installation would have no effect on the value of nearby properties.

“The proposed development of a wireless telecommunications facility on the subject property will have no impact on the underlying aquifer,” according to Diversified Technology Consultants, a firm which prepared an aquifer assessment study for Omnipoint.

 In May, the ZBA rejected an application for several zoning variances which would have been required for the construction of a 199-foot-tall commercial wireless telecommunications tower off Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook. ZBA members unanimously rejected that request for zoning variances from SBA Communications, Inc. – a proposal which had drawn strong opposition from people living near the 249 Berkshire Road site proposed for the tower.

ZBA members acted on the SBA application using the new set of zoning regulations created by the P&Z last fall to regulate the installation of commercial towers and related equipment. In rejecting that application, ZBA members agreed that SBA Communications had not demonstrated there was any hardship that would justify it being granted the several zoning variances. Some of the requested variances concerned the proposed tower’s proximity to residential buildings.

Newtown has seven sites for wireless telecommunications, but none of those sites was subject to the new regulations.

The P&Z’s new telecommunications rules are intended to encourage the location of commercial wireless telecommunications towers and antennas away from residential neighborhoods and to protect natural and scenic vistas. Through the rules, the P&Z hopes to minimize the adverse visual and operational effects of the facilities through careful design, siting, and screening, and hopes to protect historic aspects of the community from adverse effects.

The new regulations give the town certain regulatory powers over the placement of facilities intended for cellular telephony and other forms of commercial radio telecommunications. The regulations are intended to balance the need for such facilities with protecting the public health, safety, convenience, and property values. The new rules acknowledge the limitations placed on municipalities by the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which bars towns from banning such telecommunications facilities.

The regulations encourage the joint use of new or existing towers and facilities. The rules are intended to reduce the number of towers and/or antennas needed in the future and to accommodate the need for such facilities, while regulating their location and number.