Date: Fri 09-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Nextel-tower-hearing

Full Text:

Communications Tower Proposal Draws Little Opposition At Hearing

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Nextel Communications' proposal to build a 120-foot-tall monopole tower off

Ferris Road for wireless telecommunications in the Route 302 corridor has

drawn little opposition from area property owners.

Nextel presented its proposal to build the tower at 8 Ferris Road on land

owned by Erich and Patricia Gertsch at a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) public

hearing October 7. Ferris Road is a short dead end street off Scudder Road.

The ZBA didn't act on the proposal. It may do so November 4.

The only outright opposition to the proposal comes from Kathleen A. Ferris and

Frederick A. Ferris, Sr, of 24 Robin Hill Road, who also own some Ferris Road

property adjacent the site proposed for the telecommunications tower.

In an October 2 letter to the ZBA, Mrs Ferris expressed concerns that their

Ferris Road property would lose real estate value due to its closeness to a

tower.

"We believe the granting of this special permit to allow this tower in a R-1

zone not only causes a financial hardship for the adjoining property owners,

but more importantly, makes a mockery of our zoning laws, and we respectfully

request you deny this application, as we believe each of you would if it were

adjoining your property in a R-1 zone. We live nearby on Robin Hill Road,

within full view of this proposed tower," Mrs Ferris writes.

Besides Mrs Ferris's letter, resident Brian Bonamico of Sugar Street posed

some questions about the proposed tower's visibility from his home.

Of the site proposed for tower construction, attorney Christopher Fisher,

representing Nextel, said, "It really is the best location in town, provided

where we (geographically) need to be, to provide this service."

Architect Gary Musciano said Nextel chose to build a monopole-style style

tower because it's less visually intrusive than a lattice-style tower built of

trusses. The proposed tower would be in wooded area and near existing

80-foot-tall electric transmission towers, he said. An equipment cabinet would

be positioned at the tower's base.

ZBA Chairman Charles Annett, III, asked why Nextel doesn't simply place its

telecommunications antennas atop a nearby electrical transmission tower.

Such an installation isn't allowed by the electric utility company, said

Nextel engineer Ken Heidorn.

Nextel "co-locates" its wireless antennas in places which already have such

antennas, when possible, Mr Heidorn said. But there's no suitable existing

structure on which to place wireless antennas in that area, he said.

A 120-foot-tall tower is needed to allow wireless telephone signals to carry

across Newtown's hilly terrain, he said.

Nextel sought some industrially zoned site to the serve the Ferris Road area

but none is available, Mr Heidorn said, noting the residential character of

the area.

"Anywhere we go in this area is going to be in a residential zone," Mr Fisher

said, adding that Nextel is working to fill electronic gaps in its coverage

area.

Nextel representative Edward Frawley of Tectonic Engineering Consultants said

the proposed tower "will not have a significant impact on the `viewshed' of

the surrounding area."

Nextel wants to install four 15-foot-long antennas on the proposed tower to

provide wireless voice, data, text messaging, mobile paging, and dispatching

services. Nextel holds a federal license to provide wireless

telecommunications in Connecticut.

In January 1997, in the face of strong neighborhood opposition to its proposal

to build a 180-foot-tall monopole-style tower for digital cellular

telecommunications off Rock Ridge Road in Dodgingtown, Sprint Spectrum

withdrew its application pending before the Zoning Board of Appeals. The

Ferris Road site is in the vicinity of the Rock Ridge Road site.