Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell tower facing possible site change...

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 20:26:47 -0500

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Thursday 31 October, 2002

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Cell tower facing possible site change

PAUL POST, The Saratogian

October 31, 2002

GREENFIELD -- The town Planning Board has unexpectedly required a cell tower firm to lessen its project's visual impacts, a decision that could delay construction by several months.

By a vote of 4 to 3, the board said Tuesday that Tower Ventures Inc. must come up with a plan that doesn't affect as many residents, many of whom have voiced strong objections about having a tower in their back yard.

This could mean simply moving the tower on the same property, owned by the Duane Cornell family, or finding an entirely different site.

''I was surprised by it (the vote),'' board Chairman Gary Dake said. ''That's why they play the game. That's why it's a seven-person process.''

Dake was joined by board members Tom Kinsella and Mark Young, in saying the tower doesn't pose a major environmental problem. Board members Kathe Rose, Dan Cochran, Al Janik and Michael Thrailkill said it does, because of its visual impacts.

''This is pretty much a one-issue thing,'' Dake said.

TVI, of Pittsfield, Mass., plans to build a 185-foot tower off Grange Road, accessible by a 1,000-foot drive through woodland. TVI would lease antennae space to cellular communications firms such as Cingular Wireless and Nextel.

Spokesman Chris Ciolfi said he asked the board a month ago if the tower site could be moved on Cornell's property without starting the application process over again.

''I never received an answer one way or another,'' he said. ''I think we could have saved ourselves, and everyone else involved, some time and energy if we had pursued that avenue a little further. It's a moot point at this stage of the game.''

''It adds time and expense, but let's go to the next step.''

At its proposed location, the tower would be less than 300 feet from some residences and would have a visual impact on up to 450 homes, said Joan Healy of South Greenfield Road. She and other residents have hired an attorney to keep the tower from being built.

TVI will pay the Cornells a fee for putting a tower on their property, and Ciolfi said the family doesn't mind if it's closer to their own home.

''The Cornell family has been there for many, many years,'' he said. ''People have moved in lately and don't like some of the things that are happening.''

Ciolfi said he's unsure how far the tower might be moved, and whether moving it will require a change in height.

''That's a technical concern we have,'' he said. ''It's a very delicate process to make sure it works from a radio frequency perspective.''

Ciolfi said he and TVI engineers plan to visit the Cornell property sometime in the next week or so. Sometime next month, he'll present a plan to the town outlining how TVI hopes to reduce the tower's unsightliness.

From that point, the public has 30 days to comment on TVI's mitigation plan.

''That's just the environmental review,'' Dake said. TVI still needs to obtain a special-use permit and go through the site-plan process before it can build.

''To get this approved by Christmas would be difficult,'' Dake said.

TVI had originally hoped to gain its approvals by early autumn and have the tower built by year's end. Ciolfi said construction can take place during winter months if approvals are forthcoming.

The Federal Aviation Administration usually doesn't require lights on towers less than 200 feet tall, but TVI's proposed site is less than four miles from Saratoga County Airport. The FAA has not yet given official word about whether TVI's proposed tower needs lights.

''To me, that's a big issue,'' Dake said.

If lights are required, the board might ask TVI to find a more remote location, meaning the firm would have to start over with a new application process.

''We could be back to square one,'' Dake said.

He said the tower issue has been tough for the board to grapple with, because it deals with subjective questions about aesthetics. That's different from determining clearly-defined things such as wetlands impact.

In his own opinion, Dake said he'd rather live next to a cell tower than bothersome neighbors.

''A cell tower is not going to have a dog that barks,'' he said.

©The Saratogian 2002

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