Siting Council approves cell tower

CORNWALL — An application by Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, to build a cellular communications tower off Bell Road Extension was approved by the Connecticut Siting Council on Oct. 21.

The plans call for a 120-foot monopole on a ridge above Popple Swamp Road, off Route 4.

The company  has additional hurdles to clear, including a development and management plan that the council must approve. There is also a restriction on when construction may occur. Once all the requirements are met, work is expected to start sometime after May 15, 2011.

A decision on the tower was originally expected in September, but the Siting Council took extra time to look at a proposal for an alternate site, submitted by property owner Matthew Collins.

Kenneth Baldwin, the attorney working with the company on this application, told The Journal in an e-mail this week, “Verizon Wireless will proceed with the development of the approved Bell Road Extension site, and will not reconsider use of the Collins property.�

Collins’ property was the site originally proposed for the tower. But the company was required to seek a backup site. During the search, Verizon decided that the Bell Road Extension location, on property owned by Ralph Gulliver, was actually a better alternative.

Obstacles to building on the Collins property included a lack of comprehensive information on property lines and the ownership of old roads that might be needed to access the site. These were among the issues raised by the Cornwall Board of Selectmen during the hearing process, which began in July.

The Siting Council decision to approve the plan came as no surprise to most town residents. But the process left a sour taste in the mouths of many who got involved.

The public hearing in partticular angered many residents, and sparked an official complaint to state Legislators over the treatment of the public by council members, particularly Chairman David Caruso, who was described as rude and condescending.

That claim was upheld in a lengthy brief written by Town Attorney Perley Grimes, which listed five reasons why the council should have denied the application.

Grimes also pointed out in his letter that the tower does not  comply with local zoning regulations because the proposed access road exceeds allowed slope maximums.

But the Siting Council has the authority to overrule local zoning, according to Siting Council Executive Director Linda Roberts. She referred to Connecticut General Statutes section 16-50x, “Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Council,� which states: “When evaluating a telecommunications tower within a particular municipality, the Council shall consider any location preferences or criteria (1)provided to the Council by the municipality or (2) that may exist in the zoning regulations of said municipality ... Whenever the Council certifies a facility ... such certification shall satisfy and be in lieu of all certifications, approvals and other requirements of state and municipal agencies.�

The Board of Selectmen and other legal interveners in the application process will have a chance to comment on the final design plan. Verizon will also need to get locally issued building permits.

Federal regulations limit the amount of radio emmissions  a tower may produce.  For example, the proposed antennas are calculated at 35.1 percent of the Federal Communications Commission’s maximum permissible exposure for cell phone coverage.

Those levels are measured at the base of the tower, with antennas pointed downward and operating simultaneously. Under normal operating conditions, radio emissions are directed outward and power density levels would be much lower.

Any added equipment or change in FCC standards would require Verizon to recalculate emissions and make modifications, if needed.

Another concession to local residents is the design of the tower. The 120-foot structure will soar above the 65-foot tree canopy here. The choice of a monopole, as opposed to a design that mimics a tree, is supposed to make the tower less visible against the sky.

Balloon tests show it will be mainly visible from open fields on Valley Road, Jewell Street and School Street in the village.

It should not be visible from Route 4, Route 7, any of the town centers or Pine Knob Loop Trail.

The cell tower company is also expected to take special care with a 1,420-foot long driveway and 780-foot former logging road that ascend the slope to the site; an extensive drainage plan is expected to prevent erosion and impact on the wetlands system there.

The driveway bisects a forested wetland area and abuts a small pool. That pool was formed by the construction of an existing driveway, but supports vernal pool amphibians. In all, 1,300 square feet of wetland will now be filled.

The Siting Council found the impact minimal, as the wetlands there are already considered to be disturbed because they are adjacent to the existing driveway.

No threatened or endangered species were found at the site, but in order to protect amphibians breeding in the vernal pool, construction is prohibited from March 1 through May 15.

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