The Mattapoisett Planning Board convened for their regular meeting on Monday, June 18, to continue the hearing regarding the construction of a 145-foot cell phone tower, proposed to be installed off the end of Jane Lane, near Marion Road.
” The site itself will be 883 feet off of Route 6. The lease area we have is for a 100 foot by 100 foot compound,” said Kevin Delaney, representing the applicant, Industrial Tower & Wireless. “At the last meeting, we were asked to conduct a balloon test. We performed that test on Friday May 11th between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Because of the distance from Marion Road, the visual is minimal.”
Delaney provided photographs to the Board of the test taken from different vantage points around town, but the Board was not satisfied with the conditions of the test. Planning Board member Karen Field said that she looked for it in the parking lot of Turk’s and from the entrance to Jane Lane, but was unable to find the balloon.
Planning Board member John Mathieu spoke sharply about his discontent with the balloon test.
“We all work. You flew a balloon when most of us were at work. As far as I’m concerned, this balloon test was wholly insufficient. I’m not satisfied with this whatsoever. Right now I have a real problem with this. I haven’t talked to anybody who saw this balloon,” said Mathieu.
“I didn’t get home until after seven o’clock so I didn’t see it,” said Chairman Thomas Tucker.
“I think you need to provide a longer duration balloon test for the people who work throughout the day,” said member Ron Merlo. “I would like to see a balloon test for the day on a Saturday, so people coming and going can see it.”
Delaney said that the Board did not provide them with any requirements for the balloon test and the town by-law does not include any specific expectations.
In addition to the concerns over the balloon test, several abutters present at the meeting were not convinced that installing the tower was going to be a benefit to the town.
“We are the closest occupied dwelling to that site. We’re not in the fall zone, but we’re pretty close,” said Jane Lane resident Jack Hillier. “Go to Shipyard Park and see the flagpole. It’s over 80 feet. And this new tower is almost 150 feet. I think this tower is an industrial intrusion on our neighborhood.”
“At the last meeting of the Board, I came here to remind the Board that in 1998, a cell tower was proposed in the Aucoot area of town,” said Aucoot Road resident Brad Hathaway. “As a result of the meetings that were held and the opposition of the people, the Planning Board, at the Annual Town Meeting, sent out an article, calling for cell towers to be restricted from around 195. That particular article did not engender any controversy at all and passed unanimously. But somehow that action has seemed to slip through the cracks,” he said.
David Pierre, who also lives on Aucoot Road, was supportive of the construction of the tower, citing personal security and convenience.
“My wife, my daughter, and I moved to Mattapoisett a few years ago. It’s just a wonderful place to live. The one big negative, though, for us, has been the cell phone service. I can’t even get cell phone service in my own house,” he said. “I think it’s a public safety issue. I think of what might happen if I were somewhere with zero coverage. And I think it’s a quality of life issue.”
But Pierre’s service issues aren’t relegated to that part of town. While the tower would improve cell phone and police radio service over a larger area than what exists, the low-lying Village section of town would not see an improvement. Member Karen Field asked Delaney if any of the other towns would experience better cell service.
“The town of Rochester would not see any benefit from this tower,” Delaney said.
The Planning Board decided to continue the hearing, so that Industrial Tower & Wireless could run another balloon test, this time scheduled for a concurrent Friday and Saturday, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm so as to give residents a better opportunity to understand the visual impact of the proposed tower. The continuance will occur at the next meeting immediately after the new balloon test.
In other business, the Planning Board voted to approve an Application for Endorsement of Plan Believed Not to Require Approval to combine two parcels of land at 9 High Ridge Drive, and continued a hearing for a similar application for Sundance Trails, at their request.
The Planning Board also welcomed interim member Mary Crain, who was appointed to sit on the Board for member Robert McNamara.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board will be on Monday, July 2, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.
By Eric Tripoli
This sounds like the wind turbine proposals back in 2005 when they wanted to float balloons to show the residents how they would not see the wind turbines. Taking a step outside the cell tower bylaw would allow many other types of towers which include wind turbine towers. Back in 2005 the Town of Mattapoisett was trying to compete with the Town of Fairhaven for two wind turbines -Look what happened if Fairhaven !
For two hundred dollars you can purchase a cell phone booster for your home. There are five major carriers that may want to place cell phone towers in Mattapoisett.There are also plans to combine verticle wind turbines with cell towers. If one cell tower is allowed outside the cell tower zone then why not a 400 foot commercial wind turbine some place else in town ? The home owners are the original stakeholders and will need compenstaion for the loss of property values from a cell tower or wind turbine hundreds of feet in the air in your back yard !
Installing the tower is not going to be a benefit to the town. The next generation of cell phone use is satellite phone network . Many carriers have sold their tower assets to third party companies, and leasing agreements are unknown. What are the bond requirements to take down an old tower ? Will a wind turbine or some other type of radio tower be built in its place ?