Politics & Government

Planning Board to T-Mobile: Move Cell Tower to Save Trees

The tower will move take up several spaces of the Colony Pool and Tennis Club parking lot.

The Planning Board ordered T-Mobile to move a proposed temporary cell tower in order to save trees near .

The tower is a temporary structure to provide T-Mobile cell phone coverage during PSE&G's North Central Reliability Project, which will take down and replace utility poles in the area. T-Mobile has cell towers on top of the existing poles, and they must erect temporary cell towers so customers do not experience service interruptions during the project, which could take two years or more.

T-Mobile proposed to put the tower at the rear of the parking lot and to take up about six parking spaces. At this location, David Karlebach, a professional planner for T-Mobile, told the board "trees wil have to be trimmed or removed."

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Karlebach proposed to remove four small evergreen trees, each under 3 in. in diameter and either dead or diseased, and to cut back one large tree branch to make room for the tower. They proposed to plant seven new trees, but the board worried the trees would not survive under the high, heavy canopy in the area.

Board President Lydia Chambers also said she was concerned the fence "could do damage to the existing larger trees' roots." She asked if the tower could be moved further into the parking lot, about 10 to 20 ft., for the sake of saving the large tree branch.

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Trees are important to area residents and pool members, she noted, whereas "do I care about [losing] more parking spaces temporarily?" Saving the trees, she said, was a bigger priority.

Attorney Richard Schkolnick and the engineers for T-Mobile said they would be willing to consult with John Ruschke, the township's engineer, to find a place in the lot to build the tower without damaging tree roots or branches. They also agreed to coordinate construction with the pool, so there would be minimal disruption to pool members.

The tower will be at 55 School Ave. in the township, near the intersection of Spring Street and School Avenue across from Colony Pool. It will be 120-ft. tall with a base of 24-X-24 ft. and a fenced enclosure of 26-X-46 ft. It will be installed in about one day, sometime around Aug. 1.

T-Mobile currently has a tower 113 ft. tall on the same road, about 480 ft. west of the proposed tower.

Joshua Cottrell, a civil engineer, told the board the tower would have "no odor," "no glare" and "minimal noise from the fans." Disruption to neighbors should be minimal, and he provided photographic mock-ups of what the tower would look like from surrounding areas.

David Collins, an RF engineer for T-Mobile, told the board the tower will emit radiofrequency (RF) waves far under the maximum levels mandated by the state and federal governments. RF levels are measured by the percentage of the maximum allowable levels, from zero to 100 percent.

This tower, Collins said, would emit 0.0776 percent of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) limit, or 1,200 times below the limit and over 6,000 times the state limit. There is no build-up in the body and residents and pool visitors have no cause to fear RF levels from the tower, he said, "regardless of age, gender, size or illness."

The Chatham Township Committee asked the board to review the cell tower proposal and recommend changes, if necessary. It was not a formal hearing or application and did not require a final vote.


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