Date: Mon 26-Jun-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

B9-ox-hill

Full Text:

COUNCIL PUTS OFF DECISION ON SNET FACILITIES ON OX HILL ROAD

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

After an emotional meeting attended by more than a dozen residents of the Ox

Hill Road-Mt Nebo Road area, the Legislative Council voted 6-4 Wednesday night

to table reconsideration of its recent 9-1 vote on Southern New England

Telephone's request to put telephone switching equipment in their

neighborhood.

The council directed SNET representatives and the residents to get together

and try to come to an agreement about where to locate the equipment which had

been proposed for a triangular piece of town-owned land at the intersection of

the two roads. The council also agreed to get an opinion from Town Attorney

David Grogins about whether the council or the Board of Selectmen had the

authority under the charter to approve this use of the land.

In this case it may be a moot point; however, the council members agreed since

the proposal requires two variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals. One

variance would allow SNET to conduct a commercial land use in a residential

area; the other would allow a reduced construction setback. The ZBA meeting is

scheduled for Thursday, July 13, at Town Hall South.

``We put the cart before the horse when we voted in May,'' Council member Win

Ballard said. ``Although my feeling is still that the SNET proposal is not an

inappropriate use for that piece of property, the matter should have gone to

the ZBA first. If the ZBA doesn't approve it, then we have been wasting our

time.''

Neighbors objected to the two or three metal cabinets which SNET proposed to

install at the site and obscure with six-foot hemlocks, rhododendron and

mountain laurel hedges. The residents called the installation ``graffiti

cabinets'' and ``a gas station.'' They said the metal cabinetry would provide

a hiding place for criminals who might break into their homes or endanger

children at the bus stop. The facility would destroy the rural nature of the

site and would reduce their property values, they said.

Chet Raczka, an engineering manager for SNET, said the company has more than

700 such installations across the state including several in Newtown and most

people drive right by them without realizing they are there.

``We are trying to be a good corporate neighbor,'' Mr Raczka said. ``We

eliminated the proposed paved driveway into the site after the town told us it

wasn't required. We moved the installation so that it won't endanger any large

trees at the site. The site drops off from the road so you wouldn't see the

full height of the cabinetry. And the equipment has a 10- to 15-year lifespan

after which this fiber optic technology probably will have advanced to the

point where the cabinetry no longer will be needed.''

Mr Raczka said the installation could be moved anywhere in the same general

area as long as it was within a half mile of the intersection of Phyllis Lane

and Hundred Acres Road.

``We have a very serious problem because in that section of Newtown because

our space capacity is essentially exhausted,'' he said. ``We can look for

another location but the tradeoff is reliability. People want phones for

teenagers, modems and other equipment. If they have to be told that they won't

get the service, or that there will be a delay, they will not be happy.''

Mr Raczka said it could take six months to a year to develop the engineering

required for a new site. Temporarily, he said, SNET could hang 5x5x3-foot

cabinets, ``about the size of a small refrigerator,'' from poles along the

streets although this would ``be an eyesore, far less palatable'' than the

original proposal.

After the council voted to table the issue until its next meeting on July 19,

the residents and the SNET representatives left the meeting to continue the

discussion. Afterwards, Jane P. Bates of 16 Ox Hill Road said SNET ``offered a

few alternate sites and asked us to come up with some suggestions.''

``It will be a process of negotiation,'' added Madeline Hutchinson of 18 Ox

Hill Road.