Dinglebrook Lane—

Controversial Cell Tower Proposal Slated For Hearing

By Andrew Gorosko

Residents upset over the prospect of a proposed 150-foot-tall monopole-style cellular telecommunications tower being erected in their Dinglebrook Lane neighborhood say they plan to attend a Thursday, May 28, public hearing to register their protests.

The Connecticut Siting Council will hold that hearing in three phases. At 2 pm, the council has scheduled a field inspection of the private 24 Dinglebrook Lane site proposed for the tower and related electronic communications equipment. At that time, a tethered helium balloon will be flown at the site to indicate how tall the tower would stand in relation to its surroundings.

At 3 pm, the hearing will reconvene at Edmond Town Hall at 45 Main Street for an evidentiary review of the technical aspects of the proposal. At 7 pm, the hearing will again reconvene at Edmond Town Hall for public comments on the construction proposal.

AT&T, doing business as New Cingular Wireless, PCS, LLC, has filed the application for the proposed tower and related electronic equipment with the siting council.

People interested in reviewing the cell tower application may do so on the council’s website on the Internet. The application’s docket number is 376. The Internet address for the application is www.ct.gov/csc/lib/csc/pendingproceeds/docket_376/376state_of_connecticut.pdf.

AT&T is seeking a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the siting council for the construction and maintenance of the proposed telecommunications facility.

In its application to the siting council, AT&T states that a “gap in [telecommunications] service exists in the northern portion of the Town of Newtown and eastern Brookfield along Dinglebrook Lane, Obtuse Rocks Road, State Route 133, and surrounding areas.” The antennas positioned on the proposed tower would provide cellular service at nearby Lake Lillinonah, as well as to surrounding areas in Newtown and Brookfield, according to AT&T. The site is near the Brookfield town line.

AT&T would provide free antenna space on the tower for town communications antennas.

Residents’ Concerns

Resident Rufus Ayers of 20 Dinglebrook Lane is among those who are opposed to the AT&T construction proposal for 24 Dinglebrook Lane.

Mr Ayers said May 20 that placing such facilities there would commercialize the residential area.

Mr Ayers said his primary objection to a cell tower at 24 Dinglebrook Lane is that it would devalue nearby residential properties, making those properties harder to sell in the future.

“People are scared to buy [real estate] when there’s a tower in the neighborhood…It’s devastating,” he said.

“It’s just not fair. It’s a travesty. It’s almost like a nightmare,” he said of the prospect of a cell tower nearby.

Having a cell tower in the neighborhood also raises the issue of the presence of potentially harmful microwave radiation, which is used in the transmission of cellular telephone calls, he said. “It makes people nervous,” he added.

The presence of such a facility also would have a negative “psychological impact” on those living in the general area, which contains about 150 homes, he said.

As possible alternatives to the proposed tower location, Mr Ayers suggests that AT&T instead construct a cell tower either in the nearby Upper Paugussett State Forest or in the area near the state boat launch at Lake Lillinonah off Route 133 in Bridgewater.

Mr Ayers said he has distributed leaflets in the neighborhood to make his concerns known.

Another opponent of the proposed cell tower location is resident Robert Dahm of 184 Hanover Road.

Mr Dahm has said that residents in that area are upset about the prospect of having a cell tower in the neighborhood. Not only would a cell tower be an eyesore, its presence would cause property values to fall, according to Mr Dahm.

Mr Dahm has raised concerns about the possible adverse effects of the microwave radiation associated with cell towers. He has suggested that a cell tower be installed on some town-owned or state-owned land in the area as an alternative to positioning it in a residential area.

The Hanover Road resident urges concerned residents to attend the May 28 public hearing.

AT&T proposes leasing a 7,000-square-foot area at an approximately 25-acre site at 24 Dinglebrook Lane that is owned by the estate of Paul R. Lundgren. A 150-foot-tall metallic tower, which would hold racks for radio antennas, would be constructed there. The site lies generally east of Driftway Drive. That general area holds single-family houses and undeveloped land.

A 3,750-square-foot compound surrounded by a chain-link fence would enclose a 230-square-foot radio equipment structure and the tower.

AT&T would install up to 12 antennas on the tower and might have other telecommunications companies locate their antennas on its tower.

The average height of the tree canopy in the area proposed for the tower is about 75 feet, according to AT&T.