New State Law Fosters Local Comment On Cell Tower Proposals

By Andrew Gorosko

The chairman of the town Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) said this week that she is encouraged by the provisions of a new state law that allows for more local comment on a state regulatory agency’s review of where proposed cellular telecommunications towers should be located.

Lilla Dean said, “This is great… Nobody likes those towers…It’s always good to have public input…I think it’s always good to have local input.”

Local people often know of better locations for towers that often are less intrusive and technically just as effective as the locations for towers initially proposed by telecommunications companies, Ms Dean said.

Ms Dean pointed to a 2003 drive by Walnut Tree Hill Road area residents that resulted in a telecommunications firm withdrawing its proposal for erecting a tower in their residential neighborhood and instead constructing it in an industrial area along Edmond Road on the opposite side of Interstate 84.

Proposals to erect cell towers in residential areas typically draw stiff opposition from people living in those areas.

A telecommunications firm dropped its proposal to erect a 150-foot-tall tower at 61 Dodgingtown Road (Route 302) in Dodgingtown in the spring of 2011 after encountering strong opposition from residents in that area and from a nearby private school.

By contrast, in 2009, the town lodged its opposition with the state over a telecommunications firm’s proposal to erect a 150-foot-tall cell tower off Dinglebrook Lane, near the Brookfield town line, but the state approved the project, which has been constructed.

For more than a decade, the Connecticut Siting Council, a state regulatory agency based in New Britain, has ruled on applications for cell tower construction projects from telecommunications firms. The council became the agency handling such applications after municipal land use agencies across the state had repeatedly rejected various cell tower proposals.

In November 1999, the Newtown P&Z approved a set of detailed regulations covering cell tower applications under which the Newtown Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) reviewed and acted on such proposals, handling them as “special permit” applications.

For a time, the ZBA reviewed and acted on local cell tower applications, until the state then shifted that responsibility to the siting council.

In Newtown, there currently are 13 locations for cellular telecommunications antennas, including monopole-style cell towers. The sites are: 151 Berkshire Road, 20 Barnabas Road, 201 South Main Street, 24 Dinglebrook Lane, 3 Edmond Road, 31 Main Street, 352 South Main Street, 45 Main Street, 25 Meridian Ridge Road, 8 Ferris Road, 8 Park Lane, 90 Hattertown Road, and 21 Berkshire Road.

Public Act 12-165, which was approved by the state legislature during its last session, gives municipalities more time and increased opportunity for local and public input in deciding where cell towers should be constructed, according to a statement from Governor Dannel P. Malloy.

The new law requires telecommunications tower developers to consult with towns that may be affected by the location of a tower at least 90 days before applying to the state siting council for a certificate approving the location.

The law requires that towns be provided with more information concerning why developers are applying for a cell tower in the area, provides towns with more opportunities to offer their own preferences for locations, and allows towns to play an increased role in the siting council’s hearing process.

 “We live in a world where wireless technology is becoming an increasingly important component — some might even say a critical component — of our daily lives,” Gov Malloy said.

“The idea behind this [law] is not to slow down the process for siting cell towers, but to allow for better input from the community, so that we can meet the demand while at the same time take into consideration a number of possible concerns that host communities may have on a given project,” he said

The law offers additional protections for residential neighborhoods, schools, child daycare centers, and scenic areas, among other provisions.