The West Windsor Planning Board was convinced that residents needed more protection from noise created by wireless communications facilities and took that into account on January 27, when it voted 6-1-1 — with Michael Huey voting no — to adopt changes to the ordinance governing the placement of new facilities coming to town.
Residents were not successful, though, in convincing the West Windsor Planning Board that restricting wireless communications facilities from being located within 1,000 feet of a home is a viable option.
Instead, the board left what it called a “policy decision” on the 1,000-foot restriction up to the Township Council, which will review the ordinance changes in March. This is because the council has given specific direction to the board to stick to a co-location policy, meaning new wireless communication facilities are only to be built on current towers.
Implementing a 1,000-foot setback from homes would contradict that policy, since most of the current cell phone towers would violate such a restriction, the board said.
“It will be drafted based upon our discussion and forwarded for their consideration as expeditiously as possible,” said Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner.
In the board’s previous discussions on the matter, residents complained about the noise pollution created by allowing wireless communications facilities to operate near their homes.
Originally, the board included language that prohibited new equipment to operate during normal hours if it created additional noise at the adjoining property lines. But because the language was deemed “too ambiguous” by board professionals, the board “eliminated all that language and decided to be very specific with regard to what the requirements would be,” said Gardner.
Now the ordinance requires cell phone companies to comply with noise levels specified under the township’s noise ordinance, which allows up to 50 decibels of noise at night and up to 55 decibels during the day. “That’s the max, regardless of where the noise levels come from,” Gardner said.
Taking a page out of the board’s recent approval of a T Mobile application (which sparked the ordinance revision), the board also prohibited equipment shelters over new wireless communications facilities, upsetting some of the cell phone company advocates present during the meeting. Gardner said the new prohibition “eliminates a visual intrusion, and the need for additional air conditioning equipment, which adds to the noise. Therefore, it eliminates the noise aspect.”
When T-Mobile was in front of the board in May, representatives indicated that cabinets around the equipment would sufficiently protect it.
“We’re secure in our position that we are concerned about health and safety of the residents in our community and therefore have some controlling aspects with respect to that,” Gardner said.
The new language is an addition to the other changes the board has made over the past few months, as the board debated ways to regulate new wireless communication facilities coming into West Windsor, as well as the merits of maintaining the township’s co-location policy.
The new draft of the ordinance permits new wireless communications facilities on the roof of or in office buildings only, and if they are on the roof, they must be screened. The co-location of facilities are permitted on and at the base of existing towers, as the ordinance was previously written, but the new draft changes this use from a permitted use to a conditional use.
The ordinance review was triggered by a decision in May, 2009, in which the board said it was handcuffed into approving an application for a T-Mobile wireless communications facility on an existing electricity transmission tower because it complied with local ordinance. T-Mobile’s facility will consist of nine wireless communications antennas attached to a tower insert installed within the existing 111-foot tower, and extending 6.5 feet above.
Under the new draft, the applicants are required to provide an analysis for the need for the service, a description of alternatives explored — including alternative technologies, and an explanation of why the alternative proposed was chosen — and a comprehensive plan for the entire service area the proposed facility is intended to serve, with the fewest number of future sites feasible. The alternative analysis must show that there are not suitable alternatives with less of a visual impact.
Residents who wanted to prohibit wireless communication facilities from being located within 1,000 feet of a home — and who presented a petition with more than 300 signatures supporting their position — still did not get their wish. The board has maintained throughout the process that such a regulation would be too restrictive and in violation of federal communications regulations.
Three residents — Jane Lifset, Amy Chanson, and William Andersen — have circulated an online petition (see letters, page 3) they plan to submit to council in March, urging it to adopt an ordinance with a 1,000-foot restriction. This is in addition to a petition they submitted to the Planning Board earlier in the process.
“We object to the noise that they will bring and the proliferation of industrial equipment in the air and on the ground right next to our homes,” a letter from the residents stated. “Every cell phone company that operates in West Windsor boasts good to excellent coverage here — no more antennas are needed.”
Discussion and work on drafting the ordinance, which has spanned more than half a year, has cost the township more than $19,000 already, reported Linda Geevers at the Township Council meeting on February 1. She said that by the time the process is over and an ordinance is adopted, it may cost the township more than $20,000.
