The Real Cell Tower Situation: What We Discovered

On November 10 a small group of us, mostly abutters to the land on which AT&T proposed to build the cell tower, arrived at the first Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hearing. None of us had any idea of the constraints already put on the ZBA, nor did we know what we were all up against.

After the two AT&T reps and lawyer discussed their proposal, many of us raised concerns about various issues:


1. The health of those people, especially children, who would be living nearby;

2. The wildlife that would be affected (the proposed cell tower bordered on the nearly 15,000-acre Andorra Forest wildlife sanctuary);

3. The effects of building a very long road up to the top of Melville Hill and the accompanying ecological problems that would pose to Granite Lake, one of New Hampshire's purest lakes.

4. The fact that most of the Granite Lake area, if not Stoddard village itself, already had good cell service provided by U.S. Cellular and Verizon.

What we didn't understand, however, was the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In the coming weeks we'd come to know the repercussions of this law only too well.

Such as: written into the Act is the fact that "health concerns" can not be a reason for denying a Telecom's request for a cell tower.

Such as: the fear zoning boards have that if they deny a petition for a cell tower, they'll be sued by the telecom. (The truth is, however, that if a telecom loses at a local level it can take a court appeal but cannot sue either board members or the town for money damages.)

Such as: given the fact of big government and big business joining hands in what some have deemed an unholy and even unconstitutional alliance, local communities have limited power in making their own decisions about where a cell tower is placed.

Because of the public concern over the proposed cell tower, the ZBA voted to recess the hearing until the first part of  December.

In the meantime, AT&T said they'd conduct a "balloon test" to show how high the proposed cell tower would stand atop Melville Hill.

Next time: We see the balloon test and find unexpected help...