The Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hearings regarding AT&T's proposal to build a cell phone tower on top of Melville Hill, overlooking Granite Lake, NH, continued on Tuesday, February 15 at 7 p.m.
ZBA secretary Patricia Putnam's notes on the hearing can be found here.
Margaret Schillemat, a town of Nelson Selectman, was present and her letter from the Nelson Board of Selectmen opposing the AT&T proposed cell tower site on Melville Hill, was noted. (See her letter in the last post.)
The Granite lake area is unique in that it includes both the towns of Stoddard and Nelson. Nelson residents on the south side of Granite Lake currently pay a considerable "view tax" for looking directly at the lake and the
wooded hills behind it, but if a tower were built atop Melville Hill, the view would be ruined and Nelson, in addition, would lose valuable tax revenue. In addition to aesthetic and fiscal concerns, watershed and ecological issues are in jeopardy.
ZBA member Fred Ward has been working for months to propose a series of smaller, less visible towers that would serve the Stoddard area while removing one large tower from the Granite Lake area, one of the township's scenic treasures. His idea was to provide a "win/win" situation for both Stoddard residents and AT&T.
The Keene Sentinel reported this on Feb. 15:
Debate resumes on cell tower
STODDARD — Officials will continue to weigh their options on a proposal by AT&T to expand cell phone service in town at a meeting of the town’s zoning board tonight.
The company’s proposal to build a 150-foot tower on Melville Hill has come under fire from residents of Stoddard and Nelson, who said the structure would affect property values around Granite Lake by disrupting scenic views.
The company has applied for a special exception to allow the tower in a rural zone.
But zoning board Vice Chairman Fred Ward thinks there may be a better way.
He has a proposal for a constellation of smaller towers that could cover the area, some placed in church steeples and flag poles.
He said he plans to discuss the alternate proposal with residents and AT&T representatives at tonight’s meeting.
However, during the meeting AT&T rep Ken Kozyra of KJK Wireless continued toppling all of Ward's proposals in a debate often resulting in heated verbal volleys. Showing colored maps that were difficult to view properly or contradict because of the unique software used by AT&T, Kozyra adamantly held onto Melville Hill as the only site that could possibly transmit properly--at least for AT&T's purposes, which are connecting to Route 9 and 123 corridors. Most Stoddard residents, however, would be left with no service at all. In frustration, Stoddard ZBA chairwoman Bev Powers noted that "Stoddard is going to go to hell in a hand basket!" .
While previously allowing Ward to pursue his idea of "micro towers," AT&T finally admitted that they weren't interested in micros, only one large tower--either on top of Melville Hill or 750 feet down the slope toward the lake so the proposed tower wouldn't be silhouetted against the sky. He suggested balloon tests be made on this lower site as well as an alternate site off to the east (which AT&T wasn't interested in, as the tower would have to be at least 350 feet tall in order to work, they said, leaving many to wonder why they would even bother doing such a test...).
Fred Ward wondered if AT&T had an "overall plan" for Stoddard. "If you want us to do this," he said, "we have to have some idea of the whole plan!" Kozyra countered simply by saying there was no way of determining an "overall plan" for cell towers, a comment that elicited murmurs of disbelief from many business owners present.
Nelson resident John Cucchi discussed his application to the FCC regarding historic sites on Granite Lake, within a half mile of the proposed tower, that were missed by AT&T and cited section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. He also proposed an alternate cell tower site in Nelson, where there was a willing landowner. Fred Ward expressed interest in learning more about this site.
The hearing was recessed until Friday, Feb. 25, with another hearing scheduled for April.
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