Posted: Tuesday, August 7, 2012 12:15 pm
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Updated: 11:42 am, Tue Aug 7, 2012.
Next month, the City Council will decide whether to lease land for a nearly 100-foot cell tower on Keene-owned conservation land.
Verizon Wireless wants to expand its wireless coverage, and says for that to be done, a tower needs to be built in the forested area on Beech Hill.
Verizon would have to get relief from city ordinances that intend to keep that land in its natural state.
The council’s planning, licenses and development committee rejected the proposal at its most recent meeting. And Mayor Kendall W. Lane recommended the city’s conservation commission first look at the plan before the council makes a decision.
It’s the question municipalities across the state, including Stoddard last year, are asking: Do residents want to preserve the natural environment, or allow changes to bring in faster or better technology?
Land protection, future plans
Beech Hill is just past Robin Hood Park, where the trees are large and deer can be seen crossing the road in the afternoon. It’s used by people to hike, jog and walk their dogs.
It’s both residential and conservation land, and when the city purchased it in 1972, its purpose was to keep it as conservation land, so those standing in other parts of Keene can see the green, forested hills, city Planning Director W. Rhett Lamb said.
And for the most part, the city has preserved the land, with the exception of a 130-foot tower off Chapman Road that has been there in some form since the 1950s, and is currently owned by Time Warner Cable.
The company also owns the land the tower sits atop, even though it’s surrounded by city property, Lamb said. Therefore, Time Warner Cable does not need to go through the same procedures as Verizon when making changes to its tower.
In 1995, the city’s conservation commission drafted the Proposed Management Plan for Beech Hill Conservation Area, which states the land should be designed and maintained as a natural area. It was passed and then revised in 2002 with the same conclusion.
That’s a document the conservation commission will take into consideration when it makes its recommendation on the Verizon tower later this month, said Ann Shedd, the commission’s chairwoman.
The ordinance acknowledges the Time Warner Cable tower and speaks of preserving the land’s hiking trails and trees, and the view from other parts of Keene. It says other nearby communities have given up natural resources for the sake of development, and Keene should not do that.
“Houses ... will not be visible from downtown Keene, so the forested hillside will remain preserved,” it says.
But with the advancement of technology, is the ordinance outdated?
An attorney representing Verizon Wireless at a recent meeting thinks so.
The telecommunications industry is changing, said attorney Thomas Hildreth. In 2002, when the city’s Beech Hill ordinance was revised, there were about 140 million wireless subscribers in the country, according to Verizon. Last year, that number was 330 million, and people now use their cellphones for much more than just phone conversations.
There is an increased demand for technology, so Verizon says it needs to increase its high-speed broadband wireless service.
And it needs to be done on Beech Hill because it’s the highest elevation in southeastern Keene, Verizon officials say.
In 2002, Verizon installed two antennas to upgrade its service on the Time Warner Cable tower on Beech Hill. But that tower is not capable of supporting the new antennas, according to Verizon’s attorneys.
The proposed Verizon tower would be near the Time Warner one. Verizon hopes to lease 100-by-100 square feet of land for the tower to be built on. The tower, which would be a monopine structure that’s made to resemble a tree from a distance, would be fenced and secured. Verizon’s attorneys have said they hope the tower could be 90 feet, which would still be smaller than the Time Warner one.
But Verizon’s proposed tower could still be viewed from downtown, which violates the city’s telecommunications ordinance, city officials said. Verizon would need to apply for a waiver from the zoning board.
Would Keene residents want a cell tower in a view among trees and nature? The council’s planning, licenses and development committee members wondered that at a recent meeting.
There have been no public hearings on the matter yet because Verizon Wireless has not presented to the planning and zoning boards. But some Keene residents have already spoken against the proposal.
Cindy Wood, who lives on Chapman Road, said she has never had a problem with her Verizon Wireless service and was surprised to hear of the proposal for the tower. But if Verizon needs to put in a tower, she said, maybe it’s best to place it near an existing tower, instead of bothering another piece of natural land.
Some have been vocal about their objections.
Jeananne M. Farrar, who lives on School Street, said the land is conservation land for a reason. What makes Keene so beautiful, she said, is that it’s surrounded by hills and forests.
“Beech Hill is a pretty special place,” she said. “I can’t imagine having a cellphone tower there.”
Eloise Clark, who spoke at the the city’s planning, licenses and development meeting, wrote a letter to City Council asking that Verizon’s proposal be rejected.
“(W)hat is to stop future companies from making similar requests?” she wrote. “Do citizens really want to see a ‘forest of towers’ instead of a forest of trees?”
And others say it’s not about cellphone service or towers.
It’s about what the ordinance states, said City Councilor Carl B. Jacobs, who voted in opposition to Verizon’s proposal at the council committee meeting.
Jacobs remembers when he bought his house on Chapman Road in 1973, and the city believed the land would remain as it is.
“It’s not about stopping towers,” he said. “It’s about preserving the land.”
If the City Council agrees to lease the land next month, it will then go to the planning and zoning boards for review.
And whether to keep the natural environment intact or improve technology is a decision the council will ultimately have to make.
Jacqueline Palochko can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or jpalochko@keene sentinel.com.
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Tuesday, August 7, 2012 12:15 pm.
Updated: 11:42 am.
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smo1971 posted at 10:40 am on Wed, Aug 8, 2012.
I live in southeast Keene and Beech Hill is the most prominent and beautiful natural landmark in our part of town. My two boys love to explore the woods and rocks on Beech Hill. We have a city ordinance that protects and conserves Beech Hill. For these reasons we should keep Beech Hill as natural and forested as possible.
tmctmclarkcom posted at 10:31 am on Wed, Aug 8, 2012.
JMR39 posted at 9:33 am on Wed, Aug 8, 2012.
Heferito posted at 4:18 pm on Tue, Aug 7, 2012.
talkrite posted at 3:30 pm on Tue, Aug 7, 2012.
Technology changes - soon we may not need these towers, who is to say? Remember those 12' satellite dishes for home use??? ...GONE!
screenname posted at 2:33 pm on Tue, Aug 7, 2012.
When was the last time any of them have hauled their generous forms up to the "overlook"????
I have been there in the last 12 months and there is a ton of garbage and broken glass and it is paved to the top... sound like preservation land to the common folks? nope...
but as long as Carl can protect his house... i am sure they will deny this very logical request... do they forget we live in a Valley??? you know... a big hole?
Flanders posted at 12:47 pm on Tue, Aug 7, 2012.
Those things resemble trees the way vegetarian bacon tastes like bacon, which is to say, not remotely. Please don't put one on Beech Hill.