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Stoddard cell tower proposal withdrawn

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Posted: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 12:00 pm | Updated: 1:08 pm, Tue Jun 11, 2013.

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff

STODDARD — A controversial proposal for a cell tower on Melville Hill has been scratched.

New Cingular Wireless (formerly AT&T Wireless) has withdrawn its application for the 130-foot tower after reaching an agreement with town officials on Friday, William Keyser, spokesman for AT&T in New England, said Monday.

The agreement came on the last day town and AT&T officials had to decide how they would proceed with a lawsuit filed by AT&T against the town.

“While we are confident the legal issues raised would have eventually been resolved in our favor, we decided to take the town of Stoddard up on its pledge to work with us in good faith on a possible future application,” Keyser said.

Keyser declined to reveal any details of that future application, including when it might be filed and where a tower might be located.

“At this point, I think we’re going to step back and take a little time to refocus our efforts. We’ll probably come back to the town at a later date,” he said.

In May 2011, Stoddard’s zoning board approved the application for the tower, 3-2.

After receiving multiple requests from residents to reconsider, the board agreed to do so in July of that year.

In August 2011, New Cingular Wireless filed a complaint against the town in U.S. District Court in Concord, alleging the town was in violation of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Federal Communication Commission’s Shot Clock Ruling.

The 2009 rule requires a local government to decide on cell tower projects “within a reasonable period of time” not to exceed 150 days. That time frame can be extended with the consent of the cell tower applicant.

In the complaint, New Cingular Wireless said the Stoddard zoning board wasn’t in compliance with the Shot Clock Rule after it decided to rehear the application. The rehearing made the May 2011 decision in favor of the project irrelevant.

New Cingular Wireless asked the court to uphold the board’s original decision and allow construction of the cell tower.

In addition to neighbors who objected to the cell tower, the Dakota Sioux tribe became involved because its members consider Melville Hill sacred ground, as it’s where the daughter of Dr. Charles A. Eastman, a Native American leader, is buried.

Stoddard resident John Cucchi, a friend of the tribe’s and an intervenor in the lawsuit, said he looks forward to telling members of the Dakota Sioux about the wireless company withdrawing the application.

Keyser said Melville Hill being a sacred site for the Sioux tribe was one of a number of concerns that factored into the company’s decision to withdraw the application.

“There were some zoning and litigation issues, some customer and network performance concerns and environmental issues,” he said. “All of those factors were taken as a whole, and brought us to this conclusion.”

The AT&T cell tower resistance continues...

Stoddard now dealing with lawsuit

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Posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 9:00 am | Updated: 8:26 am, Sun Oct 2, 2011.

By Sarah Trefethen Sentinel Staff | 4 comments

STODDARD — With a federal lawsuit hanging over its head, the town’s zoning board is poised to resume operation after a spate of resignations that left it out of commission back in July.

That likely means once again taking up a proposal to construct a cellphone tower on Melville Hill, with a board that features three new

Three Stoddard Zoning Board Members and Three Alternates Resign

As reported in the Keene Sentinel (NH) July 28: 

By Sarah Trefethen Sentinel Staff | 1 comment

STODDARD — Zoning business is temporarily on hold in this town of a little more than 2,000 residents.

Applications for variances and exceptions to the zoning code, for now at least, can only stack up.

The problem? Three of the five members of Stoddard’s zoning board have resigned, along with all three alternates, according to Patricia Putnam, who resigned as both an alternate board member and the board secretary and still serves as the selectmen’s administrative assistant.

Without a quorum of board members, no application can be approved.

The zoning board has been busy lately, particularly while considering a controversial application from AT&T for permission to build a cellphone tower on Melville Hill.

The board was under considerable pressure from residents of Stoddard and neighboring Nelson to reject the application, and held hearings and deliberations on the matter for several months.

The board voted on May 25 to allow a 130-foot monopole tower, but on Thursday of last week board members decided to reconsider the application.

Resignation letters followed, delivered to town hall the next day.

Fred and Ruth Ward, the two board members who voted against the AT&T tower, are the only people associated with the board who have not resigned.

Beverly Power, the board’s chairwoman, resigned, as did Richard Betz, Maureen Meyer and alternates Nancy Robinson and Richard Briere.

Stoddard ZBA votes for re-hearing of AT&T Cell Tower Decision & then several members resign!

Strange happenings in Stoddard, NH these days.

Last week, on Thursday, July 21, the Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) voted 5-0 for a re-hearing of the AT&T cell tower request, which had been approved 3-2 on May 25. (See minutes of this meeting here --they're very strange....)

Then, on Friday, it was learned that all three ZBA members who had voted in AT&T's favor (chairman Bev Power along with Maureen Meyer, and Richard Betz) had submitted their resignations to the Selectmen of Stoddard, leaving only Fred and Ruth Ward, who voted against AT&T's request for a cell tower on Melville Hill, which stands high over the pristine lake community of Granite Lake.

Yesterday it was discovered that not only had Power, Meyer, and Betz resigned, but the three alternate ZBA members as well. Which makes some of us wonder what's going on....

Stoddard Conservation Commission Chairman Calls ZBA "Incompetent" in Letter to Keene Sentinel re AT&T Cell Tower Decision

Letter by Geoff Jones, Stoddard Conservation Commission Chairman, to the Keene Sentinel:

In the fall of 2010, AT&T approached the Stoddard ZBA for a special exception to place a cell tower on Melville Hill that provides the grand backdrop to Granite Lake.  When the residents of Granite Lake and the conservation commission learned about the proposal, they were naturally concerned.  A 200 foot tower would mar the summit of Melville Hill and undermine the conservation values of abutting protected lands that bordered the site on three sides.  There was nothing about the AT&T plan to locate a tower on Melville Hill that made economic, engineering or environmental sense. 

Granite Lake Residents Appeal AT&T Decision by Stoddard Zoning Board & Consider Lawsuit Against Chair

A number of appeals have been filed by Stoddard residents contesting the Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) decision to grant AT&T a Special Exception to construct a cell tower on Melville Hill, overlooking Granite Lake and the village of Munsonville, NH.  A group of Stoddard residents are also considering a lawsuit against the ZBA Chair. 

Citing bias and conflict of interest on the part of ZBA Chair Beverly Power, an owner of Pitcher Mountain Realty in Stoddard, as well as other concerns, the residents' appeals have resulted in a special meeting being called by the ZBA on Thursday, July 21 at 7 p.m. in the Stoddard Town Hall to consider undertaking a rehearing of the cell tower case. This meeting is open to the public, although they will not be allowed to speak.

Despite the protests, Stoddard ZBA approves AT&T Cell Tower on Melville Hill in 3-2 vote

After seven months the verdict is in: Stoddard's Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) voted on May 25 to grant AT&T a Special Exception to build a cell tower on Melville Hill.

To say it's a disappointment is a major understatement. In fact, it's taken some time even to write about what happened.

For the last seven months we've sat through a long series of hearings to determine whether AT&T should be granted a Special Exception in a Rural Area to build the proposed cell tower. As word got out, area protests grew in size and strength and outrage, as the cell tower would loom over Granite Lake, one of the jewels of the Monadnock region. The townships of both Stoddard and Nelson were affected as well not only by the visual desecration of the landscape but by the property devaluations that would follow and the summer rental businesses that would be hurt.

Stoddard ZBA to vote on AT&T's proposed cell tower May 25

After a series of postponements, the Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) will meet on May 25 at 7:15 p.m. to vote on AT&T's request for a Special Exception to build a cell tower on Melville Hill overlooking Granite Lake.

The meeting is open to the public.

Those who wish to communicate their views regarding the cell tower should write Pat Putnam, ZBA secretary, at: stoddardtreasurer@yahoo.com. She will distribute your comments to the ZBA.

Protests Continue Against AT&T's Proposed Cell Tower in Stoddard, NH

In addition to letters and petitions from concerned residents of the townships of Nelson and Stoddard, weighing in again recently against the proposed AT&T cell tower on top of Melville Hill, which would loom over Granite Lake and the nearly 15,000-acre Andorra Forest which adjoins Melville Hill, was Geoffrey Jones, head of the Stoddard Conservation Commission.

While Jones has spoken publicly before the Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) on numerous occasions during the last six months of hearings, he recently sent a letter and documents to Stephen Delsordo of the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Historic Preservation, which is considering a petition regarding the historic aspects of the region:

A Series of Videos about Our Community vs. AT&T

Granite Lake resident John Cucchi has put together a series of videos that tell the story of our community's  history and beauty and why we feel AT&T needs to locate its cell tower somewhere else (we've found multiple other sites in the last six months):

1. In the first video we see Granite Lake as it was in the past along with pictures of one of its most famous residents, Dr. Charles Eastman, Native American physician and co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America. It's titled "Twin Mountain History."

Dakota Sioux Indians Travel from SD and WI to Protest AT&T Proposed Cell Tower in Stoddard, NH

Traveling 19 hours from South Dakota last week was Santee Dakota Sioux tribal elder Emmett Eastman, great nephew of renowned Native American Dr. Charles Eastman, who came to speak before the Stoddard Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) in protest against AT&T's proposed cell tower atop Stoddard's Melville Hill, overlooking Granite Lake.

Dr. Eastman once lived in the oldest, most historic home on Granite Lake and ran a camp for girls, Camp Oahe, which means "Hill of Vision." He owned the hill known today as Melville Hill and his daughter Irene, who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918, is buried there. This is the site AT&T wishes to build a cell tower.

Co-founder of the Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls of America, Dr. Eastman was a prolific writer and spoke internationally on Native American issues. Emmett Eastman traveled to ask the Stoddard ZBA to "respect the land...if you can find an alternative sight, my people would very much appreciate that."

The Struggle with AT&T Goes On...to a ZBA Decision May 13

The historic sites walk yesterday morning and the hearing last night are described by a Keene Sentinel writer in this article, which has just been published:

In Stoddard, ways of life collide

No decision yet on proposed cell tower

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STEVE HOOPER / Sentinel Staff

In Stoddard, ways of life collide

Peering out the window of the Cucchi residence in Munsonville Thursday toward Granite Lake and a proposed cell tower are, from left, Stephen D. Anderson, representing AT&T, Nadine M. Peterson, of the N.H. Division of Historical Resources and Buzz McLaughlin of Stoddard.

Posted: Friday, May 6, 2011 12:15 pm | Updated: 11:54 am, Fri May 6, 2011.

By Sarah Trefethen Sentinel Staff | 0 comments

STODDARD — Many rules govern the construction of cellphone towers, from local ordinances to federal legislation to courtroom precedents.

There are rules that consider a project’s impacts on historical sites, communication infrastructure and local property values.

But no one rule seems to get to the heart of what bothers Granite Lake residents who have for months resisted AT&T’s plans to build a tower on Stoddard’s Melville Hill, in a location that would be visible across the lake.

Lifelong Stoddard resident Marline J. Leotta says she’s not against technology, but balks at the idea of such a prominent incursion of modern life into the lake’s landscape of rolling green hills and small wooden docks that jut into the sparkling water.

“We need places for the soul to feel free,” she said Thursday, standing near the lake shore in Nelson. “I want it to be a place where you can come and think about nature, not mankind and its squabbles.”