We’ve all heard the term before, especially when describing the political process in D.C., but the same name holds true for small-town politics and commissions.
When new initiatives are put forth in New Canaan, projects like school additions, budgets, road construction and sidewalks, even the Town Hall project, people get very passionate and vocal as to what direction they believe the town should be going. That’s a good thing and that’s exactly how the process should work. Not only are the public expected to behave in a civil manner during these discussions, but the elected officials and the volunteers on these commissions are expected to patiently listen to, and take into account, the opinions and concerns of their constituency. Not just argue for their own proposed agenda.
The same holds true for the cell tower initiative that the Utilities Commission is currently spearheading. This has been a very contentious topic in town for the last 15 years, and no one on the Utilities Commission should be surprised if there would be a very loud response from the townspeople. People are very concerned about all the obvious issues associated with cell towers—visibility, design and scale of tower, property values, health concerns, etc.
When it comes to town initiatives and projects like this, it’s all about process. In order to develop viable solutions for the wireless coverage issue, solutions that have the support of the community, we should have followed a different process, in my opinion. Luckily, the voices of New Canaan townspeople have been heard and we now are in a position where the “brakes have been tapped” on the cell tower initiative. Planning and Zoning is getting involved and has formed a subcommittee to develop a new set of zoning regulations to help guide the proposed wireless communication solutions that we are faced with. Regulations that carriers and developers will not only appreciate but abide by and design to.
My expectation is the Planning & Zoning and the Utilities Commission will work together to develop clear and considered zoning regulations that will protect the town, our parks, our people and our property values. We cannot be left in a position where we have no way of controlling the construction and deployment of cell towers in our town, and leave it to the tower developers to tell us what’s best for us. It must not work this way.
I’m sure there will be differences of opinion on these regulations, as well as on the next steps forward for the wireless communication solutions of the town, but we need to keep all options open. The ultimate solution will be truly unobtrusive, town wide, and appreciated by all taxpayers and the telecommunications Industry. That’s the process of making cell tower sausage.
Never underestimate the power of NIMBY. As long as you offer folks a single option which amounts to choose this or chose to do nothing, you will get a lot of nothing which maintains the status quo and blocks any change or progress. The only way to move forward and ‘make some sausage’ is to present two or three options for moving forward and have people make a choice between them so doing nothing is not an option.
We live on upper Ponus Ridge. We do not have cell coverage in most areas of our house.
How on Earth can this continue to be the case in 2017??
Beyond belief!
I recommend that you ask your carrier for a microcell booster. I persuaded AT&T to give me one free and it works very well, although you need an ethernet connection, not just wifi.
If you use Optonline for telephone, TV and internet, the Microcell works fine. If two people have an internet connection, they can talk using WhatsApp locally, nationally or internationally for free without any cell tower at all. Try it. WhatsApp is clear as a bell.
I’d be happy to speak to someone regarding location for a tower. I’ve got a perfect spot for one.
I think we, as a town, should listen to our emergency response professionals and follow their lead in terms of what makes sense from a coverage perspective. This isn’t about everyone agreeing on what will look the prettiest. This is about getting the entire town up-to-speed coverage wise if for no other reason that everyone deserves to sleep at night knowing they can call 911 as easily, and reliably, as anyone. Being able to communicate with everyone else in the 21st century is nice too. No location will satisfy everyone, but at least everyone should get satisfying coverage.
We are lucky to have Dan Radman in the Drivers seat on this issue. He and his subcommittee will be thoughtful in steering the process to achieve a result New Canaan can be proud of. We will put our money on that horse!
Why is Planning and Zoning sticking their nose into this? Everyone knows that P&Z has one standard for developers and another for residents. They are the last ones that we should trust to protect our interests and, in this case, Radman and the others on his subcommittee have conflicts of interest and should recluse themselves. The experts are on the Utilities Commission and they should be handling this for the town.