Though residents and town officials this summer called for more community input regarding the plan, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on Tuesday laid out a schedule for municipal bodies to take up a proposed cell tower behind West School.
Verizon “has come forward wanting to put a tower on the west side of town,” Moynihan told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
“Specifically, in the town property of the 47 acres on Ponus Ridge,” Moynihan continued, referring to 769 Ponus Ridge. “We are going to come back with two proposals and this will go to P&Z at the end of the month. One would be 1,000 feet behind West School. The other would be at the other end of the property at Llewelyn [Drive], which is a cul-de-sac, in the woods. So P&Z will [inaudible] on that, making a decision. Llewelyn would probably be required to be 50 feet taller, because it’s a property that slopes off a lot. So that’s in motion.”
Moynihan appeared to be referring to Section 8-24 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Under the state law, a report is required of the local Planning & Zoning Commission for a town to “locate or extend public utilities and terminals for water, sewerage, light, power, transit and other purposes.” If the proposal is “disapproved” by P&Z, the Commission is to send its reasoning to the Town Council, which then may approve the proposal by a two-thirds vote “or a majority vote of those present and voting in an annual or special town meeting,” the law says.
The proposed 125-foot “monopine” tower for West School has been met with strong opposition among many parents and neighbors. They have urged the selectmen to study alternative technologies, accused Moynihan of deceitful practices, raised health-related concerns with respect to children and asserted that cellular coverage on the west side is already adequate. They also have questioned whether the town has already reached an agreement with consulting firm Homeland Towers regarding placement of the cell tower on West School property.
During Tuesday’s meeting, finance board member Judy Neville asked how far from the school the proposed tower would be located. When Moynihan responded, “A quarter of a mile,” Neville said, “That would be more acceptable to parents.”
Yet parents have been upset by any proposed cell tower at the school.
When Moynihan in July tried to get the full Board of Selectmen to discuss and vote on a draft lease between the town and Homeland Towers regarding the proposed cell tower, Selectmen Nick Williams and Kathleen Corbet pushed back, calling for a larger community discussion after Labor Day. (The topic of the cell tower did not come up at the selectmen’s Sept. 6 meeting, which featured a presentation from Town Attorney Ira Bloom.)
The selectmen are scheduled to meet again Sept. 20. P&Z’s regular meeting this month is scheduled for Sept. 27. The Town Council’s regular meeting next month is scheduled for Oct. 19.
The Connecticut Siting Council currently is reviewing the town’s application to erect a cell tower at 1837 Ponus Ridge.
“Commerce over constituents!” — Kevin Moynihan, maybe
Having just moved into my third house in New Canaan with very limited cell service (including one on Llewellyn Dr), I applaud Kevin’s efforts.
For those concerned about the safety of cell towers, I found the American Cancer Society’s primer on cell towers very helpful –
https://www.cancer.org/healthy/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/cellular-phone-towers.html
Chris, here’s a link to all of the cell signal boosters offered by Verizon for your home. These will allow you to solve your individual service issue without imposing unpredictable health risks on children or other fellow citizens.
https://www.verizon.com/products/signal-boosters/verizon/
Chris and John, why would you need either a cell phone tower near your home or a cell phone booster in your home to make calls through your cell phone? When you are home your cell phone should automatically just connect through your WiFi and should not require a cell phone signal to make calls – unless for some reason you turned off WiFi calling on your cell phone. A cell phone signal is only required to make calls through your cell phone if you do not have internet at your home. I don’t know how you turn WiFi calling on and off on all cell phones, but on I Phone, if for some reason your WiFi calling is turned off, to turn it back on you go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling. Sincerely, Luke
I agree, Luke. What’s more, 5G service does not even use these towers. That raises the question: what is motivating the First Selectman, given that distributed 5G transmitters will be installed throughout New Canaan soon enough?
I am not saying I am pro-tower, but we also need to address emergency needs and perhaps there are alternatives. During the last hurricane I had an 85 year old parent staying with us. Unfortunately trees were down, roads closed for 5 days, electric out for 10 days, land lines down, and since we do not have cell reception we had no way to communicate. Our neighbors were in the same situation and could not have assisted. If something would have happened we would have had no way to call 911.
I’m a West School parent and I’m opposed to the cell tower.
Bravo Kevin! Speaking as someone with ZERO cell service in their home on the west side, it is imperative that we get cell service. If my wifi goes out (a regular occurrence given the choice of providers we have in the area) I have no way of contacting anyone on a regular Tuesday, let alone in an emergency. The tower emissions are less than what we are exposed to daily in our own homes. The cell towers are a necessity.
Neighboring towns like Darien and Westport seem to have found viable solutions to cell coverage without putting up these ugly monopines. Why does New Canaan want to be “that town?”