[mcdude]

from Today's Citizen

Cell tower dispute nearing an end
Alton:
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Selectmen have reached a tentative agreement with the cell tower companies that want to build a tower on Miramichie Hill, but the attorney for abutter David Slade said his client isn't ready to sign on.

On March 3, selectmen agreed with Industrial Communication and Electronic, Inc. and two cell companies, RCC Atlantic [d.b.a. Unicel] and USCOC [d.b.a. U.S. Cellular], that a 100-foot tower could be built on the property at 486 East Side Drive.

As part of the agreement, the town also agreed that there would be "no just cause for further delay" and that the decision of the Alton Zoning Board of Adjustment on March 13, 2007 to deny the applicant's request for a height variance of 120 feet is meaningless.

The parties agree..." that further meetings, hearings or decisions of the Zoning Board of Adjustment would serve no useful purpose..." read the consent decree that has not been signed by a federal judge.

Slade lives next door and his family has owned the abutting property since 1953. Late last year, he successfully petitioned the court to intervene and his lawyer Paul Fitzgerald said he doesn't think the project can go forward without his client's agreement.

When he filed his petition to join the suit, Slade said the town of Alton, like so many other small towns, has waged a David-vs. Goliath-type battle against the deep-pocketed cell tower companies.

As of Oct 2009, Alton taxpayers had spent $181,000 in legal fees trying to uphold the Zoning Board's decision.

When the property was first identified as a site, it was not in one of the four areas designated by Alton's zoning ordinances that would be acceptable for cell towers.

In March of 2006, voters adopted new zoning ordinances that allow cell towers to be erected but restricted their height to 10 feet above the average tree canopy. The proposed ICE tower was initially 120 feet, or 61 feet above the tree canopy, and still required a variance.

Should the judgment and order be signed, the Zoning Board's denial of a variance for a 120-foot tower is vacated and amended to modify to grant the height variance to 100 feet with a full antenna array on the top so the entire structure is no more that 103 feet.

The agreement also stipulated that after five years the height of the tower may be extended provided the applicants received a variance from the Zoning Board.

The agreement further stipulates that ICE will submit revised plans and the Planning Board shall not act to reduce the maximum height of the tower or the antenna or seek to change the configuration as submitted by the applicant on June 19, 2006.

Fitzgerald said the court has given some time for his client to file a memorandum as to why he opposes the agreement.

Selectman Pat Fuller said that until a judge actually signs the order, she cannot comment.

Zoning Board Chair Paul Monzione said overall he had been very impressed with the Alton ZBA consistently applying the zoning laws, but said this could be a rare instance when complicated issues of federal law "can overwhelm and are inconsistent with local law."

Sometimes settlements are in the best interests of the town, Monzione said, adding that although he hasn't read the proposed order it appears the town's zoning laws will remain intact.