Residents will press fight
against Route 9 cell tower
Cingular seeks OK
for equipment behind
Goodyear Tire store
By linda denicola
Staff Writer

One hot button issue facing many municipalities right now is the placement of cellular communications towers. Although many people want to be able to use cell phones, many do not want the towers and antennas that make the communications possible to be placed in or near their neighborhoods.

More than 60 residents attended the June 6 Freehold Township Planning Board hearing to voice their opposition to an application filed by Cingular Wireless, which wants to locate a tower on Route 9 north.

Cingular Wireless is seeking site plan approval to construct a telecommunications facility which would include a 140-foot-high monopole with an array of 12 antennas, an equipment shelter, an access driveway and related equipment on 4.28 acres on Route 9 north. The shelter and the antennas would be contained within a 22-by-52-foot chain link fence.

The site for the proposed tower would be on property behind Goodyear Tire, owned by Michael Schiff, that borders the Juniper Farms housing development on the east side of the highway. The communications use is a permitted use in Freehold Township’s CMX-3 (corporate multi-use) zone.

According to Guy F. Leighton, the township’s assistant planner, the equipment building would be set back in excess of 50 feet as required and there would be adequate screening of the equipment shelter from a nursing home to the north and the private homes to the east.

A continuation of the public hearing will be held in the municipal building on June 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Mayor Eugene Golub, who sits on the Planning Board, said residents were concerned about health issues and aesthetics.

"The nearest Juniper Farms property is probably 300 feet from the proposed cell tower, and it is wooded. According to representatives of the company, it won’t be noticed because there are 40- to 50-foot-tall trees around it that will block the view of the tower," the mayor said.

But according to Kurt Tweten, who lives in the Juniper Farms development, residents who live directly behind the tower would be able to see the tower, as would everyone else, especially in the fall and winter when the trees are denuded.

"The simple fact is that this cell tower would be an eyesore to the community and to those traveling in our ‘Keep Freehold Beautiful’ town," Tweten said. "It would affect the resale value for all our properties as well."

Golub said there was some discussion of building the communications tower to look like a pine tree, as has been done in other places, but he said that idea was discarded.

"If you drive around various places, you see towers that are camouflaged as ugly pine trees," he said.

Tweten said he and other residents are also concerned about health and safety issues.

"Most importantly, the recent research controversy over electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure and childhood leukemia and other carcinogens are a concern," he said.

Golub said, "We talked about environmental and health effects. The federal government has pre-empted a municipality from considering the health effects, but it doesn’t reduce the fact that people are concerned."

The mayor said he understands the residents’ concern because the potential long-term affects of continual exposure to electromagnetic radiation emissions is unknown.

"The government says that in their judgment it’s not a problem, but people are not completely reassured by that," he said.

According to Golub, the Cingular representatives were asked to come back with additional information. One question was about an eagle nesting in the Manasquan Reservoir tract and another was about the visual impact on the wooded area.

"Cingular also asked for waivers for a few issues. We asked them to generate some reports," the mayor said, adding that one of the questions that will be discussed at the next hearing will be the company’s rationale for the proposal.

"Are they doing it because there is a dead spot in the area or because they need additional antennas to cover a larger area?" Golub said.

The mayor explained that for the majority of providers the service area is about a 2-mile radius. That means they need a tower every 4 miles or less in order to provide clear, uninterrupted wireless service, he said.