I received the following note from a resident over on Cardinal Court in Kendall Park:
Sprint is attempting to get South Brunswick to approve erecting a cellular tower on the property of Christ the King Church on Route 27 in Kendall Park. They want to build a 112-foot, flag-pole style tower with an equipment building. There is a zoning board meeting on Oct. 5 at 7:45 p.m. where Sprint will attempt to get the property at 3330 Route 27 rezoned from R-3 (residential) status to accommodate its plans. I am writing to you to see if there is a way to get this information published so the residents of the town can be made aware. We are planning on fighting this issue, and could use the support of everyone who agrees that this is not a desirable structure in our area. Our concerns revolve around potential long term health issues from RF emissions, potential negative impact on property values, and esthetics. We believe a 112-foot tower in this area would be an eyesore in what is essentially a residential area.
I can understand the concerns. Cell tower placement, however, is a difficult issue because of the various layers of government involved — while the local zoning board can review the tower, it’s hands are basically tied. If the Federal Communications Commission thinks that the tower is needed and that there are no better locations, it can overrule the zoners — which puts the onus on residents to do their homework.
Personally, I am of two minds on this. I generally side with residents when they are defending their properties against development. But at the same time, I believe we have invited this plague on ourselves by our attachment to our cell phones. We want to use the phones, want good service, but don’t want the towers necessary to guarantee what we want.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 