Towering questions

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the questions surrounding a proposed Sprint cell phone tower that would be built on a parcel owned by Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kendall Park.

The tower, which would be 112 foot tall and built in a “flagpole style,” has neighbors along Cardinal Court up in arms and has generated some opposition in other parts of the community. Sprint has a lease with the church, which says it is only interested in the tower if the community supports it.

The community very definitely does not.

Several residents — most of whom, inexplicably, refused to give us their name — were livid over the proposal, saying there were better locations for a tower that already are zoned for commercial or industrial use.

The zoning issue is an important one. Sprint needs variances to build in a residential zone and to exceed the height limits in place — but it has a leg up in this fight that other applicants might not have:

Sprint will bear a slightly lower burden of proof in this case because the Federal Communications Commission states cell-phone towers to be inherently beneficial to the public good, Zoning Board attorney Patrick Foley said. He said that the FCC believes that better cell-phone reception means better safety because it allows the public easier access to 911 and results in fewer dropped calls.

That puts the onus on opponents to prove their point. My initial reaction was to view this as purely NIMBY — it is, at least on some level. This is, after all, about residents protecting their backyards.

But then I had to step back. I have no problem with the NIMBY argument so long as it is connected to the larger interests of the community (see my positions on Route 92, the MOM line and warehouse growth east of Route 130).

More importantly, there does seem to be a slew of alternatives to the church site that would be better than siting it in a residential zone.

I want to offer this letter to the editor from Paul Murray, who lives off Raymond Road, nowhere near the towere site, as a way of closing this out. Dr. Murray offers a rather cogent argument against the tower, one that acknowledges the larger issues and that deserves to be heard:

Sprint Spectrum has applied to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for variances to construct a 112-foot cell tower behind Christ the King Lutheran Church on Route 27 in Kendall Park. If granted, the tower will create a visual blight throughout most of Kendall Park, Highgate and Brunswick Acres. The cell tower is not required. Adequate Sprint-Nextel cell phone service will already exist in these areas.

According to Sprint’s “Nationwide Coverage” map, the area surrounding the tower will have “Sprint-Nextel Hybrid Network Coverage” and “enjoy voice, data and walkie-talkie services seamlessly.”

“Public good” for cell phone users includes having “good” cell phone service. Public good does not include having cell phone towers dotting the horizon for every available cell phone company. Enough is Enough.

Township zoning laws are in place to protect its citizens from outsiders coming into the township with little or no concern for their projects’ looks or effects on the township and its residents. Everyone in the township should be concerned. If a variance for this redundant cell tower is granted, it will set a precedent for more redundant cell towers to rise throughout the township.

Sprint Spectrum’s application is scheduled to be heard before the Zoning Board of Adjustment on Thursday, Oct. 19. Your voice is needed at the zoning board meeting that begins at 7:45 p.m. If you object to this proposed 112-feet high cell tower, it is extremely important to be at the hearing. Numbers count.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.