Franklin Lakes September 14, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Zoning board denies T-Mobile monopole variance by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Zoning Board of Adjustment has denied T-Mobile’s variance application, which would have allowed the installation of a wireless communications monopole behind the Urban Farms Shopping Center on Franklin Lake Road. At the end of a lengthy public hearing, zoning board member Eli Khoury made a motion, which was seconded by Roy Messaros, to deny the variance to permit the monopole at a location 156 feet from the nearest residential property. A 300-foot setback is required by borough ordinance. The board then voted 7-0 to deny the application. Prior to the vote, a site acquisition expert, a radio frequency expert, and a professional planner testified about T-Mobile’s effort to find an alternate location for the monopole, transmission gaps that would be covered by two alternate potential locations behind the shopping center and at the McBride Agency on Franklin Lake Road, and the potential appearance of the monopole. Several residents of nearby Feather Lane questioned the experts extensively and voiced their objection to locating the 130-foot high monopole within the required 300 foot setback. Joseph Binetti, the acquisition expert who had testified at a previous meeting of the board, described the additional effort he made to locate the monopole on the High Mountain Road School property, the Indian Trail Club property, the McBride Field property, and the Most Blessed Sacrament Church property, all of which are on Franklin Lake Road. Binetti explained that one of those sites, McBride Field, is encumbered by a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres restriction, and neither the school district nor the church expressed an interest in locating a monopole on their property. Binetti said the McBride Agency did express an interest in locating a monopole on its property, but would only consider one that was 80 or 90 feet high. Edward Yorke, the radio frequency expert who also gave extensive testimony at a previous public meeting of the zoning board, testified to the reasons why a 90-foot monopole at the McBride Agency would not provide the coverage needed to close the gaps in coverage, especially along High Mountain Road. He said the proposed site behind the Urban Farms Shopping Center would be the best location to cover the entire gap in coverage. David Karlebach, a professional planner who also testified at the last public hearing on this application, described photos he had taken of the proposed monopole site with simulated views of the monopole from various distances and from the area of the homes on Feather Lane. He said the photos show that the monopole could be seen from Feather Lane, but it could only be seen between the leaves and branches of the trees from other areas. “Based on my photos, 156 feet to 300 feet does not make a substantial difference in what the monopole will look like from surrounding sites,” Karlebach said. Karlebach told the board the planning benefits of the proposed monopole would be the enhanced public safety of better 911emergency wireless communications with cell phones, increased work production and effectiveness, and enhanced communications for people traveling along High Mountain Road, while the detriment would be the visual impact of the monopole. He emphasized that a monopole is a permitted conditional use in the shopping center’s retail business zone, and there are many reasons the board should relax the setback requirement for T-Mobile. He cited the hardship of locating a site that would meet the borough’s standards, the features of the land in the area, and the location of underground facilities on other locations in the Urban Farms Shopping Center. During the public comment portion of the hearing, the Feather Lane residents complained that the monopole is too big an object and it does not belong behind the shopping center. They said the borough’s zoning law was created to protect the community and they believe the zoning that was in effect when they bought their houses should stay in effect. One Feather Lane resident, Brian Paul, told the board, “It is a big variance for a marginal benefit and if the board granted the variance it would not be doing the job it is charged with doing.” Before the vote, Gregory Meese, the T-Mobile attorney, reminded the board and the public that T-Mobile has an obligation and a right under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to provide coverage for its customers and the board has an obligation to provide facilities to provide that coverage. “T-Mobile has made a very good faith effort to find a (continued on page 9)