Hampton neighbors speak out against proposed 156-foot cell tower to fix Route 1 dead zone

HAMPTON — A new cell tower is being proposed on Barbour Road to improve service for the northern section of town, but some residents are concerned about property values and adverse health effects.

Vertex Towers, LLC, which has built towers around the state, is looking to build a 156-foot monopole tower at 17R Barbour Road. It filed for approval with the town Planning Board, as well as the Zoning Board, seeking height and use variances.

The tower is proposed in the Residence A zoning district, where structures are not permitted higher than 35 feet. Cell towers are also only permitted in certain parts of town that do not include the site where Vertex is proposing to build.

Vertex’s representative, attorney Francis Parisi, said the company has been looking at the site on Barbour Road for several years. He said it is part of a two-site solution to gaps in coverage east of Route 1 “where wireless coverage is severely lacking.”

Town officials say the service is lacking. Hampton Fire Chief Mike McMahon said firefighters sometimes rely on phone calls during an emergency response. He said a call is always made to the hospital when an ambulance is en route from a scene. Firefighters sometimes also call physicians for advice.

“If you lose the call, sometimes that care can become delayed,” McMahon said.

Residents who live nearby say they fear the cell tower will be built without their concerns taken seriously. Several appeared Wednesday, Aug. 23, at a meeting between Vertex and the Plan Review Committee, where department heads gave feedback on the project. The neighbors will have a chance to speak in public hearings later this fall when the project goes to the Planning Board.

“We’re concerned about our property values going down 8%,” said Eileen Stepien, who lives on Barbour Road. “We’re all concerned that they don’t want to hear us.”

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Vertex Towers, based in Sharon, Massachusetts, has built towers in communities around New England. The towers are rented to tenant cell service providers like Verizon and AT&T. Parisi said Dish Network is also interested in using the tower.

The height of the tower is the minimum height for providing service, according to Vertex’s proposal submitted to the Planning Board. The proposed tower is 150 feet with its highest appurtenance reaching an additional six feet. The company says there is no other structure of sufficient height anywhere near the property that would provide requisite telecommunications coverage.

The Barbour Road property is 23 acres of undeveloped land, which Parisi said gives significant space for separation from abutters. He said a balloon test could be conducted this year to demonstrate the visibility of the tower with notice given to abutters who want to see it.

“Everyone assumes that 150 feet is tall,” Parisi said. “It’s really not.”

In Wednesday’s PRC meeting, Vertex representatives took questions from the town’s fire, public works, and building departments as well as the town conservation coordinator and Until. They were told Vertex could be placed on the Planning Board’s Oct. 4 meeting provided they respond to questions from public works related to stormwater.

Town Planner Jason Bachand said Vertex should expect to complete the ZBA before going before the Planning Board. He said the Planning Board rarely gives conditional approval to projects that have not recieved variances yet. Parisi said Vertex preferred to go through both processes at the same time.

Bachand also noted that cell towers are not permitted in that zone. Hampton’s telecommunications facilities ordinance only permits towers built in a district that is 350 feet west and east from the centerline of Interstate 95.

The ordinance states the ZBA may grant a special exception for towers on town property or for retrofitting an existing structure greater than 80 feet. The Barbour Road property is privately-owned, and the tower would be new construction.

Parisi has said that federal law supersedes local ordinances that prohibit the construction of cell towers in places where service is lacking, per the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In York, Maine, Vertex filed a federal lawsuit when the York Board of Appeals rejected their request for a variance, and the Planning Board declined to hear their application.

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Neighbors concerned about health effects, property values

Residents who came to the PRC meeting to watch said they wished they had known about the planning for the cell tower sooner than their abutter notice this year. Many are concerned the health effects of cell towers have not yet been identified, and they will be at a heightened risk of cancer.

Karen Dawson said she has read it is dangerous to live within 300 to 500 meters of cell towers and said her neighborhood on Bear Path Road is within that range.

“It’s a fry zone,” Dawson said. “You just don’t want to be there.”

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Dawson was also concerned that Parisi said the tower would not necessarily be plowed or shoveled in the winter in case firefighters needed access. McMahon said after the meeting that was not a concern given the facility will not be manned and therefore did not consist of a “life hazard.”

Larry and Dolores Messner said they were concerned that another commercial structure could be built in their residential zone. He said the neighborhood already has a landscaping and fencing company and does not want to see commercial activity expanding.

“The industrial park there is just expanding,” Messner said. “When does it stop?”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Cell tower plan to fix Route 1 dead zone sparks outrage in Hampton