North Hampton approves cell tower to fix Route 1 dead zone: Will Hampton follow suit?

NORTH HAMPTON — It took the approval of three zoning ordinance waivers, one site plan regulation waiver and two conditional use permits, but at its Nov. 7 meeting, the Planning Board unanimously approved Vertex Tower’s proposal to build a new cell tower in North Hampton.

Filed by Massachusetts-based Vertex Towers, the now approved site plan application allows the construction of a 150-foot wireless tower, with access driveway and utility improvements, on land owned by Richard E. Skowronski and Leslie A. Hanna behind 142 Mill Road. The access driveway will be between the properties at 140 and 144 Mill Road, according to the plan.

The tower will be in the R-1 and R-2 residential zones, high and moderate density zones, respectively, and not by the town’s zoning, which accounts for some of the need for waivers and conditional use permits. According to North Hampton zoning regulations approved in 2003, all North Hampton cell towers are required to be located on the west side of Interstate 95 and on town-owned, not private land.

However, the abysmal cell phone and wireless service for residents and businesses on the east side of Route 1 almost required the Planning Board to broaden its views and accommodate a tower on the east side of town. The public demand for a cell tower to improve service has been growing louder in recent years. It is seen by many as a safety issue since the lack of cell phone service has prevented emergency calls from the beach and during a car accident on Atlantic Avenue.

According to Vertex’s attorney, Francis Parisi, coverage in the gap area cannot be improved by simply “powering up” the existing tower near I-95. He said it requires a new location in the town’s eastern sector. At the November meeting, Parisi told the board that projected service coverage would extend east from the proposed Mill Road tower to the sea.

According to Isotrope’s David Maxson, a wireless consultant hired by the Planning Board to review Vertex’s proposal, there is a “crying need” for better cell service in North Hampton’s eastern corridor. Maxson said the tower Vertex is proposing would fill the gap and answer many of the town’s needs for better wireless service.

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North Hampton’s tower off Mill Road is part of a tandem effort Vertex is making to build towers in a manner that will improve wireless service along the Seacoast. In that respect, Vertex also has a cell tower proposal before Hampton’s Zoning Board and Planning Board.

To be located on Barbour Road in Hampton, the hope is that the two towers together will enhance coverage, but according to Parisi, the North Hampton tower on its own will greatly improve service.

“They are two independent facilities nicely placed to provide complimentary coverage,” Parisi said of the Mill Road and proposed Barbour Road towers.

Hampton’s tower proposal is garnering significant objections from some residents.

Neighbors push for alternative site to no avail

Three North Hampton residents of the nearby Boutilier Lane neighborhood requested the Planning Board require Vertex to reposition the tower on another portion of land in the area, also owned by Skowronski and Hanna, insisting it would offer better coverage. However, according to Planning Board Chairman Phil Wilson, the board didn’t have the time to address a new placement, since it had only 65 days from the beginning of its deliberation on the proposal to act. And those 65 days were nearly up on Nov. 7, according to town Planning Administrator Rick Miller.

In addition, Wilson said, it isn’t the Planning Board’s role to require an applicant to bring in a new proposal and site plan for a new location. Wilson explained the board’s function is to review and deal with the application placed before it, and either accept or deny it as presented.

If the board were to reject Vertex’s application, Wilson said the town would “undoubtedly” end up in court. And given the federal communication laws, Wilson said, the town would have lost that court battle.

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16 conditions placed on cell tower approval

Along with allowing a conditional use permit for locating the tower outside the town’s Wireless Telecommunications Facilities District, the other permit allowed it to be constructed in a wetland’s conservation area. The compromises, however, were necessary due to the need for better service, as well as the town’s geography, according to Parisi and Maxson.

At a previous meeting, Parisi explained Vertex searched for land to build a tower in North Hampton for seven years and has run out of options that would extend service to the eastern portion of town. Maxson told the board the same thing.

In approving the project, the Planning Board attached 16 conditions that Vertex must meet, some of which are fairly standard.

However, there were some conditions specific to this proposal. One includes allowing the town to add its own antenna and wireless equipment on the tower, free of charge in perpetuity. Parisi agreed, adding the equipment must be reasonable.

“We can’t put a Volkswagen up there,” Parisi said.

Vertex Towers, LLC, located in Sharon, Massachusetts, is not itself a cell or wireless provider. It is a telecommunications infrastructure developer, which builds, manages and owns telecommunications facilities across the country, many across New England. After it builds towers, it contracts with wireless carriers – such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon – to establish their antennas on its tower. The North Hampton cell tower can accommodate four such antennas, according to Parisi.

To ensure that Vertex doesn’t build a tower then not have any carriers willing to take part, one of the conditions mandates Vertex provide evidence it has a signed contract with at least one carrier before construction can begin.

Other conditions include Vertex completing and filing an environmental impact report and a storm and water management plan, as well as providing evidence that all insurance and financial security are in place.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: North Hampton approves cell tower to fix Route 1 dead zone