Subject: (Kirsch) The Cape Cod Commission finally is listening (fwd)
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 121047 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------
.........All of you who are in "tower fights" will want to read the
following very carefully.... It illustrates what a determined group
of "local" regulators (zoning commission) can do on YOUR behalf ...
when they are WITH you ... rather than AGAINST you......
It should go without saying -- if they are not WITH you ... GET RID OF
THEM!!! That is a language they will understand...... That is what has
to happen if our system is going to work.....
Cheerio.....
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
rbeavers@llion.org................
...It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness...
.................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS...............
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 11:42:43 -0400
From: ackirsch@capecod.net
To: rbeavers@llion.org
Subject: The Cape Cod Commission finally is listening
>From the capecod times 4-9-99
Cellular tower plans get poor reception
Bourne proposal denied, Sandwich one stalled
By KEVIN DENNEHY
STAFF WRITER
In two acts of an ongoing drama playing out across
the Cape, representatives from separate telecommunication companies
yesterday butted heads with the Cape Cod Commission over cellular
towers proposed for the Upper Cape.
The commission rejected an 80-foot Bourne tower,
calling it too tall to hide and too small to service more than one
carrier. Later, a commission subcommittee answered "veiled threats"
levied by a company losing patience with the approval process for a
150-foot tower in Sandwich.
At the end of the Sandwich hearing, a string of
residents thanked the commission for putting "quality of life" ahead of
"quality of reception."
The commission unanimously rejected Omnipoint
Communications' Bourne tower, which would have been erected near the
Plymouth line, between routes 3 and 3A. Commission planner Paul Sutton
said that, at 80 feet, the tower was big enough to serve only one carrier
- a practice the commission wants to avoid.
Omnipoint's lawyer said the company altered its
original plans, widening the tower so it could be doubled in height during
a possible second phase when other carriers showed interest.
"That is a new project, from our standpoint," said
Herbert Olsen, commission chairman and subcommittee member.
Gerald Marquis of Omnipoint said the company will
consider its options before deciding whether to submit a new application
with the commission.
At the subcommittee hearing in Sandwich,
commission project planner Ken Kirkey recommended that Seacoast Limited
Partnership contact ComElectric before committing to building in a
residential neighborhood. He said Seacoast should determine if it's
feasible to reconstruct or add to an existing pole on
ComElectric's easement, which is in a part of town
zoned for telecommunications.
The proposed Seacoast site is on 17.5 acres near
the intersection of Chase and Bayview roads, an area excluded from the
zoning district at special town meeting last month.
But, since Seacoast filed the application last
year, the company is not bound by the rezoning.
Seacoast attorney Pat Butler argued that the
company has garnered support from three telecommunications carriers,
proved the viability of the proposed site and shown the need for improved
cellular telephone reception in the area. He added that the commission's
failure to approve the project in a timely manner possibly violates
regional policy plan and the Cape Cod Commission Act.
The subcommittee took exception when he mentioned
possible legal action. I don't like to listen to veiled threats, no
matter how veiled they are," said subcommittee member Joe Travelo of
Dennis.
"We're not threatening anyone," Butler answered.
Several neighbors reminded Butler that, above the
letter of the law, abutter concerns must also be considered in the
process.
"I don't know why you can't wait three to six
months," Virginia Sutherland told him. "It's something we'll have to live
with for years to come."
The subcommittee made tentative plans to resume the
hearing April 28 or 29.
> Copyright © 1999 Cape Cod Times. All
rights reserved.
>
>
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html