Cell Phones: No / Cell Towers: Maybe

Here's a story about erecting a cell phone tower in Upper Southampton from the BCCT. There's a no cell phone rule inside the schools, but what if the school board were to explore this option for land it uses in Morrisville?

Cell tower could be built on township land
But first it will have to be determined that the location on Second Street Pike isn’t a wetland.
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE

A proposed 150-foot cell phone tower might not make it to Tamanend Park after all.

Verizon Wireless representative Sue Manchel asked the Upper Southampton supervisors to amend a lease agreement signed in July, so the company can instead erect a tower on township property at 1555 Second Street Pike, on the southeast corner of Second Street Pike and Bristol Road.

After hearing residents’ concerns, the board voted 4-0 Tuesday to approve the change. Supervisor Marguerite Genesio wasn’t at the meeting.

But before any tower can go up there, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will have to determine that the new location isn’t a wetland. If it is, Verizon officials said the company will go with its initial plan and build the tower in a wooded area of the park along Second Street Pike near the Maple Avenue intersection.

If it’s built on township property, the tower would be 15 feet away from a gas pipe and near a designated 100-year flood plain.

The company has exhausted existing antennas so it needs to raise a new one for the seamless coverage required by the Federal Communications Commission, Verizon Wireless officials have said. The tower will be used by multiple carriers and the township will control the use of it when negotiating with those carriers.

Supervisor Stephen Ullrich said building on township land would be a “win-win” for the township and Verizon, since Upper Southampton initially purchased the land for cell tower purposes.

Supervisor Chairman Keith Froggatt, who voted against the tower in the park back in July, said he prefers the new location as well. The request for the change followed talks between Verizon and residents who don’t want a tower in the park.

Since July, the company has looked at three other possible sites suggested by the Friends of Tamanend Park. “We are trying to accommodate the township,” Manchel said.

But the company is finding out some residents want the tower in the park.

Gretchen Haertsch said a tree-disguised tower would fit best tucked in the park for less visibility. She added that a tower at the latest proposed location would surround three historic properties, ruining the area’s historical value.

Elizabeth Finnegan said she’s worried about safety during construction on the latest proposed site, which is close to schools.

She said she fears that the nearby gas pipe will be hit or moved during digging.

“I’m really concerned about the gas pipe and the children,” she said.

Resident Ron Thoma said he tried to purchase the township property a few year ago, but couldn’t because the “government said it was designated wetlands. You can’t build on wetlands.”

Verizon Wireless didn’t conduct wetlands studies before proposing the location, company officials said.

Verizon isn’t the only wireless company dealing with the supervisors. The board voted 4-0 to send the township solicitor to Wednesday’s zoning hearing board to say that the supervisors don’t recommend giving TMobile several variances to build a cell tower to close a reported gap in coverage for its customers.

T-Mobile wants to erect a 120-foot tower on land that it would lease from the Churchville Inn on Bristol Road and Bustleton Pike. The variances requested have to do with the tower’s proposed height and distance from the inn’s property line.

In the proposal presented in August, T-Mobile said the tower would be 3 feet from the side yard property line of the inn, as opposed to the 15 feet required by the township ordinance. It would be 3 feet from the rear property line, but the township requires 35 feet. Since the tower would be in a residential zone, the maximum allowed height is 25 feet, not the 120 feet requested.

On Tuesday, the company presented a slightly revised plan that would still require buffer and set-back variances.

T-Mobile has another possible location, representatives said, but they won’t know if the property owner will lease the land to them until this Tuesday. If that deals go through, Ullrich said, TMobile wouldn’t need the variances.