With Permission
Reps Widlitz, Reed, Heinrich
The state House of Representatives voted unanimously last night to change the way the state Siting Council does business, mandating that it consider miniaturized technologies instead of cell towers and instituting penalties for telecommunications providers who submit deceptive applications.
The Siting Council, established in 1972, has statewide jurisdiction over the siting of power facilities and transmission lines as well as hazardous waste facilities. Its powers were subsequently extended to include telecommunications.
The bill’s adoption comes as Branford and other towns wrestle with a slew of applications to put cell towers across the shoreline.
“A unanimous, bipartisan vote sends a powerful wake-up call to the CT Siting Council that has been approving more than 90 percent of the applications for cell towers,” State Rep. Lonnie Reed (D‑Branford) said after the vote. “We need to ensure a fair process and give much more consideration to new technologies that minimize impacts to neighborhoods, the environment and to scenic treasures such as Long Island Sound. And penalties must be imposed on those who would game the system.”
The bill was introduced by State Reps. Reed, Pat Widlitz (D‑Guilford-Branford) and Deb Heinrich (D‑Guilford-Madison). “The passage of this bill is critical,” Widlitz said. “We are being bombarded with cell tower proposals along the shoreline. This is an assault on our towns, degrading some of the most valuable, ecologically sensitive and scenic property in the state. There has got to be a better way.” The bill now goes to the State Senate.
Diana Stricker Photo
David Maxson
Last week a Boston-based cellular consultant told a gathering of shoreline leaders and residents that there are viable alternatives to standard cell towers that are less intrusive. He echoed the sentiments adopted by the House last night.
David Maxson shared his expertise last week with members of Branford’s Cell Tower Advisory Panel and about 35 residents from Branford and other shoreline towns.
Maxson foresees greater reliance on Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) which use smaller antenna nodes distributed throughout an area rather than standard cell towers.
“DAS is now a very actively invested-in industry,” Maxson said. “It did not see a recession last year.” He said such systems can be effective in highly-populated areas, but are not feasible in all locations. As the demand for more cell power increases, Maxson said alternatives such as DAS are becoming more popular. “We’re seeing prices go down and effectiveness go up.”
The need for more cellular power is being driven by the consumer market, according to Maxson. He said the country is at a “wireless tipping point” where 60 percent of households nationwide have both landlines and cell phones, and the other 40 percent is equally divided between homes without cell phones and homes without landlines.
“Landlines are going away and cell phones are becoming the medium of choice,” he said.
Another trend he sees is the increasing number of people who rely on cell phones not just for talking and texting, but also for browsing the internet and downloading user applications.
“It’s quite interesting to see how the industry has evolved,” he said as he discussed the need for more coverage. “There’s pressure to have more cell sites.”
And that pressure is being felt by communities as they grapple with cellular companies who want to built multiple towers.
Prior to Maxson’s presentation, First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos told the gathering he formed the Cell Tower Advisory panel because of the “bombarding we got from the cell tower companies.”
Towers are being proposed for at least eight sites in Branford, and at numerous locations along the Connecticut shoreline. Many, like the ones in Stony Creek and along Pine Orchard Road, are being driven by Amtrak’s desire to boost connectivity for its passengers. Others, like the one proposed for Short Beach, are an attempt to remedy cell coverage gaps.
“Where this is going, I don’t know,” DaRos said in regard to the cell tower situation. “If we’re going to deal with this, we need to be educated.”
Doug Marsh, chair of the Cell Tower Advisory panel, said the group scheduled the forum so that panel members and the community could learn more about cellular technology “so we can minimize the intrusion in the community.”
Marsh said Branford is also in the process of hiring a cellular consultant to assist the town and hopefully a consortium of shoreline communities. He said the towns gain strength “by linking hands down the shoreline. We’re all facing the same pressures.”
Maxson talked about the importance of long-range planning for communities when it comes to cell coverage issues. He said cellular companies are typically only looking ahead about 18 months and have no long-range plans.
Maxson is a consultant with Broadcast Signal Lab, a company that he co-founded in 1982, which offers a range of broadcast engineering services to communities and industries.
He said Connecticut differs from other New England states because it has the Connecticut Siting Council CSC which oversees cell tower placement. He said oversight in other states is delegated to local zoning boards, but that often the towns become mired in lawsuits when they deny requests for cell tower placement.
A proposed legislative bill spearheaded by Rep. Reed, would update the CSC in light of current communications.
Maxson also discussed ways of minimizing the visual impact of the “big ugly monopole tower” and other standard cell towers. “There are effective ways to conceal towers if you have the opportunity,” he said as he displayed a variety of photographs with cell towers disguised as trees or antenna placed in church steeples. “When an architect gets involved, they can do something a little more pleasant-looking.”
During a question and answer session, Kurt Schwanfelder, who is a member of the Cell Tower Advisory panel, asked about the definition of coverage.
“It’s a moving target,” Maxson said as he looked at a cell coverage map of Branford.
“The companies keep changing their definition of a gap in service.”
The entire two-hour forum can be seen on BCTV. The Cell Tower Advisory panel is planning additional community sessions.
Marcia Chambers contributing reporting to this story.
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You really should give credit to State Senator Ed Meyer. He's been in a real, serious battle on this bill and was the first to introduce it in the Environment Committee, of which he is chair. Please give full background when discussing legislation.