Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Hyde cell tower rises along with neighbors' ire

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 04:47:51 -0400

Hyde cell tower rises along with neighbors' ire
By Matt Gunderson / Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 16, 2003

STOW - An embattled homeowner along Wheeler Road is quietly completing installation of a
100-foot cell tower on Spindle Hill, after receiving the consent of the Zoning Board of
Appeals last month to move forward with construction.  Meanwhile, neighbors are continuing
efforts to stop the cell tower in state court and force Donald Hyde, the tower owner, to
tear the structure down.

Resident Tom Maher said he can already see the tower, sticking out of Spindle Hill like a
"smoke stack," from his dining room on Whitney Road.  Two balloon tests that were meant to
simulate the tower failed to show the extent of the damage to the view from his house, he
said.
"This is much worse than the simulation ever indicated," he said. "People can see this
thing from miles around."

Gates Lane resident Peter Mills said he can't see the tower from his property, but he is
concerned about the health impact from the tower to his family and students at the nearby
Pompositicut Elementary School. He blames members of the Planning Board, which settled the
denied special permit outside of court, for the potential hazard, although the Federal
Telecommunications Act of 1996 forbids boards from raising health issues about cell towers
in public hearings.
"They proceeded without consideration for the impact to real estate for neighbors or
health for the children at Pompositicut," he said.

Douglas Hyde, son of Donald Hyde, who has consistently represented his father in the
proceedings, contends, however, that real estate values and health are both unaffected by
the presence of cell towers. He also said recent home sales in the neighborhood have
continued to climb, regardless of the pending construction of the cell tower.

"The tower is virtually invisible on Gates Lane," he said. "All but one house on Wheeler
Road is screened....But we proved that siting of cell towers in neighborhoods has no
adverse impact on real estate values."

The application for the cell tower began in 1999 and has been an ongoing controversy ever
since. The Planning Board denied the special permit twice, but board members decided to
settle a lawsuit with Hyde.

Recently, neighbors contested the building permit issued to Hyde before the Zoning Board
of Appeals, saying the Planning Board didn't have enough board members to settle the suit.
The board upheld the building inspector's decision, allowing the construction to move
forward.

The application also received variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals, for which Hyde
made no formal requests. Hyde said this week that they have moved the tower, so the
variances would not be necessary.

The variances, he added, had been requested to allow a fourth carrier on the cell tower,
which would negate the need for other towers in town. Currently, there are two carrier
company's on the tower, Team Mobil and Nextel Communications, he said.

"Now, there's going to be a need for another tower in the future," he said.
Throughout the process, Mills, Maher, and other neighbors have been convinced that Hyde, a
former selectman, and the board members have been in collusion to permit the tower.

"It's totally in favor of one person at the expense of others," said Maher. "The
application has been non-compliant, but he's been able to move it through the process
behind closed doors."

Hyde himself, however, holds completely the opposite view.
"How can I be shown favoritism, when I have been denied everything?" he said. "I think the
town put me under more scrutiny than most other applicants mostly because of fears of
criticism of favoritism."

Hyde does, however, admit that he has ties and friendships stemming from his service in
town government.

"Anyone who volunteers quickly makes friends in town government and becomes part of a
larger team, a larger family," he said.

Maher and Mills said they both plan to move forward with the litigation. Sharon Burrell,
an attorney representing the neighbors, said the fate of the cell tower is still not
decided, and residents will file an appeal of the Zoning Board of Appeal's decision
shortly.

"If and when we win, he will just have to tear it down, and that's the consequences of his
actions," she said

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