Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Tower Power

From: "marcel_rf1" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:49:06 -0000

Wireless carriers fighting Kinnelon ; Suing over
denial of 105-foot tower
Source: "Record, The; Bergen County, N.J."
Publication date: 2003-06-19

Cellular phone coverage in Kinnelon is a problem, wireless 
communication companies say: dropped calls, no service, dead air,
lost signals.

And that's why, the companies said, they are suing the borough.
Sprint, Nextel, and Verizon Wireless have filed a joint lawsuit in 
Superior Court in Morristown, aiming to reverse the Board of 
Adjustment's rejection of a monopole - a flagpole-shaped cell tower - 
on Whitty Road. If that fails, the companies will challenge the 
borough's ordinance that outlines which sections of town are approved 
sites for cell towers.

"We have a major coverage gap in Kinnelon. This is a real need. We 
hear from our customers all the time," said Larry McDonnell, a Sprint 
spokesman. Sprint is taking the lead in the lawsuit, since it plans
to put a 105-foot pole atop Kakeout Mountain and then sublet space to 
Nextel and Verizon.

In March, the board denied the application after 22 months of 
hearings.  Residents had conducted a heated campaign against the
pole, saying a tower jutting through the trees would ruin the 
landscape and decrease property values.

One resident, Jean Simon, hired her own lawyer in November 2001, 
paying tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. She also placed 
advertisements in papers, passed out fliers, and knocked on doors to 
muster support.

After the tower was rejected, Simon said she felt like Erin
Brockovich - an activist whose fight was chronicled in a Hollywood 
movie. She would only say that she was "disappointed" by the lawsuit 
and referred inquiries to her lawyer.

Councilman Larry Casha said the council did not discuss the lawsuit 
yet. McDonnell said Sprint looked at 30 locations in Kinnelon before 
choosing Whitty Road. "We've exhausted every site. This is the only 
one that will work for us," McDonnell said.

Sprint was seeking a use variance to build the tower - along with
nine antennas and an equipment shelter - on private property owned by 
Stephen and Alisa Setescak of Hillsborough. A zoning variance is 
necessary because such structures are prohibited by borough ordinance 
within residential zones.

Two years ago, the Borough Council adopted an ordinance that favors 
placing cellular antennas on five existing structures in town instead 
of constructing monopoles.

Those approved sites are: the water tower on Cliff Trail, a tower on 
Graceview Drive, the municipal water tanks on Lincoln Road and Denise 
Drive, and the Department of Public Works building on Kinnelon Road.
Sprint said none of those sites was suitable for its tower because 
signals could not travel far enough. Route 23 and Boonton Avenue are 
two major thoroughfares where cellular coverage is lacking.

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnnmoney/Story.nsp?story_id=39602838
&ID=cnnmoney&scategory=Business+and+Finance&
Eman Varoqua's e-mail address is [email-masked]
Publication date: 2003-06-19

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