Although Verizon (NYSE: VZ) had hoped to order up a cell tower site on the grounds of Rye Elementary School, the New Hampshire School Board issued a unanimous vote against it. As Seacoast Online reports, the Board was influenced by parents who feared that a 130 foot cell tower might have negative health consequences.
“I think that because of our responsibilities, there has to be an absolute certainty that something we would approve has no potential health risks,” said School Board chairperson Matt Curtin, explaining his nay vote. “I understand that from a scientific perspective it’s practically impossible, but I would have needed to have walked away from this conversation feeling 99.9 percent confident that you wouldn’t be introducing something harmful.”
SAU 50, the organization that collectively represents the local schools owns the land under consideration. The site had been considered as an option by the town Telecommunications Interface Committee. The Committee has worked to bring better connectivity to the coastal town, but is hemmed in by state and local zoning restrictions that render many sites unacceptable.
With the School Board unwilling to compromise on zoning and placement parameters, Verizon may need to re-evaluate its second choice. “The only other property listed in Rye’s wireless zoning table that is near [the Verizon Wireless’] search area is the Rye Congregational Church,” noted Chip Fredette, a site acquisition specialist speaking on behalf of Verizon. “Our network design engineer concluded the Congregational Church property is too far south and east to be viable for this project. This coupled by the amount and type of equipment needed for the site render the steeple unusable.”
“There are a lot of people feeling very relieved after the School Board’s unanimous vote against the cell tower. I’m so proud of our parent community for coming together, and the other citizens who stood with us, to let our voices be heard,” said parent Laura Belden in support of the Board’s decision. “I thank the School Board for listening and for keeping our children‘s health and safety as the number one priority.”
“There’s no necessity to add cell phone towers in order for the school to be able to communicate with the public safety, fire and ambulance. I just want to make that clear to parents that that’s not an issue here,” Curtin said
There are already two cell towers in Rye, notes Seacoast Online. Whether or not Verizon is going to move forward with plans to build another one is unknown at this time.
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