Judge Backs Town’s Decision to Deny “Ugly Gargantuan Industrial” Tower

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Superior Court Judge Thomas Miller upheld the township’s zoning board of adjustment decision to deny a Verizon proposal, to erect a cell tower at the Woods Road Firehouse, ruling the decision was based on “substantial evidence.”

The ruling is a victory for neighborhood residents who fought the proposal through 17 public hearings between March 2016, and June 2017, before it was rejected, reported MyCentralJersey.com.

Subsequently, Verizon filed its lawsuit in November 2017, since it entered a lease with the fire company to construct a 120-foot cell tower next to the firehouse. 

Verizon argued that the tower was needed to improve coverage to 1,700 homes in Hillsborough, 400 homes in Franklin and 100 homes in Montgomery.

Roy Horowitz, the fire company’s former vice president, and neighborhood resident, testified before the board that cell phone service was limited around the firehouse and there had been no service for the laptops on the fire trucks on several emergency calls.  

But the board found that Verizon’s search for tower locations in the area was, “artificially limited” because the company assumed a tower could not be built on preserved farmland or in the Delaware & Raritan Canal zone, reported MyCentralJersey.com.

The township also concluded the location next to the firehouse was not “ideal,” as acknowledged by Verizon’s experts and would not fill all the existing coverage gaps.

The board found the height of the tower, which would be the tallest structure in the area, would have a negative visual impact on a large portion of southeastern Hillsborough, which is zoned residential. The board agreed with one resident who described the tower as an, “ugly gargantuan industrial structure.”

The board also “reasonably concluded” that the visual impact of the tower would decrease property values by 10 to 12 percent, Miller wrote.  Comments? Email Us

February 26, 2019

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