Last week, the Lenox Planning Board announced that it had put a pin in completing the town’s revised wireless communications bylaw, reported The Berkshire Eagle. The Massachusetts town’s planners have been wrestling with the matter of a 25-year-old and outdated bylaw.
The Board decided to put its wireless work on hold, including the placement of towers and antennas until a professional needs analysis of gaps in service capacity and coverage is completed. The Board will also complete a “wireless master plan,” according to Chairwoman Pam Kueber.
The analysis is estimated to cost $35,000, and the Board intends to apply for funds from the state. If and when the money is approved for the needs analysis and master plan, the town would issue a formal request for proposals “to identify the best firm to help us with this work,” Kueber wrote in a memo.
Kueber noted that the town’s “hill-and-valley topography” adds to the wireless service challenge. Another question is how far the setback of a tower or antenna will be from residences.
The Eagle reported that any application for a tower or antenna would be reviewed under the current town code. According to the town’s wireless consultant, Anthony Lepore of CityScape Consultants, there’s a risk of delaying the new bylaw’s completion. “You’ll get a piece of infrastructure you may not want, in a place you may not want it,” he cautioned.
Reader Interactions