Interveners Struggle to Assert Themselves in Heath

UPDATE  After convincing the legal system that they had a stake in a lawsuit between the town’s Planning Board and AT&T, a group of “interveners” in the Massachusetts town of Heath have a limited amount of time to plead their case. The construction project turned into a dispute when the Heath Planning Board denied AT&T’s request to build a 180-foot cell tower on private property leased by a local landowner. One of the primary reasons cited for the denial was the aesthetic impact of a tower on the community’s rural landscape.

AT&T filed a lawsuit to challenge the denial in October of 2021, and the interveners managed to insert themselves in August of 2022. According to the Greenfield Recorder, AT&T and the Planning Board have been discussing alternative arrangements for the cell tower, but the resident interveners got involved to ensure that a decision was not made without their input. 

“There is a chance that the back and forth won’t work,” said Selectboard Chair, Robyn Provost-Carlson, “and the case will continue.” She noted that the involvement of the third party disrupted talks between the two original parties to the lawsuit who were in the process of hammering out an agreement. AT&T had been considering a request to reduce the height to 140 feet, in exchange for picking up the cost of the town’s legal fees and safety equipment for the tower.

Speaking on behalf of the interveners, Kevin Mahoney told the Greenfield Recorder, “If we are going to get out of going down the legal road, we are going to have to do it really quick.” Although AT&T rejected both alternative sites proposed by the group, he noted that he felt that AT&T “came to the table willing to both talk and listen,” adding, “The meeting was appreciated and useful discussing what we liked and didn’t like about the proposed site.”

The next court date is scheduled for October 31, so Provost-Carlson and Mahoney are both correct. If a decision is to be made outside the legal system, the parties are running out of time, notes to the Greenfield Recorder.