Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) has sued the Plymouth [PA] Borough Zoning Hearing Board after it refused to permit the construction of a cell phone tower in a residential area of the town. The carrier alleges that the board abused its discretion in denying a height variance, according to The Citizens’ Voice. The carrier claimed that the tower is the “least intrusive” solution for providing coverage.
“The proposed facility is necessary to remedy a significant gap in reliable wireless service and to meet demand for personal wireless services and telecommunications services,” read the complaint, filed by law firms Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn and Snyder & Snyder.
The proposed tower would be 100 feet tall with a nine-panel antenna array, and a five-foot lightning rod. It would be surrounded by a six-foot high fence around a 2,500-square-foot enclosure, according to the suit. It was proposed in an area zoned a highway business district, with a height limit on buildings of 40 feet.
In January, a room of vocal citizens objected to the cell tower, according to WYOU-TV. One compared siting the cell tower to building an advertising billboard or a factory in a neighborhood. Another resident feared that the cell tower would not be “safe and effective.” And another local said after living in Plymouth 46 years without a cell tower, he figured he could go on living without one.
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