BRICK – Verizon will be installing a 90-foot-tall communications pole on the barrier island, despite the opposition from two beach communities who hired lawyers to oppose the project.
After several hearings held before the Board of Adjustment over the course of a year, the project was approved during a special meeting held on January 19.
The two barrier island communities, Seneca Dunes Homeowners Association and Bayview Shores Homeowners Association, hired objector attorneys Robert Ferraro and Michael Castore, respectively, to represent them.
Ferraro said that the monopole, planned for the grounds of Pioneer firehouse at 321 Route 35 north, would have a “very awful visual impact of having a tower right there,” and would affect his clients’ real estate values. The monopole would be about 50 feet from the first house, he added.
“The applicant, Verizon, may be so bold to come here with simply its engineer and its planner, yet no one from Verizon has come here to have a discussion with this board…about what can we do so we don’t have this negative visual impact on the people who live in the area,” Ferraro said.
The attorney said Verizon believes that as long as they can prove there is a gap in service, they can “do whatever they want.”
Ferraro said that the communications gap could be remedied by using an alternate design.
“You can deploy 4G technology, which is the same technology, under a different design by putting it on smaller cells…on four to five utility poles,” he said. “That’s not a hard thing for Verizon to do.”
Another attorney opposing the project, Castore, said that alternate locations for the communications tower were not analyzed.
“Simply put, we’re here for a Use Variance,” said Verizon attorney Rich Stanzione. “The ordinance in Brick Township that addresses wireless telecommunications facilities, only permits them [in certain zones], none of which are located on the barrier island. We’re not permitted anywhere where we need the facility.”
The proposed site is the least dense residential area on the barrier island, he said, since the fire station, nearby police station, beach parking lot and Used To Be’s Restaurant create a non-residential cluster.
Referring to Ferrara’s alternate design proposal of using smaller cells on utility poles: “That is something Brick does not allow,” Stanzione said.
“If this application is not approved, Brick Township still needs a tower, and they can put it right where it is, right at the police station, which is right across the street from the objecting homeowners associations,” Stanzione said. “That will be [the Board’s] decision to make, based upon the evidence provided to you. There’s going to be a tower there anyway.”
The site currently has a 76-foot-high lattice tower, which cannot support a satellite dish (which is being proposed by the Township Recreation Department), nor can smaller cells be placed on utility poles, he said.
In addition, each small cell placed on utility poles would require individual Use Variances, he added.
“How many variances do we have to seek to get that approved? Thirteen? Maybe. Four? Maybe,” he said. “We don’t know.”
As part of the application, a six-foot lightning rod, a fenced-in compound measuring about 20 by 30 feet containing support equipment, including an emergency 30 kW diesel generator. Township police and fire antennas would be moved from the former tower to the new pole.
The Board approved the application in a vote of 5-2.
