Omnipoint withdraws application for cell tower

Omnipoint withdraws application for cell tower
Company did not offer reason; Zoning Board was set to hear application
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer
Many Iselin residents said they were relieved that a cell tower would not be built in their neighborhood.

Omnipoint Communications Inc. withdrew its proposal on Sept. 19 to install a 120- foot-high monopole, disguised as a flag pole, on a 19,159-square-foot irregular tract of land fronting on the southeast side of Route 27 near the intersection of Block Avenue, a day before the Woodbridge Zoning Board of Adjustment was scheduled to hear the case at its board meeting Sept. 20.

"We are all so relieved," said Robert Vegola, who lives on Benjamin Avenue.

A group of residents had hired a lawyer to come to the meeting.

"We are just happy that we don't have to deal with a cell tower close to our homes," Vegola said.

Representatives of Omnipoint Communications did not give a reason for their withdrawal of the application, and the Zoning Board does not require applicants to give reasons for why they withdraw applications. Constantine Stamos, Omnipoint's lawyer, of Woodcliff Lake, could not be reached for comment before press time.

The Township Council unanimously voted in favor of an ordinance setting limits on where cell towers could be placed within the township, during a council meeting on Sept. 12.

The purpose of the nine-page ordinance, which is the first ordinance in the township dealing with cell towers, is to provide zoning conditions, standards and limitations for the location, approval and operation of wireless communication facilities within the township.

The ordinance recognizes the need to safeguard the public good, health, safety and welfare and preserve the intent and the purposes of the township master plan.

Discussions on the need for putting limits on wireless communication facilities came in the wake of an application by Sprint Spectrum LP that was denied by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in May 2006 only to be overturned by state Superior Court Judge James P. Hurley of Middlesex County in June 2007.

The only choice Colonia residents had was whether they wanted the 120-foot-high telecommunications tower designed as a flagpole or as a tree-like structure on American Legion Colonia Post No. 248's property at 806 S. Middlesex Ave.

Residents reluctantly opted for the "tree" at the June 21 Zoning Board meeting.

The ordinance says the wireless companies must bear the burden of proving that any proposed service facility is the least-intrusive means of filling a significant gap in wireless communication services in the area.

The overall objective of the ordinance is to allow the provision of wireless communication services while limiting the number of antennas and supporting towers to the fewest possible, and only in those locations that do not negatively impact the prevailing character of the township and the quality of life enjoyed by the residents.


Omnipoint withdraws application for cell tower