New Panel to Study Tower Alternatives

After months of wrangling at the Planning Board over a proposed cell tower antenna at Dock Watch Hollow, a new six-member group will be studying possible alternatives to large towers in Warren.

Meeting for the first time in mid-July, the group headed by Jennifer Lane resident Alan Davidson will first review the distributed antenna systems in place to gauge the systems' potential effectiveness in providing cell phone and other communication services in Warren's hilly terrain.

Residents opposed to the T-Mobile tower at Dock Watch Hollow had argued the tower would detract from the character of the nighborhoods, while still not providing complete service to the area.

They further sid a DAS system, such as has been in place in Lower marion, Pa., or Palo Alto, Calif., would be less intrusive and provide better service.

"They opt to use a number of aps to avoid using big cell towers," Davidson said.

The T-Mobile application was denied by the Planning Board, but Davidson noted that "If we don't establish a 'beachhead' now, we're going to be living with cell towers ad nauseum."

The other members of the group are Frank Pappardi, Tom Morland, Marilyn Schaeffer, George Lazo, and Township Committeeman Vic Sordillo.

"These are residents who have an interest in their community," Davidson said, noting that seems to be a common factor in the towns that have made the investment and effort into creating DAS systems.

That's a key because unlike the cell towers, which are owned by companies which collect rent from service providers placing antennas on the tower, DAS systems are small, compact and don't provide the revenue stream the towers do. Some of the systems are owned by the municipalities.

The first step for the group is a review of installed systems around the country, as well as a review of litigation surrounding the issue "to gain an understanding of legal thinking" of the issue.