Planning Board Decision of the Vertex Cell Tower Application 2022
Update: On September 7, 2023, the Planning Board granted a 6-month extension on the special permit for the Vertex cell tower.
Summary of special permit process in 2022:
A cell tower application for 28 Martin Road in Buckland was submitted to the Planning Board on March 24, 2022.
The processing of this application went before the Zoning Board of Appeals for requested variances AND before the Planning Board for Special Permit. Public hearings were held on July 7, 12, and 26. The Planning Board granted several filing waivers on July 12. The ZBA closed its hearing on July 26. The ZBA deliberated and voted on July 26. The determination was that the cell tower did not meet the town bylaw criteria for the waivers requested, but it did meet the federal standards under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, therefore the waivers were granted. The ZBA had 14 days from July 26 to issue its finding. The public comment at hearings closed on July 26. The Planning Board accepted written comments by the end of the day on August 4, 2022. No additional comments were submitted. Meetings were held on August 11 and August 17, 2022 to deliberate and decide on the permit.
The Special Permit for the cell tower was granted with conditions on August 17, 2022. The final special permit is attached below and dated September 1, 2022. The height of the tower will be no higher than 135 ft (original request was 150 ft with top carrier at 145 ft), with the top 5 feet reserved for emergency services communications equipment (top carrier will be 125 ft). The cell tower will be a monopole design, with the pole a weathered steel (equivalent of CORE-TEN) finish with all equipment painted to match the pole color in a non-gloss finish. Other special conditions can be viewed in the document.
The application can be viewed and/or downloaded here (below). It's a 93-page pdf file -- if you can use bookmarks in Adobe Reader or Acrobat, click on them to jump to the section you wish to access. There was also a paper copy of the application available for view at the Buckland Public Library circulation desk.
At the Planning Board meeting held on Thursday, April 21,2022, the Planning Board voted to send a letter to the applicant describing various deficiencies that make the application incomplete, in our view. This letter was sent by email later in the evening on April 21 and mailed out the following day. A copy of the letter is linked below.
A revised application was received electronically on Friday, May 13, 2022. It is attached below. The revised application is a supplement to the application, and should be viewed TOGETHER with the application dated March 24.
The applicant conducted a balloon test on June 14, 15, and 25 to demonstrate the location and height of the tower. Two packets containing schematics of the cell tower are included in Supplements 2 and 3. Another balloon flight took place on July 16 in the morning to resolve concerns that the balloon heights on the previous three days were not consistent with one another. Supplement 4 includes a description and two images produced from the applicant.
Fred Goldstein has been hired as a consultant to the town to provide cell tower information and review some of the material in the application. His work products are attached here on this page.
Written comments on the cell tower submitted to the Planning Board are here.
