Nonprofit forms to fight Northampton cell phone towers
Posted: Thursday, June 7, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 6:45 am, Thu Jun 7, 2012.
A nonprofit citizens group called Citizens of Northampton Township Against Cell Towers, or CONTACT for short, has formed to fight American Tower Corporation’s proposed cellphone reception system in the township.
The ATC plan, called an antenna distribution system, involves placing cellphone antennas on existing utility poles, but also installing 12 new poles, which residents are calling mini towers, that are 25 feet high and planned for neighborhoods that otherwise have no above-ground utilities.
American Tower had just started installing the antennas, but no mini towers had gone up when township officials — responding to a tidal wave of protest from residents — issued a stop work order on the system. Work remains on hold while the two sides fight the issue out in court.
Bucks County Judge Wallace Bateman had issued an order in January upholding ATC’s right to install the system. Now, ATC officials are seeking an order from Bateman that the township is in contempt of his January order and lifting the township’s stop work order.
In the meantime, township attorneys have gone the federal route, filing papers in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia asking for a ruling on whether the competitive access provider certificate issued to ATC by the state Public Utilities Commission in 2008 pre-empts local zoning control.
A hearing before Bateman is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. June 19 in Courtroom One at Bucks County Court in Doylestown. No federal court hearing date has been set yet.
It was the PUC certificate that ATC used as its legal justification for seeking a permit to install the ADS in Northampton. American Tower went to Bucks County Court when township officials denied the permit last year, and ATC then got the favorable ruling from Bateman in January.
Township residents against the ATC system want to join the court fight. Audrey Shapiro, one of the residents who helped form CONTACT, said the group’s attorney, David Truelove, has filed petitions in both courts requesting that the citizens group be allowed to intervene on the side of the township. There’s been no ruling on those requests.
“The reason we formed is to help direct these cell towers off our front lawns,” said Shapiro.
The cellphone poles, or mini towers, were scheduled to be placed on residents’ lawns but within an area considered the public right-of-way since it’s within 10 feet of the street curb.
Shapiro said a mini tower was planned for her neighbor’s lawn. Contractors hired by ATC had started digging holes and doing other preparatory work for the poles when the township issued the stop work order. Township workers have since filled in the holes.
In addition to being a member of CONTACT, Shapiro works in public relations and is helping the group get out the word about its efforts, she said.
Officials from ATC have previously claimed their system would improve cellphone reception in the township, initially for T-Mobile. The newspaper was unsuccessful in attempts to reach ATC representatives for comment.
“We want this whole issue taken with the seriousness it deserves,” said Shapiro. “We understand the need for cellphone reception, but we’re looking for a better solution than towers on people’s yards. There have to be other options.”
Shapiro said CONTACT has more than 2,500 signatures on a petition opposing the ATC system.
To find out how to join the group, how to help out financially or for more information, call or visit www.no-cell-towers.org. Northampton residents can also join CONTACT by submitting their name, address and phone number on Facebook page NoCellTowers.
No comments:
Post a Comment