Chatham Township Resident Enters Into Agreement With Cell Phone Provider to Place Tower on Residential, Conservation Land

Chatham Township Board of Adjustments provided T-Mobile a conditional approval to place a "temporary" cell phone tower on residential, steep slope, conservation land on River Road on July 19, 2012 . The final approval will lie with the  Chatham Township Committee on Thursday, August 16th, to determine if this is appropriate use of the land.

As residents of Chatham Township, you should be concerned because:

• This will set a precedent for any future cell phone tower installations throughout the Township.
• This will pave the way for any of your neighbors to try and enter into similar agreements impacting your property values.
• This is a direct violation of the conservation easement on the land AND residential property use.
• We need to send a message to our town committees and elected officials that they need to keep the best interest of Chatham residents in the forefront when making decisions.

FACTS

• Current T-Mobile Antenna is on the PSE&G Easement.
• PSE&G is replacing their tower, therefore T-Mobile needs to relocate the antenna.
• T-Mobile  was offered a cell tower location behind the Chatham Township Municipal Building and will place an antenna there, but also states, they need a second location to provide the same coverage.
• T-Mobile is saying the tower is "Temporary" BUT they currently do not have an agreement with PSE&G to move the cell facilities back to the new PSE&G tower. PSE&G estimates the entire project will take between 2 and 5 years,
• The land where they want to relocate the tower is steep slope, residential, conservation land and is deemed that way in multiple, legal binding documents..
• T-Mobile will impact 3,000 sq feet of land by removing: shrubs, trees, erecting a temporary tower, creating a gravel road, running power and communication lines at ground level, erecting a fence and installing 3 guy wires to prevent the tower from toppling over.
• The Board of Adjustments was  presented with the fact that there are existing drainage issues on the mountain and that neighboring property values would be impacted by the mere existence of the tower. The Board of Adjustments chose to ignore these issues, by granting T-Mobile waivers for plans concerning water run off, soil erosion, sediment control as well as other items. 
• The Board of Adjustments stated that they do not take property values into consideration when making their decisions.
• T-Mobile states that the tower in question handles 20  - 911 calls per month. T-Mobile did not state if the calls would have been routed differently and still completed if the tower was not in place.
• It was clear that the majority of customers benefiting from the tower would be in neighboring communities.
• This is the first time a cell tower will be placed on residential property in Chatham Township - opening the door for your neighbors to follow suit and impact your property values.
• This is the first time that conservation land will be used to house a cellphone tower which goes against everything that conservation land stands for.
• The Chatham Township Board of Adjustments provided a conditional approval to T-Mobile provided the Township Committee agrees that placing a cell phone tower on the residential, steep slope, conservation property is a good use of the land. 

HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• The Chatham Township Committee will make their decision at this Thursday's meeting (August 16th). 
• The meeting will be at the Chatham Township Municipal Building, 58 Meyersville Road at 7:30 PM. Please come out and show your support.
• In the mean time, please send a letter to the Township Committee opposing this project, please use the email id below and we will be sure to pass it on. Be sure to include your name and address so your vote can be counted. Please make sure your emails are respectful. Rude and/or nasty emails, will not be shared.  Send emails expressing your point of view to: NoChathamCellTwr@aol.com

Below is a sample email  you can cut and paste into your email or you can choose to write your own.

______________________________________________________________________________

Please send emails to: NoChathamCellTwr@aol.com
  
Township Committee,

Please vote NO for T-Mobile's proposal to place a temporary cell phone tower on the River Road, residential, steep slope, conservation land.

We understand that this will set the precedent for the placement of Cell Towers on residential and/or conservation land and I do not agree.

Thank you for your time and consideration,


Your Name (First and Last)
Your Address

 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.