Danbury Reconsiders Peck Road Tower

Residents from the Lakewood Condominiums visited the City Council Thursday and asked for a chance to raise questions about a cell tower the city gave approval for in 2006 on Peck Road.

No tower was ever built, and residents near the Peck Road site have questioned why the city didn't give them notice the city was considering leasing land there for a cell tower.  The city granted a lease on the land in 2006, and since then, residents heard about the plan and started raising questions. Residents said they did not get a chance to raise questions in the 2006 public hearing, because they didn't know about the subject of the public hearing. The words "cell tower" did not appear in the public notice.

"We're asking for an opportunity to have a public hearing on this issue," said Danbury Attorney Steven Smart, of the Danbury lawfirm Riefbert Smart Donohue & Nejame.

The issue was not discussed at length in the City Council meeting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton had already raised questions about the lease and the neighbor's problems in a letter to city council members before the meeting.

In his letter to the council, Boughton said the plans have shifted three times in the last four years.

"During the time between approval (2006) and now, there have been a number of resident concerns, new and old, raised, largely regarding the absence of process for hearings and other information dissemination regarding the tower," Boughton wrote.

He said due to these issues, the issue is returning to the council for "additional discussion, hearing(s) and decision-making."

The council agreed on Thursday to submit the issue to an ad hoc committee meeting of the council, and what that committee decides could include scraping the old lease and holding a new public hearing. It could also include moving the lease forward as is. The meeting will be scheduled within the next 30 days.