Politics & Government
New Cingular Wireless Proposes Cell Phone Tower to Service Plainville Avenue Dead Zone
There will be a public information meeting July 16 for the proposal near Autumn Estates that has been pitched to the Connecticut Siting Council.
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC is looking to eliminate an AT&T dead zone along Plainville Avenue by putting a 155-foot cell phone tower at 598 Plainville Avenue.
The pending application to the Connecticut Siting Council does not fall under the town of Farmington's jurisdiction.
“Basically the phone company has said that there’s a dead zone to the north of the area and the only way to service that dead zone is to put a tower in that vicinity," Farmington Town Planner Jeffrey Ollendorf said Tuesday.
The tower would provide cell phone service to an area of Farmington off of Route 177, including the Coppermine and Lake Garda neighborhoods, that currently gets little to no service, according to Ollendorf.
The 7.5-acre property owned by John Sarnese is sandwiched between Autumn Estates, an active senior living community, and an 11-lot subdivision Sarnese gained approval for last year to build single-family homes. The housing development has not been completed, according to Ollendorf. Sarnese also got subdivision approval to build single-family houses on the land being considered for the cell phone tower 10 years ago, but never built the homes.
There is a farmhouse on the property in question that would remain, but some of the barn buildings on the land would need to be demolished if the cell tower is approved for an area near the road.
The cell phone company is hosting a public meeting next week at Farmington Town Hall to provide residents with more information.
“It’s a residential area that they’re looking to do this in so we know it’s certainly going to raise some eyebrows," Ollendorf said, noting that he has sent notices to the Autumn Estate residents.
Thirty units comprise the 55-and-older senior living development, he said. Neighbors have already approached the town with concerns, displeased that the cell phone tower would be close to their homes, Ollendorf said.
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The pole could also double as a flag pole, though that has not been decided, and the town would have input into the color.
There are about eight cell phone towers in Farmington, including antennas on a water tank off of Route 5 near the Farmington Edge Condominiums, Ollendorf said. Others include a cell tower flag pole at the Farmington sewage treatment plant on Route 4, a tower at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting on Birdseye Road, the Channel 61 tower originally built for television transmission and another on Town Farm Road by Fisher Farm that is disguised to look like a tree, according to Ollendorf. There is also a cell phone tower built inside of the First Church of Christ Congregational steeple in Unionville and another one is located at the Farmington Police Department.
“We’ve been very fortunate," Ollendorf said. "Most of the towers in our community have been well disguised and haven’t wound up being real eye sores.”
The cell phone company needs approval from the state's Siting Council before it can proceed with its proposed plans.
Find out what's happening in Farmingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The public information session about the tower is scheduled for July 16 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the basement of Town Hall. Members of the public can give comments or ask questions at the meeting, according to an Everbridge notification from the town. Residents can view the application in the town planning department office at Town Hall during office hours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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