Valleau Cemetery Cell Tower Application Delayed Until October

Verizon's plans to build a 120-foot cell phone tower on the grounds of Valleau Cemetery near Twinny Pond may be changing.

Originally scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, June 28, the applicant requested the Ridgewood Zoning Board of Adjustment postpone the hearing so the telecom giant could investigate other sites to erect a tower. The new meeting date is scheduled for October 11 and no further notice will be given to residents around the area.

, sources have told Patch neighbors of the cemetery would be contesting a tower's placement on the cemetery. Several individuals were seen at the Sydney Stoldt Court Room on Tuesday night, though the applicant did not appear.

Legal documents show Verizon was approved by the New Jersey Cemetery Board in January to build a tower at Valleau, with 15 percent of lease payments to be deposited into the cemetary's trust fund.

T-Mobile currently operates a tower on the corner of Route 17 and Franklin Turnpike, near the cemetary.

The Ridgewood Zoning Board of Adjustment–issued the postponement Tuesday night–recently asked T-Mobile (who had proposed to build a 120-foot tower on the corner of First Street and Barnett Place on the Ho-Ho-Kus border) to investigate sites that would be less impactful to a residential neighborhood.

The two potential sites came up during that June meeting – the Ho-Ho-Kus Train Station (which had engaged in discussions to house a cell tower before talks broke off) and the firehouse on East Glen Avenue, a village-owned property zoned for residential building but with far less development surrounding it. For that reason, it caught the eye of telecommunication companies eager to meet customer demand for increased data and phone coverage.

The council OK'd bid specifications for the firehouse site, according to Village Manager Ken Gabbert, which ended "specific communications" with interested firms. Bid proposals are expected to be in by the end of summer.

A tower at the firehouse could yield well over $100,000 a year for the village, Gabbert said at a previous council meeting.