Seeking more info, Greenfield ZBA holds off on cell tower action

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 12-20-2024 4:52 PM

GREENFIELD — Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the public have expressed an interest in hearing a presentation by an expert from New Hampshire before taking any further action on the 170-foot monopole cell tower being proposed for Newton Street.

Dr. Kent Chamberlain is regarded as a leading authority on electromagnetics and served on New Hampshire’s Commission to Study the Environmental and Health Effects of Evolving 5G Technology, which was established in 2019 to study impacts of cell towers and wireless radiation. He recently delivered a presentation in Heath and is scheduled for another one in January.

The telecommunications company Viridi Wireless wants to construct the cell tower but some residents and ZBA members are hesitant, citing concerns over health, safety and property values.

ZBA Chair David Singer is anxious to learn the specifics of the construction of the proposed tower’s base. These calculations incorporate the soil on which the tower would be built, but the company cannot go onto a property to analyze it until a building permit is issued. Under the current proposal, Singer said, the tower would snap in half as a safety precaution under stress conditions.

“The ground would have to be holding that pretty firm for the thing to snap,” he said at Thursday’s public hearing at the John Zon Community Center. “So if the pressure is low at that area then the tower could actually fall down. So for me, that’s a threshold question, the safety piece.”

Michael Cronin, an attorney representing Viridi Wireless, attended the hearing remotely but did not answer questions regarding the tower’s specifications, stressing that he is not an engineer.

ZBA Clerk Peter Wozniak said Building Inspector Mark Snow is “a one-person office” who has requested professional support for a peer review of the base’s construction.

Resident Andrew Vernon, who said he lives on Sunset Square and works at Greenfield Community College, expressed his support for this project and the planned peer review.

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“The absence or diminished [cell] service provided to Greenfield Community College ... in general is a concern today, and based on at least the Viridi diagram of [radio frequency], it also should be a continued concern for ZBA,” he said.

Elana Kirshenbaum, of South Shelburne Road, said several like-minded residents could not attend Thursday’s public hearing due to illness, work, child care issues and holiday travel. She acknowledged that the community wants and needs good cell service — in a safe way.

“For this reason, it is imperative that the ZBA, along with members of our community, become truly informed on the diverse, significant impacts of placing a 170-foot cell tower so close to residential homes and a school,” she read from a prepared statement.

She said there are many unanswered questions and she proposed inviting Chamberlain for a presentation.

Singer noted Viridi Wireless is expected to deliver its own presentation at the ZBA’s meeting slated for Thursday, Jan. 9.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.