Cell Tower Dilemma

In Verizon’s application for a cell tower in West Tisbury the Vineyard is facing a dilemma that is of growing concern and action across the country. Simply that people like cell phones — but don’t like to see cell towers. Sophistication and market size of cell phones is growing rapidly. Each step up of capability means shorter range of transmission. The number and density of cell towers will increase. But how many towers will be needed in the future?

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Cell Tower Gets Unwelcome Reception
Sara Brown

Verizon’s proposal to build a cell phone tower to improve service in West Tisbury came before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week, sparking a long discussion and volumes of correspondence protesting the location of the tower near Tisbury Great Pond.

The company has proposed installing an 80-foot tower on a 50-square-foot piece of land on New Lane in West Tisbury, and has identified three potential locations for the tower. Two of the sites are in the inland zone of the coastal district of critical planning concern.

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Chappy Residents Press for Cable, Cell Phone Service
Sara Brown

While debate continues about the placement of cell phone towers in other parts of the Island, Chappaquiddick residents continue to fight to bring cell phone and cable service to the small island off the coast of downtown Edgartown.

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Katama Neighbors Protest Plan to Convert Silo to Cell Tower
Sara Brown

Concerns about cellular radiation — either real or perceived — have prompted several Katama residents to protest a plan by AT&T to place a cell antenna in an abandoned silo on town-owned property at the Farm Institute.

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Island Forecast: A Rush of Cell Towers
Mandy Locke

In the face of federal laws which leave local zoning regulations powerless, West Tisbury officials are grappling with one of the first of a likely onslaught of requests for cellular phone towers dotting the town's rural landscape.

It's a familiar fight for the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals.

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Improvements To Cell Service Draw Skeptics
Jim Hickey

American Tower Corporation, the company that wants to build a distributed antenna system (DAS) to improve cell phone coverage in the three up-Island towns, has dramatically changed its proposal following an emotional public hearing earlier this month during which residents raised concerns about aesthetics, finances and health, a company spokesman said yesterday.

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West Tisbury Wary of Cell Tower Plan
Jim Hickey

A majority of West Tisbury residents at a packed public meeting on Wednesday spoke against a plan from American Tower Corporation to build a distributed antenna system (DAS) to improve cell phone coverage in the three up-Island towns.

Many who attended the meeting cited concerns about safety, questioning whether radio frequency from the towers would pose a danger to humans, while others said they worried a series of new utility poles needed for the system would ruin scenic vistas and infringe on people’s property.

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Cell Phone Plan May Excise West Tisbury
Jim Hickey

The plan to build a distributed antennae system (DAS) to boost cell phone coverage in the three up-Island towns appears to be moving ahead without West Tisbury, after the town zoning board ruled that the American Tower Company must apply for 23 individual permits to use utility poles around town.

Selectmen in Chilmark and Aquinnah already have voted to sign contracts with American Tower.

Aquinnah selectman Camille Rose said she was disappointed West Tisbury will not be included in the DAS plan.

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Voters Back Cell Towers in Silos, First Steps to Sell Warren House
Remy Tumin

This time with a quorum, Edgartown voters at a special town meeting Tuesday night agreed to allocate money for an appraisal of the Capt. Warren House and approved the conversion of silos at Katama Farm into cell towers.

A total of 168 voters attended the special session. The meeting was rescheduled from last week after falling 20 voters shy of a quorum. Moderator Philip J. Norton Jr. presided over the 15-article warrant.

All articles were approved.

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Farm Institute Assents to Cell Tower

A conflict about a wireless cell phone equipment in abandoned silos in Katama came to a swift resolution this week, with members of the Farm Institute, which leases the land, saying they are now in favor of hosting the cell tower. The Edgartown selectmen Tuesday voted in favor of AT& T’s proposal to install the equipment.

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