Mobile Impact - Would You Want a Cell Tower or Antenna In Your Neighborhood?
Friday, November 30th, 2007
Thank you for visiting Mobile Impact! My name is Lisa Hayden, I am a mother of three and live in Pennington, NJ. On October 18th of this year, my family and the surrounding families in my neighborhood of 3,000 people, were hit with fear. I’m going to call this fear “The T-Mobile Impact.” Let me elaborate… I live 180 feet from a water tower. This water tower is not a beautiful statue, but my husband and I decided that it would be alright to live by because in a nutshell “it would never physically do any harm to our family.” Now this harmless structure is going to be turned into a cell tower, thanks to T-Mobile.
The Danger of Cell Towers and Antennas
There is much controversy over the health effects from cell towers. As crazy as this sounds, The Telecommunications Act of 1996, prohibits local towns from not allowing cell companies to provide coverage based on health effects. My community has basically just become a guinea pig study that will take years to find out the possible effects on both our health and our property values.
We only found out about the antenna because T-Mobile had to apply for a variance and neighbors within 200 feet were notified about a hearing where a “preliminary” decision was going to be made about turning the water tower into a cell tower. When we got there we were shocked to find out that it was a done deal. We pleaded for the Hopewell Planning Board to give it time before passing the variance, but they unanimously passed it that night. It was heartbreaking. T-Mobile had lawyers and specialists and 2 years to prepare…. We had 10 days.
Researching Cell Radiation and Alerting Our Community
When we got home we started doing research and alerting the community. The entire community was very upset. Since then we have been in the paper, filled our town hall with over a hundred people, met with T-Mobile executives, etc. The bottom line is they want the antenna in before the end of the year. We pleaded with town officials to help. The mayor has been receptive, as well as the township engineer, but we need a full court press from the township committee. You see, T-Mobile got in because of a flaw or loophole in our ordinance. The ordinance prohibits cell towers in residential neighborhoods, but it has no limitations on pre-existing structures. T-Mobile exploited this loophole…
The kicker is that according to their web site, they do have coverage, but they want to be able to provide coverage in our basements and restaurants. They use 911 as a selling point. My daughter has, or should I say “had”, T-Mobile. She had fine reception in our home…
This is Affecting Our Lives
My neighbors and I are feeling this T-Mobile Impact so strongly. It interferes with every aspect of our lives, because we are afraid of the possible effects on our children. Not being able to protect your child from harm’s way is a very disabling feeling, to say the least.
Time is running out. The variance was memorialized last night, again unanimously. Do we have to sink our life savings into a lawyer? Our committee member David Sandahl says that we will lose again. Why do I have to defend myself and my family from my own elected officials? I believe they can help. One application in our township was pulled back from the township committee. It was near Rush Holt’s home, where T-Mobile has no coverage, go figure!
Another Meeting with T-Mobile…
Today we meet again with T-Mobile, since the township tells us that we have to handle it ourselves. I’m hoping T-Mobile can be patient and make a better business decision for the most densely populated section of our town. There is an elementary school approx. 800 feet from the tower, with over 500 children.
In closing, T-Mobile would do a great service by finding another appropriate location and I think the community would be grateful. Right now I don’t think too many people will ever use their service in our community. As a consumer and a mother, I like to give my business to people who appreciate it, not people whose actions might negatively impact my family’s quality of life.
I will be writing more posts soon. Please check back often or just subscribe to our RSS feed. We appreciate any help you can offer…
Lisa
