FARMINGTON – A cellular phone company will be back before the Planning Board Monday night requesting it be allowed to erect a 190-foot wireless tower on Titcomb Hill Road.
U.S. Cellular came before the board in September asking permission to put up a 150-foot tower on a 100-by-100-foot parcel it leased from the Farmington Village Corp. between Flint Woods and the Village Corp.’s reservoir.
Although the board approved that permit 5-1, U.S. Cellular scuttled that plan and is requesting permission to put up a taller tower farther up Titcomb Hill Road instead, said Steve Kaiser, the town/s code enforcement officer.
The parcel proposed for the site at 376 Titcomb Hill Road is owned by Deborah Mallett and Raymond Titcomb, Kaiser said.
Photographs from recently conducted balloon tests will be shown at the meeting to assess the impact the tower will have on the mostly tree filled Farmington skyline.
Kaiser said the appeal of the new site is that’s it’s not near Flint Woods, a popular recreation area. “So, that’s an improvement,” he said. “I think that helps.”
He also noted that the beauty of the new location is, if by some chance the tower collapsed, it would stay totally on site. The previously proposed tower would have fallen on abutting property.
The only other cell phone tower in Farmington is on Voter Hill near Titcomb Mountain and that tower is not able to handle cell phone traffic in the area. The new tower would improve reception, especially in the downtown area, and allow the carrier to respond to the rising call volume. Abutters have been notified and are encouraged to attend, Kaiser said.
The board will also review several other site review applications, discuss the board abstention policy and update its wireless telecommunications facility ordinance. That would allow the town to be more flexible on where towers are put, for example, inside a clock tower, in hopes of minimizing the visual impact.
The Planning Board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12, at the Town Office. A copy of the meeting’s agenda is available online by clicking on “agendas” at the www.farmington-maine.org site.
sdepoy@sunjournal.com
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