Those waiting to voice an opinion about the proposed cell tower off Ledges Road will have to wait a bit longer. The application was received by the state’s siting council last week.
The proposal will go through “an extensive review process” before it goes back to the applicants, Homeland Towers LLC and AT&T, who will work with the town to schedule a public hearing.
“After the state’s review of the application, there will be public hearings — one will be here in Ridgefield,” said First Selectman Rudy Marconi. “The applicants are very aware the residents, the neighbors and the entire community want to voice their opinion on the tower, whether pro or con, and this will be that opportunity.”
The date of the hearing is unknown and depends on how long the siting council takes to review the application.
Mr. Marconi said he believes the community feels more positively about this proposal than the previous one, which voters rejected in 2011.
He cited two key reasons: the need for better communication in emergencies and better designs of towers that look like trees.
“I think to the dismay of neighbors in the area, all of the town’s emergency services — the police, fire, and emergency management departments — are all in favor of this and they’re relying on this tower to establish their new communication system that will help keep this town safe for many years,” he said.
“I really do sympathize with the neighbors’ concerns about how it will look and what that might mean to their property,” he added. “With that being said, I think technology has advanced where tree-like towers look more realistic than the ones we’re familiar seeing when driving on the Hutch.”
Mr. Marconi said the tower would be camouflaged and would be difficult to see close by or from a distance.
He said that if the Ledges Road tower doesn’t get approved, the town would continue to seek a location for its communication task force.
“We can proceed in another direction,” he said.
The tower itself would be 150 feet tall, while the town’s “whip antennas” would extend it to a total height of 161.5 feet, said a legal notice published on Jan. 23.
As part of the review process, the state’s citing council will have its own on-site public hearing in Ridgefield at an undetermined date.
A balloon, representative of the proposed 161-foot tower, will be flown at the 3.19-acre site, the legal notice said.
The on-site public hearing is anticipated to be between the hours of noon and 5 p.m.
Any interested parties may review the application after Feb. 7 at town hall.