NORTH ANDOVER - Two separate courts have rejected appeals by neighbors trying to prevent wireless service provider Metro PCS from putting cell phone antennas in the steeple of an Elm Street church.
The decisions mean opponents will have to go to state appeals court to challenge the special permit and building permit issued to Metro PCS by town boards last year.
"It seems we have less and less of a voice," said Pleasant Street resident Lauretta Wentworth, whose home is 270 feet from the church steeple. "I'm just disgusted and worried for the health and safety of the residents in this neighborhood."
Two separate appeals filed by neighbors opposed to the antenna placements were recently decided in favor of the town, Metro PCS and the Trinitarian Congregational Church.
To improve wireless service, Metro PCS plans to install six panel antennas inside the steeple of the church at 70 Elm St.
Metro PCS applied for a special permit with the North Andover Planning Board in November 2008. The board unanimously granted the permit last March. The wireless provider was then granted a building permit by the town.
Neighbors appealed the Planning Board's decision in state Superior Court. They also appealed the town's decision to grant the building permit to the North Andover Zoning Board of Appeals.
In a Dec. 18 order, Superior Court Justice Thomas Murtagh upheld the Planning Board's decision to grant the special permit.
He rejected neighbors' claims that a 600-foot setback from surrounding properties was required for the antennas under a town bylaw and said denial of the permit on such grounds would have violated the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
"The bylaw has not been violated and no variance was required," Murtagh wrote. "The setback requirements for the building which houses the wireless equipment and antennas do not apply to an installation inside a building."
Murtagh wrote that the setback requirement is "designed to protect public safety by providing a fall zone for wireless devices, antennas and their mounting structure." But because the cell antennas will be placed inside the church steeple, there is no threat of falling antennas or towers, Murtagh wrote.
Neighbors were also unsuccessful in their appeal of the building permit.
The North Andover Zoning Board voted 3-2 to uphold the building permit granted by the town, but neighbors claimed the board missed the deadline to make a decision, effectively offering their "constructive approval" of the appeal.
But on Dec. 29, the Zoning Board vote to uphold the building permit was confirmed in state Land Court.
Wentworth, who lives at 15 Pleasant St., said yesterday she was unsure if neighbors plan to file further appeals.
Neighbors of the church have expressed concern over radiation emitted from antennas and the possible health effects on children, as well as the effect of antennas on property values.
According to court documents, Metro PCS plans to use the antennas to close a gap in wireless coverage near the church and along routes 125 and 133.
"The church installation is the most effective alternative available for eliminating or minimizing the gap in coverage," Murtagh wrote.
