ANDOVER — Residents took their fight against a planned 125-foot-high cell phone tower at the corner of Prospect Road and Route 125 to the Board of Selectmen earlier this week.
Now the selectmen want to know if neighbors were notified before the Zoning Board settled out of court earlier this year with the company proposing the tower.
Initially denied its application to build the tower a year ago by the Zoning Board, Omnipoint Communications Inc., a subsidiary of T-Mobile USA Inc., later appealed the decision in federal court.
Instead of pursuing a court case with the Norwood-based company, the Zoning Board reached a settlement this summer, granting Omnipoint the needed variances to build the tower.
Abutters told the selectmen on Oct. 6, they were left unaware of both Omnipoint's appeal of the original Zoning Board decision and the town's decision to settle out of court.
"They have every right to be upset," said Selectman Brian Major. "I believe that the process that was used could be significantly improved."
After receiving a letter before the first Zoning Board meeting a year ago and a second after the board denied the tower proposal, 12 Prospect Road resident Pam Dunn said she received no notification before a settlement was reached in June between the town and Omnipoint.
"That's, to me, basic," Dunn said. "Something that is going to diminish every property value in sight, they didn't notify. ... That's why I think people are upset."
Dunn said neighbors wish they could have added terms to the settlement regarding the tower's placement and appearance.
"We're finding out all these things after the fact," said Dunn. "We didn't have any discussion about how it could be made more acceptable to the neighborhood."
Major said published legal notices and initial notifications sent via mail are sometimes not enough to keep abutters informed, especially if a zoning decision is appealed.
"Even the follow-up process, there should be a notification," Major said.
Omnipoint plans to pull a building permit by the end of the calendar year, with construction of the tower beginning sometime in 2009, said company spokesman Jerry Marquis.
Marquis said the tower will improve cell phone coverage in the area.
Omnipoint plans to lease land abutting Route 125 from the state Highway Department in order to build the tower.
