NAHANT — The Planning Board held the long-awaited public hearing Tuesday night to conclude their months-long discussion on the wireless tower on Crown Castle, which also included a public hearing.
Chair Sheila Hambleton emphasized the importance of revising the bylaw now more than ever.
“Our existing bylaw, I think is over 18 years old,” she explained. “It’s outdated, and that was before the modern 5G infrastructure word was around. There were no cumulative EMF… We put those kinds of things in, and today’s consultant fee structures are really out of date. Without this update, the town does lack the legal tools to properly regulate newer cell companies coming in, additional ones.”
Isotrope Engineer Michael Lawton, who has been advising the Board on the matter and sharing his expertise, put into perspective that having upgraded equipment is not just beneficial to the town, but all throughout the North Shore.
“As phones improve, as devices improve, as people want to use their phones and devices in different places and rely on them more and more, the carriers need to adjust,” he said. “(They) need to buy new radios, buy new equipment, and phase out the old stuff and upgrade the equipment that they have on the tower in the Nahant, as well as in all surrounding areas and all the sites that probably provide some coverage Nahant from Lynn, Winthrop, and Swampscott.”
As Hambleton stated, the Planning Board is now “going to be the special permitting authority” in the process. That means that, moving forward, if any of the carriers need to change antennas or make adjustments, they will have to make an eligible facilities request, which the Board also will have granting authority on.
“It also helps protect the public health with transparency,” Hambelton added.
The public hearing concluded rather quickly, as no residents attended to offer their comments or concerns. The Board then motioned to reopen their original Planning Board meeting to discuss the language that is going to be included in their recommendation to the Finance Committee by Friday, of which Town Administrator Alison Nieto assured them that this will not be of concern.
“It doesn’t have direct financial implications,” Nieto said. “I think whatever you provide for the Finance Committee will be fine. They’re recommending passage of it, so I think whatever the Planning Board decides to draft will be fine.”
