Iselin residents oppose the cell tower on Route 27 Zoning Board to hear application for 120-ft. tower on May 17 BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Would you like a 120-foot-tall flagpole designed as a wireless communications tower next to your home? Many residents in Iselin don't. "If we open our front door, we will see the cell tower," said Eric and Rose Marie Stadtmiller, who live on Route 27 with two other neighbors and would be roughly 50 feet away from the proposed spot where the tower would be built. The Stadtmillers said what makes things worse is Rose Marie is seven months pregnant. "I really don't want to worry about if I can or cannot sit outside with my baby," she said. Currently, the proposed subject property, which is in the B-3 highway business zone, is a 19,159-square-foot irregular tract of land fronting on the southeast side of Route 27 near the intersection of Block Avenue. The site contains 25 abutting lots to create an irregular tract approximately 27 feet deep and 520 feet long running parallel to and located between the Route 27 right of way and the Northeast Corridor Rail right of way. The site contains Deepa Auto Repair, operating out of an existing one-story automotive repair building, and a paved parking area. The site also contains a U-Haul vehicle rental business and a fleet of U-Haul vehicles. Inoperable "junk" vehicles are stored on the site. Omnipoint Communications Inc. proposes to install a 120-foot-high monopole with a total of six panel antennas at a maximum elevation of 117 feet at the northeast corner of the lot. A 600-square-foot equipment compound is proposed around the base of the tower and will be enclosed with a 6-foot-high board-on-board fence. The equipment compound will contain all equipment cabinets for the proposed tower. The monopole will be disguised as a flagpole with a 12-by-18-foot American flag. No other improvements are proposed to the site or the existing building. The Zoning Board will hear the cell tower application for Omnipoint Communications Inc. at 7:30 p.m. on May 17 in council chambers at town hall. Woodbridge Township requires the monopole to be 2,000 feet away from residential structures, schools, or any other tower; however, the pole would be 95 feet away from residential structures and 800 feet away from schools. "There are three schools and over 500 families living in the vicinity of the proposed cell tower," said Louis Truppa, who lives with his family on Michael Street. "That monopole will be right in my backyard. I have a 7-year-old son, and his friends come over and play in the backyard. I don't want to worry about him and all his friends because of this cell tower." Even though the Zoning Board cannot base its decision only on health issues, the Iselin residents are worried about the radiation that would come from the cell tower. "I worked for Cingular Wireless, and the guys would tell me to turn down the power when they would have to go do work on the cell towers," said Robert Vegola, who lives on Benjamin Avenue. "It's that microwave radiation that will come through the residents' walls, and we don't want it. The three schools have children from preschool [3 years old] to eighth grade [up to 14 years old]. These are the developmental years for these children in the area schools. We don't know what the long-term effect would be from the cell tower, but we don't want to find out." The residents said they worried about their property values if a cell tower were built. "It's ugly and it will be an eyesore," said Vegola. "The scope of the tower on the small piece of property is a monstrosity. This cell tower is not a necessity for our area. We are not anti-cell phone. We have tested our cell phones whether it is Sprint, T-Mobil, or Cingular, and our cell phones work. We do not need to have 100 percent perfect coverage. Why don't they put the tower in the golf course or the cemetery?" Truppa said he bought his home knowing that it was next to a rail line. "I grew up here and I don't mind the trains," said Truppa. "But, I could never get used to a cell tower. I would never be able to sell my house with a rail line and a 120-foot cell tower next to it." The Stadtmillers said they knew their home, which they bought six years ago on Route 27, was not the best location, but with a cell tower on top of everything, it would be even worse. Vegola said there is also a safety issue. "What if there is an ice storm like we had earlier this year?" he said. "And when the ice starts melting and falling to the ground from 120 feet high, that would be dangerous. I was walking my dog one day and ice fell off from the roof of the train station and fell straight down, but what if it was windy and it carried the ice over to Route 27? This cell tower is really close to Route 27." In May 2006, the Zoning Board voted 5-1 against a 120-foot cell tower proposed by Sprint Spectrum LP on the property of the American Legion Colonia Post 248, which Iselin residents say is a similar application to their situation. Vegola said he has at least 167 signatures from Iselin residents opposing the proposed cell tower so far.