Visual Impacts of Proposed Cell Tower

At the Milton's Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on Tuesday night, the Board discussed whether to grant the developer of the proposed 140 foot cell phone monopole a special permit for construction. The monopole tower, with up to five antenna arrays, is slated for construction on the triangle of land alongside the northbound onramp to Rt. 128 at Houghton's Pond. It will be sited on the very tip of that parcel where there are three short Mass Highway traffic monitoring towers. The land is in Milton, is owned by Mass Highway, and has been leased to Green Mountain Development.

The developer conducted a crane test for visibility and submitted photos from several angles along the highway, in the abutting residential neighborhood, from the DCR headquarters and Houghton's Pond concession stand, and along Hillside Street near Brookwood Farm. Due to the foliage and choice of camera angles, the written conclusion is that the visual impact will not be significant. The report defines the area of potential visual impact as a 1/2 mile radius around the proposed location.

At the meeting, Joe Sloane, representing FBH, expressed concerns that the developer did not assess how the tower would impact the view from the Reservation (especially hilltops) or from the south side of Route 128. From reviewing a USGS topographic map, it appears that a tower of this height will be prominent above the site's 70-80 foot tree line from many directions, especially from the AMC cabins and Fisherman's Beach at Ponkapoag and from several hilltop locations such as Houghton Hill.

To address concerns raised by FBH and a couple residents who were present at the meeting, the ZBA agreed to the following:

• Another crane test will be done (tentatively Saturday, June 27) for a few hours to enable photos to be taken from many perspectives. We will need confirmation of the date and time. We will also need volunteers to spread out and take photographs of identified locations. Please let us know if you would be interested
  
• The proponent will develop further drawings of a monopole with all antennae concealed, rather than on five stacked arrays as proposed. This pole may be slightly taller and thicker, but would possibly look less intrusive.
  
• The color of the pole is open to input. If it is concluded that the greatest visibility is against vegetation vs. the sky, the pole could be painted a more subdued color to blend better.

Another concern expressed at the hearing is the possibility that the tower will impair visibility from the onramp to the highway, a concern particularly during rush hour.

Let us if you might be interested in taking photographs for the crane test.