CHESTERFIELD — As Chesterfield’s Planning Board prepares to hold a public hearing on a proposed cellphone tower, residents of nearby South Worthington are expressing concerns over the project.
According to AT&T, the tower is needed in the area to improve cellphone coverage and enhance public safety by improving communications for residents, businesses and emergency services.
Dean Kent, of Thrasher Hill Road in Worthington, however, doesn’t think the need is great enough to warrant a cell tower at the Chesterfield site.
He argues the tower would be clearly seen from the historic district, which he says will mar the viewshed and run counter to the rural character of the area.
“This is a historical rural setting, and the modern world is knocking on our door to put up an installation that is not necessary, and it is not the right choice,” Kent said.
A core group of five people has been discussing the implications of the tower and how to prevent it from being built at this location, he said.
“We have had two meetings so far,” he said, noting that he would be attending the Planning Board meeting in Chesterfield.
According to the proposal, the cell tower would be located on “a 75-acre parcel and set back into the trees, which will help to screen the facility from adjacent abutters and other neighbors.”
The construction of the tower must comply with existing Chesterfield bylaws, requiring that the “clearing of land shall be performed in a manner that will maximize preservation of natural beauty and conservation of natural resources and which will minimize marring and scarring of the landscape.”
A balloon test was performed at the end of July to provide a visual of how and where the tower would appear. Photographs from the test will likely be available at the Planning Board hearing.
Scheduled for Aug. 5 at 6:30 p.m., the hearing will review a special permit and site plan approval request from AT&T for a 130-foot monopole cell tower at 33 Ireland Street Extension in Chesterfield.
Town Administrator Sue Labrie said that she has gotten some calls concerning the tower from residents in both Chesterfield and Worthington and is directing all inquiries to the Planning Board.
Planning Board Chairman Charles (Skip) Valencik was unable for comment.
Worthington Select Board Chairman Charlie Rose said that the town of Worthington itself has no objections to the proposed plan in Chesterfield, but said he has heard some residents are concerned.
Kent says he fears the structure will not only disrupt views from his town’s historic district, but that the removal of trees to install the tower will effectively remove the sound barrier between the district and a sawmill that operates on the Ireland Street Extension property.
“We always have this mechanical industrial drone in the background from the sawmill already, but we have learned to get use to it,” Kent said. “But I am worried that if they take down the trees the sound problem will only get worse.”
The application for the proposed cell tower can be viewed on Chesterfield’s town website at: townofchesterfieldma.com on the Planning Board’s page.
According to the permit application submitted on behalf of AT&T by the law firm of Brown Rudnick in Providence, Rhode Island, the land where the tower would be built belongs to brothers Kim and Paul Sarafin.
The Aug. 5 meeting will take place at the Town Offices at 422 Main Road.