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Politics & Government

Zoning Hearing Board Grants Electric Communications Mono-Tower Variances

Maryland-based Liberty Towers seeks to build an electric communications mono-tower near sewer treatment facility in Lower Nazareth Township.

The Zoning Hearing Board granted two variances Tuesday night for an electric communications mono-tower, which has the ability to hold six different carriers that provide wireless communication services.

Liberty Towers, a Rockville, Maryland-based company, is seeking to install the tower in the vicinity of the Nazareth Sewer Authority on Tatamy Road. The variances were requested in order to install the tower closer to existing structures than is permitted by regulations.

“The property could comply with the setbacks, but it would interfere with the operation of the waste water treatment plant,” said Brian Seidel, president of Seidel Planning and Design in Pottstown.

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Seidel added that moving the site elsewhere could place the tower within the Schoeneck Creek flood plain.

Seidel spoke on behalf of Liberty and requested a variance that would place the 160-foot tower at a 74-foot setback to the west and an 80-foot setback to the south.

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Members of the board questioned Seidel and other Liberty representatives about the need for the tower, whether adjacent municipalities and landowners were notified, and what the likelihood was of the tower falling.

Philip Burtner, a principal at Advantage Engineers in Lansdale, explained that the tapered-tower will be made with galvanized steel and will be situated on a concrete foundation. The tower is made to last at least 100 years and withstand minimum wind speeds of 90 mph and 140 mph wind gusts. The base of the tower – up to about 65-70 feet – is overdesigned to be stiffer than the remaining height.

Anthony Handley, a wireless consultant for Millennium Engineering in Phoenixville, said the tower would be able to hold antennae for high-band coverage for six wireless companies. The need is based on the absence of high-band wireless towers in the vicinity, Handley said.

“Each carrier operates within their own bandwidth,” Handley explained.

There are two towers within 1.5 miles of the proposed tower, but they mainly provide low-band wireless coverage, according to Handley. Regulations require that towers must be three miles apart, which was the reason for the second variance.

Tom Itterly, chairman of the Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority, attended the meeting and confirmed for the board that the authority does intend to expand, but the proposed site for the tower will not interfere with that expansion.

Liberty would be leasing ground from the authority and will be housed within the fenced property of the sewer authority, Seidel explained. The authority exists on 23-acres along Tatamy Road in Nazareth.

The variances were approved unanimously.

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