DOCKET NO. 185 - An application by Litchfield Acquisition Corporation d/b/a AT&T Wireless Services for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for construction, maintenance, and operation of a telecommunications tower and associated equipment located at 70 Herb Road, Sharon, Connecticut.

Connecticut Siting Council

November 12, 1998

Decision and Order

Pursuant to the foregoing Findings of Fact and Opinion, the Connecticut Siting Council (Council) finds that the effects associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of a telecommunications facility at the proposed site on Herb Road in Sharon, Connecticut, including effects on the natural environment; ecological integrity and balance; public health and safety; scenic, historic, and recreational values; forests and parks; air and water purity; and fish and wildlife are not disproportionate either alone or cumulatively with other effects when compared to need, are not in conflict with the policies of the State concerning such effects, and are not sufficient reason to deny the application and therefore directs that a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need, as provided by General Statutes § 16-50k, be issued to Litchfield Acquisition Corporation d/b/a AT&T Wireless Services (AT&T) for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a telecommunications tower, associated equipment, and buildings at the proposed site at 70 Herb Road, in the Town of Sharon, Connecticut.

The facility shall be constructed, operated, and maintained substantially as specified in the Council’s record in this matter, and subject to the following conditions:

1. The tower shall be constructed no taller than necessary to provide the proposed telecommunications services, sufficient to accommodate the antennas of AT&T, Springwich Cellular Limited Partnership (Springwich), Nextel Communications of the Mid-Atlantic, Inc. (Nextel), the antennas of at least two other wireless providers, and other entities, both public and private, as necessary, but such tower, excluding antennas, shall not exceed a height of 110 feet above ground level (AGL).
   
   
2. The tower and antennas shall be camouflaged as an evergreen tree, and the equipment building and compound shall be architecturally treated to resemble agricultural/rustic structures, subject to Council approval through Section 3 of this Decision and Order.
   
   
3. The Certificate Holder shall prepare a Development and Management (D&M) Plan for this site in compliance with Sections 16-50j-75 through 16-50j-77 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. The D&M Plan shall be submitted to and approved by the Council prior to the commencement of facility construction and shall include: a final site plan(s) for site development to include the location and specifications for the tower with antennas, designed to resemble a tree; tower foundation; architecturally-treated equipment buildings and security fence; vegetative screening; access road and underground utilities; site clearing and tree trimming; water drainage; and erosion and sedimentation controls consistent with the Connecticut Guidelines for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, as amended.
   
   
4. The Certificate Holder shall maintain all portions of the access road in a condition accessible for emergency access. Any damage to private roads caused by vehicles accessing the site shall be promptly repaired to pre-existing conditions.
   
   
5. Upon the establishment of any new State or federal radio frequency standards applicable to frequencies of this facility, the facility granted herein shall be brought into compliance with such standards.
   
   
6. The Certificate Holder shall provide a recalculated report of electromagnetic radio frequency power density if and when circumstances in operation cause a change in power density above the levels originally calculated and provided in the application.
   
   
7. Within six months of operation, the Certificate Holder and each carrier shall provide drive test data depicting signal levels along Route 7 between the intersections of Route 7 with Routes 341 and 128, and along Route 4 between the intersections of Route 4 with Route 125 and Northrup Road.
   
   
8. The Certificate Holder shall permit public or private entities to share space on the proposed tower for fair consideration, or shall provide any requesting entity with specific legal, technical, environmental, or economic reasons precluding such tower sharing. No antenna, other than whip antennas, may be modified or added to the tower, unless approved by the Council.
   
   
9. If the facility does not initially provide, or permanently ceases to provide cellular services following completion of construction, this Decision and Order shall be void, and the Certificate Holder shall dismantle the tower and remove all associated equipment or reapply for any continued or new use to the Council before any such use is made.
   
   
10. Any antenna that becomes obsolete and ceases to function shall be removed within 60 days after such antenna becomes obsolete and ceases to function, unless such antenna is necessary to maintain the architectural appearance of the tower and is so ordered to remain on the tower by the Council.
    
    
11. Unless otherwise approved by the Council, this Decision and Order shall be void if all construction authorized herein is not completed within three years of the effective date of this Decision and Order or within three years after all appeals to this Decision and Order have been resolved.

Pursuant to General Statutes § 16-50p, we hereby direct that a copy of the Findings of Fact, Opinion, and Decision and Order be served on each person listed below, and notice of issuance shall be published in The Hartford Courant, the Register Citizen, the News Times, and Litchfield County Times.

By this Decision and Order, the Council disposes of the legal rights, duties, and privileges of each party named or admitted to the proceeding in accordance with Section 16-50j-17 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

The parties and intervenors to this proceeding are: