Bucksport restricts cell tower locations

BUCKSPORT – The town has a new set of regulations that restricts the placement of communications or cell phone towers to rural areas of town.

The town council last week included the towers in the town site plan review ordinance, which will require that applications to construct communications towers go to a public hearing before the planning board. The council also approved restrictions requiring that developers provide setbacks from property lines that equal the height of the proposed tower plus 10 feet.

The issue of the towers generated some concern when the first application for a permit was presented to the planning board. Residents called for a moratorium on the towers, but councilors opted to deal with the issue through the ordinance.

John Daniels of the planning board generated the only discussion during the public hearing on the ordinance. Relating discussion among planning board members, Daniels questioned whether the setback requirements were too restrictive, noting that a recently-approved application for a 190-foot tower, under the proposed restrictions, would have required an excessively large lot.

“That would have required a lot size of 4.6 acres for that one tower,” he said. “That did seem to be quite a bit of acreage.”

Councilors, however, rejected that idea. Joel Wardwell pointed out that the ordinance committee had researched several other ordinances and the setback requirements seemed to be the normal standard. Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Hammond said the restrictions were designed to prevent the towers from landing on adjoining lands or buildings in the event they collapsed.

“Are we saying now that it’s OK to fall on a house?” Wardwell said.

Although he did not advocate easing the setback requirement, Daniels pointed out that towers can be designed to collapse in on themselves and suggested that might be a requirement that could be included in the ordinance.

Town Manager Roger Raymond said the setback did not seem to be too big for a 190-foot tower, and suggested that it will be easier for developers to find suitable land in the rural areas.

In other action, councilors approved a restructuring of the police department to create two new positions, which is expected to save the town some money. The proposal came as the result of the departure of Lt. Dave Milan, who was recently appointed as the town’s new economic director. Instead of filling the lieutenant’s position, Chief Doug Gray suggested creating the post of detective-sergeant, responsible for all major investigations and court appearances, and the post of corporal, a patrol office position with the added responsibility of shift supervisor during the evening shift.