Bangor puts off decision on tower ban

BANGOR – Citing some lingering concerns, members of the City Council delayed a decision Monday night on a proposed ban on broadcast towers in rural areas.

Instead, the councilors decided to send the matter back to the transportation and infrastructure committee for further review.

The review, which could require several meetings to complete, will take place during an extension of an existing moratorium on radio and television towers in rural residence and agricultural districts that was due to expire later this month. The extension runs through April 1 of next year.

Planning board members who considered the measure last week also had concerns about the proposed ban, voting 3-2 not to endorse it.

The moratorium and subsequent ban proposal were prompted by a plan to put up four 276-foot-tall antennae towers for a proposed AM radio station on outer Broadway.

Charles Hecht and Alfredo Alonso of Pittstown, N.J., had planned to build the station on a 51.6-acre parcel at 2110 Broadway, about six-tenths of a mile toward town from the intersection of Broadway and Pushaw Road.

The two received permission to move ahead with the project on July 3, when the planning board voted 3-2 to grant them conditional use approval for the station’s antennae.

But neighbors raised concerns about the project. Complaints included potential health effects of radio waves, adverse impact on wildlife, obstruction of scenic views and decreased property values.

To have time to review the issue, the council imposed a six-month moratorium on broadcast towers in October and made it retroactive to July 1.

Councilor Gerry Palmer said Monday that because the moratorium was enacted retroactively, local officials really only had less than three months to study the issue.

As he has stated in earlier meetings, Councilor Frank Farrington said Monday he did not think the case had been made for “serious public harm,” a condition that must exist in order to impose moratoria.

Councilor Hal Wheeler saw the issue as one of integrity. Hecht and Alonso followed the proper procedures, paid the necessary fees and won planning board permission before the city pulled the plug on their project, he noted.

“I’m in a real state of agitation about this,” he said. While the moratorium might be legal, he said, “I don’t think it’s good business.”

An outright ban on the broadcast towers would require an amendment to the city’s land use code pertaining to the city’s rural residence and agriculture districts, which make up about a third of Bangor’s total land.