An Oak Bluffs resident has filed an appeal against the town’s select board over their approval of a small cell wireless facility set to be installed in front of his historic house.
Last month, Oak Bluffs select board members greenlit a proposal by AT&T to install electrical equipment on a utility pole nearby 53 Pequot Ave., despite some town residents expressing concern over the addition.
In a petition to appeal the board’s decision, filed with the Dukes County Superior Court this week, John Neuhoff claims that at the proposed installation location, the AT&T attachment would threaten the character and aesthetics of the neighborhood, and potentially impact home values.
An Oak Bluffs resident has filed an appeal against the town’s select board over their approval of a small cell wireless facility set to be installed in front of his historic house.
Last month, Oak Bluffs select board members greenlit a proposal by AT&T to install electrical equipment on a utility pole near 53 Pequot Ave., despite some town residents expressing concern over the addition.
In a petition to appeal the board’s decision, filed with the Dukes County Superior Court this week, John Neuhoff claims that at the proposed installation location, the AT&T attachment would threaten the character and aesthetics of the neighborhood, and potentially impact home values.
The appeal argues that the 24-inch-high, 10-inch-wide, side-mounted antenna and associated equipment boxes, which would be attached to an existing telephone pole, ought to be installed in a commercial district, rather than a residential area. “The cottagers and locals deserve environmental respect,” the filings argue.
Despite preliminary plans to mount the facility on a pole on Circuit Avenue, which had been approved by Cottage City Historic District Commission, AT&T’s presentation to the select board in August recommended that the equipment be installed on Pequot Avenue.
“Putting [the wireless facility] in a designated historic residential neighborhood would be a stark contrast to the quaint, noncommercial area, and will negatively affect its disposition and appeal,” the appeal says, adding that a wireless cell facility “will stain Pequot Avenue with unwanted industrial technology, and may affect home prices. . . Renters and visitors who come to the [area’s] park are enchanted by its history and traditional intrigue. All of this would be lost because of the [wireless cell facility] WCF.”
The appeal also claims that the select board “intentionally ignored” relevant zoning bylaws when reaching its decision to approve the installation, specifically regulations concerning wireless communications facilities, which state WCFs require a special permit to erect.
Neuhoff’s petition, which seeks to have the select board’s approval vacated, was filed on Sept. 11, and has yet to be responded to in court by the town of Oak Bluffs.
