A 160-foot-high cell tower erection is being considered in Springvale. Within this area are wetlands defined as a rare animal habitat on an attachment to Sanford’s Comprehensive Plan. One of the rare animals could be Blanding’s turtle, which is on the Maine Endangered Species List.
Some residents have alleged that Mariner Towers is being cagey and disingenuous in their presentations of the facts to the city planner and city council, and that their application for a “contract zone” is incomplete. There are two city council meeting videos available to watch under “City Council Meetings”: http://wssrtv.org/uncategorized/video-player-2.
The planning board has found that the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan; it is this finding that many folks plan to challenge at the 7 p.m., March 18 public hearing in the City Hall Annex third-floor conference room.
Many residents are not aware of this proposal, and much public resistance has resulted from some of these tower projects; housing devaluation and the resulting erosion of the community tax base, visual distortion caused by the tower and the attached antenna arrays, and fear of the effects of microwave frequencies upon living tissue are some of the concerns.
The need exists to better notify the general public and to solicit their concerns.
The file for this Proposal is File #10-13-W: VC Properties, LLC, d/b/a Mariner Tower, Christopher Ciolfi, P.O. Box 2600, Kennebunkport. The developer is requesting major site plan approval to construct a telecommunications facility including a 160-foot-tall transmitter tower on the west side of Oak Street on a portion of property owned by Patrick and Richard Bond (Tax Map R5, Lot 32, Rural Residential zone).
Copies of the proposal are available in the Sanford Planning Office, third floor of the City Hall Annex, during regular business hours. Questions and comments should be directed to James Q. Gulnac, director of Planning & Community Development at 324-9150 or by email at jqgulnac@sanfordmaine.org.
-Kevin McKeon , Springvale
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