New Cell Phone Tower Proposed to Fill Farmington Dead Zone

New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC is looking to eliminate an AT&T dead zone along Plainville Avenue by putting a 155-foot cell phone tower at 598 Plainville Ave.

The pending application to the Connecticut Siting Council does not fall under the town of Farmington's jurisdiction, but the town sent notices to nearby residents about the public hearing. The town does have input on the color of the proposed tower if approved.

“Basically the phone company has said that there’s a dead zone to the north of the area and the only way to service that dead zone is to put a tower in that vicinity," Farmington Town Planner Jeffrey Ollendorf said Tuesday. 

The tower would provide cell phone service to an area of Farmington off Route 177, including the Coppermine and Lake Garda neighborhoods, that currently gets little to no service, according to Ollendorf.

The 7.5-acre property owned by John Senese is sandwiched between Autumn Estates, an active senior living community, and an 11-lot subdivision for which Senese gained approval last year to build single-family homes. The housing development has not been completed, according to Ollendorf. Senese received approval to build single-family houses on the land being considered for the cell phone tower 10 years ago, but never built the homes. 

There is a farmhouse on the property in question that would remain, but some of the barn buildings on the land would need to be demolished if the cell tower is approved for an area near the road.

The cell phone company is hosting a public meeting for it mid-July at Farmington Town Hall to provide residents with more information.

“It’s a residential area that they’re looking to do this in so we know it’s certainly going to raise some eyebrows," Ollendorf said, noting that he has sent notices to the Autumn Estate residents. 

Thirty units comprise the 55-and-older senior living development, he said. Neighbors have already approached the town with concerns, displeased that the cell phone tower would be close to their homes, Ollendorf said. 

“We’ve been very fortunate," Ollendorf said. "Most of the towers in our community have been well disguised and haven’t wound up being real eye sores.”

The cell phone company needs approval from the state's Siting Council before it can proceed with its proposed plans. 

The public information session about the tower is scheduled for July 16 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the basement of Town Hall. Members of the public can give comments or ask questions at the meeting, according to an Everbridge notification from the town. Residents can view the application in the town planning department office at Town Hall during office hours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.