Cumberland planning board approves 140-foot Verizon tower at 14 Tuttle Road subject to nine conditions

The Cumberland Planning Board voted to approve a site plan for a 140-foot telecommunications monopole at 14 Tuttle Road on Aug. 19, subject to standard conditions and nine project-specific conditions, after hearing technical presentations and public comment. The applicant team represented Verizon Wireless and tower owner Vertical Bridge; the town will also place public-safety communications equipment on the structure.

Why it matters: The board and applicants said the tower will fill gaps in radio coverage in the Foreside/Route 1 corridor that affect both public-safety radios and cellular customers. The project was considered a permitted use under the town Public Safety Telecommunications Overlay (PSTO) after the council rezoned the parcel earlier this summer.

Verizon and its consultants presented propagation maps, a visual-impact (viewshed) analysis and an RF exposure report. The applicant team said modeled 4G/LTE coverage would extend roughly a half-mile to three-quarters of a mile in several directions from the site and that the calculated maximum radio frequency (RF) exposure for Verizon equipment alone is 9.14 percent of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) maximum permissible exposure.

Technical and policy points discussed - RF exposure: A representative from C Squared Systems said the 9.14 percent figure applies to Verizon

equipment alone…