AT&T, Arts Wireless propose 135-foot monopole at 577 West Main Street; Connecticut Siting Council will decide

David Ball, counsel for Arts Wireless and a co-applicant with AT&T, told the Norwich City Council at an informational session that the applicants propose constructing a 135-foot telecommunications monopole and a roughly 2,000-square-foot fenced compound at 577 West Main Street.

The proposal is part of a Connecticut Siting Council process; the council — not the Norwich City Council or planning and zoning — has exclusive jurisdiction over final permitting, Ball said. The applicants provided technical reports, coverage maps and visual simulations at the session and answered questions from aldermen and city staff.

The applicant team said the project aims to improve service east of the site and into the downtown area. Martin Lavin, an engineer with C Squared Systems who prepared coverage plots for AT&T, summarized the need: "The need, here is primarily for coverage in that area to the east of the site, towards downtown. There's weak coverage and there's inadequate service in that area." Lavin said customer complaints were among the factors driving the siting decision.

Architect Doug Roberts described the site plan as a 135-foot monopole sited in the far west corner of the parcel with utilities routed underground to meter centers and a gated, gravel compound: "We're proposing 135 foot monopole in a 2,000 square foot compound at 577 West Main Street."…