The Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals on the night in question granted Vertex Towers LLC a special permit and a dimensional variance to install a 130-foot telecommunications monopole and 55-by-70-foot fenced equipment compound at 737 Gifford Street.

The board’s decision followed a presentation by Francis Parisi, attorney for Vertex, who said the company and its wireless partner Verizon had documented coverage gaps and capacity shortfalls across the Brick Kiln Road–Gifford Street area and near the high school that affect voice and data service and, in some cases, emergency calls. Parisi told the board the Cape Cod Commission had already reviewed the project as a development of regional impact and concluded the public benefits outweighed detriments.

Board members cited the site’s size, an adjacent power-line easement and the results of a spring balloon-visibility test in making findings that the site is suitable and that the proposed facility ‘‘closely resembles’’ permitted TV/radio antennas in neighborhood impact. The board granted both a special permit under local zoning provisions and a height variance to allow a monopole above the town’s 50-foot threshold, and voted to attach conditions intended to reduce community and environmental impacts.

Those conditions include: submission of a fall-zone/failure analysis and associated plan at the level requested by the building commissioner; fire-department approval of any propane tank or generator fuel storage and a condition that the permittee obtain all required fuel-storage permits; design and installation standards for fencing and equipment cabinets; a requirement to make reasonable accommodation for public-safety co-location if requested; and an osprey-protection clause that prohibits nest disturbance during the breeding season.

Residents and neighbors raised two recurring concerns at the hearing: potential health effects from radio-frequency emissions and the visual impact of a 130-foot structure. The board and the applicant repeatedly advised that federal law assigns RF-safety assessments and exposure limits to the Federal Communications Commission; Parisi said the proposed facility’s ground-based transmitters are low-powered and that operations would be well within FCC limits. A resident asked about a fire-chief requirement for a ‘‘flammable storage’’ permit; Parisi said a small on-site generator and propane tank would only be used in extended power outages and that fire-department review and approval would be required.

The board said it will issue a written decision to be circulated to members and staff for review; construction timelines discussed at the hearing anticipated possible work in the early quarter of the following year, subject to permit-clearance and ministerial fuel/fire approvals.

The board’s vote was unanimous in favor of granting the special permit and variance. The decision notes the applicant’s commitment to co-location capability on the monopole and other operational conditions the board deemed necessary to protect public safety and environmental constraints.