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Residents ask Waldoboro board to study cell-tower rules; board tables moratorium request for more research
Summary
A resident asked the Select Board to consider a six-month moratorium and a study of the town's wireless-telecommunications ordinance after reports of a possible 192-foot tower; the board voted to table the request, asked for county data, and assigned staff and members to review materials and scan the presenter’s binder.
A group of residents urged the Waldoboro Select Board to slow down and study the town’s wireless-telecommunications rules after learning a tower company may be pursuing a site in the southern part of town.
Amy Ford asked the board to hold a special town meeting or place a warrant article on the November ballot to impose a six-month moratorium on construction of wireless-telecommunications facilities outside Route 1 so the town could assess aesthetic impacts, property-value concerns and public-health questions tied to radio-frequency (RF) exposure.
"I'm here to request the select board hold a special town meeting within the next few weeks to debate and vote on a proposed warrant article to establish a 6 month moratorium on any and all construction of wireless telecommunications facilities," Ford said.
Board members and staff discussed procedural constraints: ballot-printing deadlines, a petition threshold (10% of the last gubernatorial-election turnout, roughly 250 signatures), and legal limits because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may permit waivers to local siting rules to address demonstrated service gaps. Town planning and the planning board retain review powers such as requesting RF studies or balloon tests if an application is filed.
A landowner in the room said he had signed a contract with a tower company, Blue Sky Towers, for a 192-foot tower on his property and claimed emergency-service coverage in that area was limited. The board debated options — ordinance review, a committee to investigate, or a moratorium — before voting to table the request to the next meeting and directing staff and board volunteers to gather county tower information and scan the presenter's binder for review.
The board asked staff to list likely costs if expert consultants are needed so that any necessary appropriation could be put on a future warrant.
