By The New Jersey Wireless Carriers Coalition In the early 1980s, a new form of telecommunications - an innovative, mobile system that combined elements of radio, telephone and computer technologies - became available to the American public. It was, of course, the wireless telephone. Twelve years later, the wireless industry is a resounding American success story. Today nearly 34 million Americans, or about one out of every ten of us, is a wireless customer. Like the television and the VCR, the wireless telephone triggered enormous public demand and became one of those rare products that change the very lives of its users. And the wireless boom is far from over. Every day, more than 28,000 new customers sign up for service. Industry analysts project that by the year 2000, more than 50 million Americans will be using wireless phones, an increase of nearly 50% from current levels. The effects of this powerful, ongoing demand will reverberate throughout the economy in many ways, from new manufacturing facilities to job creation. The wireless industry has already created 250,000 new jobs in the United States. By the close of the decade, the industry is expected to produce a million more. The reason for this staggering growth is simple. Wireless telephones have great utility. They work, both for businesses and individuals. They increase productivity and make life easier, safer and more convenient. No longer just an executive toy, they are now being used by the busy mother on her way to pick up a child, the motorist who is lost and in need of directions, and the senior citizen who wants to be ready in case the car breaks down. In short, by all of us. Then there are the public safety applications. Every month, more than half a million calls to 911 and other emergency numbers are made on wireless phones. Many of those calls mean the difference between life and death. With wireless, people can - and do - report serious auto accidents, unsafe driving conditions, drunken driving, crime and a myriad of other emergencies. By calling on the spot, they slash the response time of police, fire and emergency personnel, many of whom have become enthusiastic advocates of wireless technology. But the rise of wireless telephone usage has not been without its challenges, particularly with regard to base stations, the building blocks of wireless communications. Base stations are the fixed antenna facilities that relay wireless radio signals enabling calls to go through. As wireless customers and usage continue to grow, so must the number of base stations - the very infrastructure of the wireless network. With the increasing number of base stations comes an increasing number of local zoning applications to gain installation permits. This raises questions for officials and residents alike: How can wireless facilities be introduced into local communities in a way that reassures their compliance with established safety standards and underscores their unique contribution to a community's security and well-being? Secondly, how can the benefits of wireless communications technology coincide with a community's approach to planning and development? By all measures, these base stations operate at extremely low power levels. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), an industry group whose exposure limits for human health and safety are among the most conservative, has publicly stated that the typical wireless base station emits no more radio frequency energy than is normally found in ambient levels in any modern community. The IEEE concludes that base stations pose no risk to the public. Wireless policies at the federal level already reflect this accepted industry wisdom. In fact, national policies have been established to promote the improvement of wireless services, as demonstrated most recently by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. President Clinton has placed a high priority on "encouraging the efficient and timely implementation of ... (the wireless) infrastructure buildout as a means of stimulating economic growth and creating new jobs." The Telecommunications Act, for example, codifies an Executive Order signed by the President last fall mandating access to federal property for the siting of wireless base stations. The United States Postal Service, as well, recently offered access to its facilities for possible antenna locations. Similarly, many state and local governments have launched cooperative efforts in relation to siting base stations. In Massachusetts, the Department of Highways has opened its right of ways for wireless telecommunication base stations. In Pennsylvania, the Montgomery County Planning Commission issued guidelines in the form of a model ordinance to help townships and boroughs in the county with base station siting. In New Jersey, municipalities and state agencies have welcomed agreements with wireless carriers in siting antennas on water towers and other municipal properties. Examples include Brielle, Florham Park and Madison Boroughs, Cinnaminson and River Vale Townships, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and McGuire Air Force Base. Still, the location of base stations continues to trigger disputes between wireless carriers and communities and their zoning and planning officials. And in a number of those situations, the dispute ends up in court, an unnecessary and wasteful outcome for all parties involved. Solutions must be found to satisfy the needs of municipalities grappling with myriad planning and land use issues, and of wireless carriers faced with soaring public demand. And, of course, there are the concerns and questions of community residents. In the absence of such balanced solutions, we all face continued disagreements, misunderstandings and, ultimately, costly litigation. The challenge is to engage in a productive dialogue to ease the tensions when they arise and, hopefully in some instances, before they arise. It is unlikely that we will find a panacea to resolve every siting concern and disagreement. But that should not prevent planners, zoning and municipal officials, communities and carriers from seeking common ground. Where do we - the zoning and planning boards, municipal governing bodies and wireless carriers - go from here? Locally, zoning and planning boards are responsible for measured development and land use in their communities. At the same time, wireless carriers are mandated by the Federal Communications Commission to provide ubiquitous service to customers living in those same communities. A number of states including New Jersey recognize wireless service providers as public utilities for purposes of zoning. However, few municipal zoning codes deal with siting wireless base stations. This vacuum makes everyone's job tougher. And to make matters worse, there remains a wariness among some in the general public of wireless, often fostered by uninformed, and sometimes incorrect, reports in the media. As a starting point, consideration should be given to a model ordinance, mutually agreed upon by municipalities and wireless carriers. This ordinance could outline baseline parameters for base station applications. Such an ordinance could, for example, permit a base station as a second use on an existing site and as a conditional use in all zones. Different standards for the conditional use could then be established within the zoning ordinance. The rationale for allowing a base station as a conditional use is this: If the facility is unable to meet the conditions for that use in the zone, the applicant would then be required to establish why it is unable to meet the conditional use standards in order to be granted a special reasons variance. Municipalities would, indeed, maintain control in the location of a wireless communications facility outside the parameters of the ordinance. The wireless industry must build additional base stations to meet the public's growing demand for wireless communications services. In doing so, the industry should help land use officials and the general public better understand the technology itself, such as its precision location requirements, and the positive impact of the necessary land use. Pieces of the wireless story are told at planning and zoning board hearings, but they are often lost to the community in these rigidly structured proceedings. Without a doubt, a dialogue among communities and carriers outside the formal processes is necessary. Ideally, this dialogue would be marked by informality, personal communication and genuine information sharing. This in turn would lead to a greater understanding by all parties involved - residents, planners, zoning officials, elected leaders and the carriers themselves. Public education efforts already underway have proven helpful in many communities. There are ways to continue to move forward now in fostering education and
understanding, and improving the dialogue between carriers and communities:
Making our New Jersey communities better and safer is a responsibility which we all shoulder. The challenge before planners, zoners and municipal officials and wireless carriers is to share in that responsibility through information, dialogue and understanding. The New Jersey Wireless Carriers Coalition, formed to promote greater
understanding of wireless telecommunications technology, participated in the New Jersey
Planning Officials' panel discussion on "Inherently Beneficial Uses" and was an
exhibitor at the recent New Jersey League of Municipalities Convention. The Coalition is
comprised of AT&T Wireless Services (John J. Liantonio, 201-967-5083), Bell Atlantic
NYNEX-Mobile (Daniel E. Mullin, 908-306-7342), Comcast Cellular Communications Inc.
(Joseph Divis, 610-995-1607) and Nextel Communications, Inc. (Martin C. Rothfelder,
201-379-8871) |