One of the most attractive communities in New Jersey, Warren Township was voted in 2013 #1 Best Place to Live in Central New Jersey and #2 in the State of New Jersey.
If you look at the “proposed service area” of the new tower, it will barely cover the homes near the intersection of Briarwood Dr E and Briarwood Dr W. In fact, if you accept their engineering studies, then Verizon would need 3 or 4 more cell towers in Greenwood Meadows to provide coverage to our community.
If they succeed in getting this first variance to come into Greenwood Meadows and install cell towers, then they have set a precedent for putting towers all over our community, is your home next?
Don’t let Verizon fool you by calling these structures DAS Utility poles, THEY ARE CELL TOWERS that will radiate hundreds of watts of microwave radiation in all directions.
There is a general perception that property values in communities with cell towers drop.
“Perception is everything,” “If the public perceives it to be a problem, then it is a problem. It really does affect property values.”
Here are some studies to back up that analysis. If Verizon gets their way, Verizon gets a cell tower in our community and we all lose property value.
94% of people surveyed would not buy or rent a home next to a cell tower:
In terms of decreased property values, here is some evidence:
1. The Appraisal Institute, the largest global professional membership organization for appraisers with 91 chapters throughout the world, spotlighted the issue of cell towers and the fair market value of a home and educated its members that a cell tower should, in fact, cause a decrease in home value.
The definitive work on this subject was done by Dr. Sandy Bond, who concluded that “media attention to the potential health hazards of [cellular phone towers and antennas] has spread concerns among the public, resulting in increased resistance” to sites near those towers.
Percentage decreases mentioned in the study range from 2 to 20% with the percentage moving toward the higher range the closer the property.
2. Industry Canada (Canadian government department promoting Canadian economy), “Report On the National Antenna Tower Policy Review, Section D — The Six Policy Questions, Question 6. What evidence exists that property values are impacted by the placement of antenna towers?”; see attached. Source: Industry Canada http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf08353.html website,
5) As you can see in this recently NY Times article, Palo Alto residents really don’t like having cell towers in their community (even though they are the cradle of wireless technology). What do these tech people know that the rest of the population doesn’t?
6) This community in Berkeley recently did the same thing. They flooded the planning commission with 187 pages of emails against the tower and the application was denied.
7.) Here is an excellent study in The Appraisal Journal that shows cell tower installations negatively impact property values.
8.) NY Times article on how realtors have a hard time selling homes next to cell towers:
According to Verizon’s marketing and website there is plenty of coverage in the area of Greenwood Meadows. The funny thing is that when they sent a report into the town about why they need to start adding cell towers all over our neighborhood, they show that there is a problem everywhere in Greenwood Meadows except right at the intersection in-front of Pingry….
So who are they misleading, the consumer or the zoning board?
According to their data they sent to the town, the only place with good signal is right where they have already forced their mini cell sites on Round Top Road. If you follow their logic, then the only place you can use your Verizon phone is where they put a cell tower next to your house. Interesting that they chose to point their existing antennas at Pingry and along Route 78 and ignore serving Greenwood Meadows with their existing antennas up near the highway where they already have a tower to use.
