The Borough Council has done an exhaustive search and evaluation of all possible sites in Fair Haven. These include:
 

Borough-Owned Sites	Private Sites
Department of Public Works (DPW)	Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) Substation
Police Station	Nativity Church (application for variance sought by Verizon/Omnipoint being heard by Zoning Board)
Fisk Street	Christ Methodist Church
Fire House
Fair Haven Fields (3 Sites)
Battin Road Boat Ramp
Bi-Centennial Hall
Borough Hall
Municipal Dock
Harding Bird Sanctuary
McCarter Park
William/Hendrickson (in front of "Old Chipping Site")

There are special circumstances in Fair Haven that require special consideration:

• Fair Haven is a densely populated small community, just 1.7 square miles in area.

• The cellular carriers claim that there are "gaps in service" and a Cell Tower is required. While many residents of Fair Haven would rather forego a Cell Tower, it appears that the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows a municipality to control the placement of a Cell Tower, but prohibits an outright ban.

• Commercial areas blend with residential zones in Fair Haven and almost all of the sites under current consideration for a Cell Tower put the proposed Cell Tower within immediate proximity of residences and schools – some only a few feet away from residential homes where children grow up.

• None of the residents near each of these locations want it near them. They are very concerned with health issues, reduction in property values, and the unsightliness of a tower. As the proposed locations for the Cell Tower have moved around Fair Haven, like a “hot potato,” it has brought huge concerns and alarms from members of the community, and has pitted members of the targeted communities against each other, as they struggle to not have it near them. However, the residents of these communities stand united that they don’t want a Cell Tower in anyone’s backyard. The issue of health concerns is particularly important. While the Telecommunications Act of 1996 doesn’t permit a denial of a Cell Tower location because of potential health issues, research by experts significantly caution us to the potential dangers. (For example, see the following book - Cell Towers: Wireless Convenience? Or Environmental Hazard? Edited by B. Blake Levitt). The bottom line is that there is not enough experience with this technology to clearly have a final opinion. However, people have been naïve in the past about the dangers of asbestos, smoking, and the air quality in Manhattan following 9/11. The simple thing that history should teach us is to err on the side of caution.

• So, if there is a choice of putting a Cell Tower near residences and schools, or putting it on an open area more distant from these locations, the decision should be clear.

The bottom line is that the only location in Fair Haven that would put a Cell Tower sufficiently distant from residences and schools is in Fair Haven Fields.

This conclusion does not present an insensitivity to the needs of preserving open space in our community. We feel privileged to have a beautiful and tranquil location like Fair Haven Fields nearby. A Cell Tower can be incorporated into the Fields in a minimally disruptive way.

The Borough has supported this conclusion and recommended for over three years that a Cell Tower be placed in Fair Haven Fields. Since Fair Haven Fields is part of preserved land in the Borough, this needs the approval of the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Its prior applications to the DEP were not approved.

Borough Officials and Assemblywoman Beck and Assemblyman Panter met with the DEP in late September 2006 to reopen the issue about placing a Cell Tower in Fair Haven Fields. The DEP offered Fair Haven the opportunity to reapply. Since that time, the Borough has reviewed all possible sites and also retained a Certified Land Planner to seek guidance from an independent source. The Land Planner, who also considered some additional sites in Little Silver and Rumson for completeness, sustained the view of the Borough in that Fair Haven Fields would be the best possible location for placement of a Cell Tower in Fair Haven. A site in the natural area behind tree cover on Ridge Road has been selected and proposed to the DEP. In addition to suitably distancing the site from residential neighborhoods and schools in Fair Haven, it should avert the need for another cell tower east of the Borough that would fill in coverage gaps in “east” Fair Haven and “west” Rumson.

In January 2007, based on updated information, the Borough submitted a new proposal to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a land diversion (swap). The specifics of this proposal are:

• The Borough proposed to provide the DEP with four otherwise buildable lots near the intersection of William Street and Hendrickson Place that border on the “Old Chipping Site,” which is part of preserved land in the Borough.

• The Borough further proposed to revert both these lots and the “Old Chipping Site” back to their original natural state, and incorporate them into the Fair Haven Fields parkland.  The result of the swap (which includes the preserving of the “Old Chipping Site” which is part of the Fair Haven Fields) would provide over 1.3 acres to the Fair Haven Fields parkland.

• The smaller parcel of land (approximately 1/10^th of an acre) in Fair Haven Fields that the Borough proposes to receive in return is intended to be used as the site for a cell tower in Fair Haven.

• The Borough also proposes that all funds generated from a Cell Tower located in Fair Haven Fields would be dedicated to recreation and park maintenance in the Borough.

• The Borough would require that the contractor selected to install the cell tower and associated equipment be mindful of the preserved land setting in selection of the buildings, fencing, and antenna structure.

 We will keep you updated on the status of this application.