West Haven mayor cheers PURA’s denial of Verizon Wireless’ application for phone antenna Mayor calls ruling a ‘victory’ for city

Photo: Journal Register Co. Photo: Journal Register Co. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close West Haven mayor cheers PURA’s denial of Verizon Wireless’ application for phone antenna 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

WEST HAVEN >> The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, in its first proposed denial of an application of its type, has issued a draft decision that would deny Verizon Wireless’ application to place a cannister-style wireless phone antenna on a pole in close proximity to houses along Ocean Avenue.

PURA’s decision follows a year-long battle that included a hearing last summer in New Britain in which West Shore neighbors, Mayor Ed O’Brien, state Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, and others had urged PURA not to let the application go forward.

It surprised even some of the most committed opponents of the application.

“We are very surprised,” said Alicia Glogowski, who lives on Harding Street off Ocean Avenue. “We always had a lot of hope. But according to what (Mayor O’Brien) says, the lawyer found this really unusual and PURA does not really often deny things.”

PURA spokesman Mike Coyle confirmed that, assuming the draft decision is adopted by the full authority, this will be the first time PURA has denied an application of its kind.

“PURA’s denial of Verizon’s application is a victory for the city of West Haven and the many residents who fought to protect their neighborhood from a significant safety risk,” said Mayor O’Brien in a release. “I am grateful to Senator Slossberg for her leadership and testimony in helping to ensure that this application was not approved.”

Slossberg called it “an important victory for West Haven and the entire state of Connecticut as we continue to work to end the unfair balance of power between town residents and telecommunications giants like Verizon.

“This incredible group of West Haven residents banded together early last year and worked together to put a stop to this antenna installation, and I’m thrilled to announce that we succeeded,” she said in a release. “We are the first community ever to win a fight like this, and I hope we won’t be the last.”

The draft decision “indicates this is where PURA thinks it’s headed” but is not yet the final word, said Coyle. PURA is scheduled to vote on the proposed decision on March 1 following oral arguments that will give participants a chance to react to the draft decision on Feb. 22, he said.

W. Richard Smith Jr. of Robinson & Cole, an attorney representing Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless, declined to comment on the draft decision.

The city’s lawyer, Burt Cohen, a partner in Murtha Cullina’s New Haven office, told officials in an e-mail the proposed decision “denies Verizon’s application on the basis that adding the electric service to the pole creates a safety issue to the Tran family.”

He was referring to the family of Morris Street resident Nhan Tran, whose yard is just 96 inches away from the proposed location of the antenna, which would be placed on an existing utility pole at 281 Ocean Ave., along a bend in Ocean Avenue between Holcomb and Morris streets.

Tran, who has said he was concerned about the effects of radiation from the cannister and was the neighbor who first alerted and got other neighbors involved last year, did not immediately return a call for comment.

“There is no doubt that PURA blinked on this one in large part due to the testimony from Mayor O’Brien and Senator Slossberg,” Cohen wrote Friday to Slossberg and O’Brien. “Thank you both for your active participation in this proceeding.”

“I think it’s great news and we’re very happy for Nan and his family that this won’t be right outside his property,” said Glogowski. “That was the biggest concern that we had — that is, the proximity to his daughter and his family.”

She said of Verizon Wireless, which is welcome to reapply for an antenna in a different location, “You can’t just stick it right next to somebody’s yard and have someone not object to it.”

We’re very excited and we’re very grateful to the mayor ... and Gayle Slossberg ... for getting involved,” Glogowski said.

O’Brien, asked if he was at all surprised by PURA’s decision, said, “I knew we were fighting an uphill battle. We were hopeful that it was going to come down that way...

“I guess it just wasn’t the site for it...” he said. “It detinitely was not the place to put the antenna.”

Asked whether he would support any future Verizon application, he said, “if it’s in that neighborhood close to the houses like that, I’ll oppose it. I just don’t think we should be putting these in these densely populated areas.”

Slossberg said “we knew that we had an uphill battle, but we also knew that we were right, in terms of this being inappropriately placed, and without the proper input from West Haven.

“I was really proud of the community,” she said.

The issue “does speak to a bigger concern ... that I am now trying to address along with the rest of the West Haven delegation to create a fair process.”

Slossberg has introduced Senate Bill 536, which aims to give municipalities and their residents a voice in decisions regarding similar canister antennas. The bill would establish a statewide plan and process to site small cell canister antennas, similar to the process that currently exists for cell phone towers.

The process the bill calls for would give community members and elected officials a voice in the siting of small canister antennas, Slossberg said. In addition, following passage of the bill, the state would impose a moratorium on all pending canister antenna placements until a statewide siting plan and process could be implemented.

Cohen, in addition to representing West Haven and the West Shore neighbors, is involved in an ongoing legal challenge instituted by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the Coalition of Small Towns, Greenwich and Danbury to PURA’s statutory authority to site small cells on utility poles.

This is not the first time Verizon Wireless’ plans have raised the ire of West Haven residents. Past issues have included upgrades to wireless facilities atop the Giannotti Apartments on Main Street.