BELMAR — The planning board, at its meeting Monday night, reviewed the borough’s newly introduced ordinance from mayor and council regarding small cell tower construction to evaluate its consistency with the master plan.
The ordinance was introduced by council on May 23. The ordinance would supersede any existing ordinances in the borough regarding small wireless facilities, finding them “redundant and inconsistent,” and replace them entirely.
After discussing the proposed 22-page ordinance with the board attorney, it was deemed that the ordinance would be consistent with the master plan, with some recommendations for the council to consider. The borough’s consultant was not available to discuss the ordinance with the board at their meeting Monday night.
“Our objective here is merely to review the ordinance, as proposed, to ensure it is consistent with the master plan,” Chairman Jay McDermott said.
The introduced ordinance comes in light of the controversial Verizon cell tower construction project looking to build 20 5G cell towers down Ocean Avenue in the borough’s right of way.
“There’s a specific reference within the ordinance to the, I guess existing, Verizon facility that to the fullest extent possible, they are to comply with this ordinance that’s in there,” Board Attorney Douglas Kovats said.
“This is not a discussion about litigation, nor should it or shouldn’t it be,” the board attorney said. “This is simply the borough’s response with regard to small cell [towers] after consulting their folks and saying ‘OK, we need to get maybe something that is a little more modern, if you will, with 5G.’ ”
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