BELMAR — The mayor and council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new ordinance amending the borough’s code regarding small cell wireless facilities. The vote followed a second reading and public hearing.
The ordinance comes in response to public concerns about the Verizon settlement agreement enabling proposed construction of 20 5G cell towers down Ocean Boulevard, which borough officials have been attempting to modify. According to Mayor Gerald Buccafusco, this ordinance will apply to this agreement as well as any future request from other cell carriers with similar proposals.
The borough’s 5G special communications attorney, Peter Lupo of Hoplite Communications, was introduced by Mayor Buccafusco during the workshop discussion at the start of the meeting to provide the council with a brief overview of the ordinance.
“Right now, the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] has a requirement that every municipality has to allow these small cells, it’s a 5G network densification,” he said, explaining that current millimeter technology only covers the distance of roughly two football fields. “The FCC makes it incumbent on municipalities that they have to allow these small cells into the public right-of-way.”
Because of this, the qualifications required to access a right-of-way, defined as usable public roadways or sidewalks, and its application process have been updated with the ordinance. According to Mr. Lupo, without the ordinance, the borough would be subject to default provisions and “more liberal FCC standards.”
Mr. Lupo, who drafted the new ordinance, explained that there are currently two existing ordinances in the borough’s code that are inconsistent with each other and contain aspects that “make it unlawful under the FCC,” including current siting provisions and unlawful fees.
For more on this story, read the next edition of The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Check out our other Belmar stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Coast Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.
