Plans to increase the number of cell phone towers in North Hampton have stalled after the two proposals being considered by the Zoning Board of Adjustment were denied. One proposal was for a tower to be located off Chapel Road and the other for a tower located off Woodland Road. Both proposals moved for reconsideration; both motions were denied.

“There were several extensive meetings on both,” says ZBA chairman John Anthony Simmons. “We took in a large amount of evidence and testimony.”

The ZBA had been considering tower proposals since May 2005, according to Simmons. There was trouble from the beginning; townspeople in the vicinity of each of the proposed towers were concerned with both the cell towers’ possible negative impact on their health as well as the towers’ impact on area property values. According to Simmons, one Woodland Road resident who recently sold his home said he would have to pay back a portion of the selling price if the cell tower were built. Some thought was given to “stealth” locations, such as within church steeples and other preexisting tall structures, but those ideas were rejected.

There are currently no other proposals before the ZBA. Other options to fill in wide gaps in cell phone coverage throughout the community are being considered by the town. One alternative is a distribution antennae system (DAS), in which a number of smaller, less obtrusive antennae are placed throughout town. The North Hampton planning board has approved a DAS proposal, but it has not yet come before the ZBA.