By John Schwing

WESTPORT — As a deadline looms to find an alternate location for a 124-foot-tall cell tower proposed for a residential property on Greens Farms Road, town officials have been turned down by the state for use of railway land as a possible alternate site.

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, in a May 12 letter to an official in the state Department of Transportation, urged the DOT to “reconsider” its denial of “potential use of state railway property in Westport for a private cell tower.”

Plans for the cell tower, proposed for a residential lot at 92 Greens Farms Road last September by Tarpon Towers LLC, are expected to be formally filed with the State Siting Council on Thursday, May 26, according to Tooker’s letter to Julie Thomas, supervising rail officer in the DOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation.

As of Tuesday, Tooker’s office said there was no update on the status of the town’s appeal.

The proposed location of the cell tower has been strongly opposed by both neighbors and town officials at a series of meetings over the last several months.

While only the state board has final say over cell tower applications, town officials have raised questions about the potential location, particularly the fact that, as Tooker wrote, “the town strongly believes that a cell tower should not be located on a lot with a residence.

“This is simply not a good land use practice,” she wrote.

Local officials’ efforts to find a new site for the tower appeared to have succeeded in January when the owner of an office complex at 55 Greens Farms Road agreed to have the property considered as an alternate location.

But after only two weeks, the owner decided to withdraw the site from consideration.

In her letter, Tooker said that during talks with the Town Attorney’s Office state officials attributed their decision to deny the proposal primarily to “a lack of staffing at DOT” and “that siting a cell tower on state property was not a priority of the department at this time.”

Attempting to facilitate the matter, Tooker wrote: “I have authorized our Town Attorneys, to the extent possible and at the town’s expense, to assist DOT to develop any necessary licenses or similar documentary agreements, and with any process involving requisite state approvals or public bidding of the right to lease the property in question. 

“Please note that we are ready immediately to assist in any way, without delay and without limit, as this is now a very important issue in our community.”

Once the cell tower plans are filed with the State Siting Council, Tooker noted, a timeline for the project’s review is set in motion.

So, the first selectwoman said, “time is of the essence” to consider alternative locations before the planned May 26 filing by Tarpon Towers.

Lawyers for the applicant, she added, “have advised us that the state railway property in Westport is an acceptable alternative for them.”

The DOT’s Thomas did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.