Residents Push for Cell Tower in South End of Durham

Times have changed and Durham is in need of another cell phone tower.

At least that's the opinion of two residents who came to Monday night's Board of Selectmen meeting hoping to convince town officials that a new cell tower should be erected in the south end of town.

"We have some pretty poor cell service in the south end of Durham," said Buckboard Road resident Chuck Stengel.

Stengel and fellow Buckboard Road resident Carleton Stoup told town officials that cell service is spotty, at best, along a stretch of Route 17, just north of the Guilford town line.

A decade has passed since Durham opposed a proposal to erect a cell tower in the area. At the time, then planning and zoning commission chairman George Eames III was quoted in the Hartford Courant as saying the tower is more a “public convenience” than a “public need.”

That dynamic has changed, Stengel and Stoup argued, and town officials appeared to agree that not only has cell phone use increased but that the technology has become a vital tool during recent emergencies, including storms that knocked out land-line phones.

“I think that all of our experience with emergencies certainly shows how important cellular coverage is,” said selectman Steve Levy.

The state's regulatory board that deals with such projects, the Connecticut Siting Council, is required by law to issue a state-wide telecommunications coverage plan annually, Stengel said, but hasn't done so since 2011.

State law permits towns to propose their own plan, he said.

First selectman Laura Francis agreed that residents are much more reliant on cell phones nowadays but expressed some hesitation in fully endorsing the proposal due to the town’s involvement in the regulatory process.

“I will work with you in whatever capacity we’re able to while we try to maintain the integrity of our regulatory authority,” she said.

Stengel said he hoped to soon have a coverage map so residents could "understand what the depth of the problem is" and to "convince an investor to build in town."

“We don’t want to be arrogant about it but we want to push it,” Stoup said.