Nextel seeks input on possible antennas
Published on July 27th, 2005
12-new wireless antennas might soon dot the rooftop and sides of the IRS building at One Montvale Avenue, but some town officials warn that the additions will quite possibly bring little to no revenue to the town.
According to a legal notice submitted to The Stoneham Independent, Nextel Communications plans to construct a new wireless facility on the rooftop on the building, including eight 10-foot antennas and an equipment shelter directly on the top of the edifice.
"They're going to be putting up antennas that are roughly 10-feet high. The building is roughly 50-feet high, and the antennas are 10-feet. So that's a total height of 60-feet," said Mary Stadalnick of Burlington's EBI Consultants, a company currently representing Nextel.
"They'll be 12 antennas in total and they'll be grouped in four per sector. One will be on the southeast corner of the building, and the other grouping will be on the west side. They will be painted to match the existing building," Stadalnick added, saying in addition to the eight antennas on the rooftop, four will be placed on the side of the building's penthouse.
According to Building Inspector Cheryl Noble, neither plans nor a request for a permit has been requested for the wireless installation at her office. However, if the installation was designed according to building code specifications, the proposal would be allowed-by-right, as One Montvale Avenue is located within Stoneham's overlay district, an area specifically zoned for cell antennas.
With town officials, including Finance Board Vice-Chairman John Warren, weighing the benefits of wooing cell-phone providers into Stoneham to generate tax and rental revenue, the Nextel proposal might seem like a great idea, especially since the proposed installation would sit within the overlay district.
However, according to Stoneham Assessor's Office Director Frank Golden, collecting taxes on what is considered the fair cash value of such wireless facilities often proves difficult.
"We've never really had any history of getting what we should for something like that. [Town Counsel Bill Solomon], who's really the expert on this, is trying the best he can to do that," Golden explained.
According to Solomon, the real problem in collecting taxes for such antennas revolves around various tax outs and loopholes that allow wireless providers to circumvent potential municipality-assessed bills. The bottom line, says the Town Counsel, is that even if Nextel installs its proposal, there's no guarantee that Stoneham would receive any financial benefits in return.
"Obviously, if it's in the overlay district, and it's not a building or a tower, then that's what you want to see," said Solomon, who couldn't comment specifically on the merits of Nextel's proposal until formal plans are submitted.
"But in all these wireless facilities, it's not clear that they would bring in tax revenues," added the Town Solicitor. " Everything's treated differently, because there's so many different loopholes."
According to Stadalnick, who didn't return calls providing additional information about the nature of the installation and its purpose for Nextel, her firm plans to accept public comments on the proposal before the wireless company moves forward with official plans.
"It is a proposal, but we're still working on it," the EBI spokeswoman said, not elaborating any further on when the proposal would become official.
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