LIZ SHEEHAN
Correspondent

FAIR HAVEN -- The borough has changed its choice of a site for a cell tower, moving it from the town's Youth Center to a town-owned property three lots, or 300 feet, west of the original site.

Council President Thomas Gilmour said at the council meeting on Monday night the change was made because the council had been informed that placing the tower behind the Youth Center near the police station would require permission from the state Department of Environmental Protection because the land was listed as part of the town's Open Space program.

"The new site is flanked by homes on both sides, according to the maps presented at the council meeting.

Councilman Chris Walrath was the only vote against the change. He said he did not want a cell tower in a residential area.

The switch in location came as Verizon Wireless and Omnipoint are seeking permission from the town's Zoning Board to construct a 133-foot cell tower on the property of the Church of the Nativity on Ridge Road.

The application has had three hearings already and is scheduled to be on the agenda again at the board's Sept. 7 meeting.

The council selected the police station as the tower site at a meeting in July, two days before the first Zoning Board hearings on the Verizon/Omnipoint application.

Two years ago the council passed a resolution stating that cell towers could only be placed on borough property. Efforts were made by the town to use Fair Haven Fields for the tower site, but the state said that site could not be used because it was Green Acres property.

At the first Zoning Board meeting on the application to locate the tower at the church property, Warren Stillwell, attorney for Verizon and Omnipoint, said that a state court had ruled that a similar law in another state municipality limiting cell towers to borough property was invalid.

The council considered three other locations for the tower and all met with vocal opposition from many residents.

At the meeting Monday, a petition received by the council from the United Residents of Fair Haven signed by 87 residents was included on the agenda. It stated, "We the undersigned are residents of Fair Haven who feel that if a cell tower is needed in our borough, the location and design should be decided by our Borough Council for the benefit of all the residents, and not by or for the benefit of a private party. And so, just as others in town have done, we will join the ranks of residents who oppose the current plan for the tower, and will be vocal and present at future events to present our opposition."

Also on the agenda was a letter from residents in the vicinity of the Youth Center that criticized the town's plan to put the tower at that site.

"By placing the tower in the center of town with homes densely packed in all directions, the highest number of residents possible are being affected," the letter said, adding a request that the Youth Center "be removed from consideration altogether."

Another letter listed was one from Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck (R-12), who was at the council meeting, to Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the state's DEP, asking that the agency's rejection of the town's request to locate the tower on Green Acres property be reviewed.

The borough had sought to exchange other property for a Green Acres parcel in Fair Haven Fields, to place the tower in a site less objectionable to residents.

At stake is the revenue that can be gained by the borough if the tower is on its property. If the tower is on Church of the Nativity property, the funds the cell phone companies pay for the rights to the site will go to the church.

The town would also have more control over the tower if it were on property it owned.

Although many residents in the town are against the tower, saying it will lower property values and be an eyesore, others are in favor of the proposal because they say cell phone service is poor in some sections of the borough.