T-Mobile Crane Test Ends Early, Leaves Neighbors Wondering

Tom Skuta of Short Hills left work a few minutes early and canceled a business dinner Wednesday evening, so he could get home in time to see the T-Mobile visual crane test.

But when he got to his South Terrace home about 5:30 p.m., he looked from his yard and then from a second story window and could not see it anywhere.

"So I thought maybe I'm just not looking in the right direction and decided to drive over there so I could triangulate where it would be in relation to my house," he said. "When I got there, they already had it put up and pulling out of the driveway and driving away."

The test was conducted Wednesday as part of to the to build a 130-foot cell tower with an addtional 3-foot antenna at 830 Morris Turnpike, behind a medical office building near the restaurant.

Eariler this month, the Zoning Board of Adjustment specifically told T-Mobile representatives they wanted the test to start at noon and the crane to stay up until 7 p.m., so residents who worked could still see it.

"T-Mobile did not live up to its promise about the height and most critically about the 12-7 p.m. time frame," said resident David Wank, who has actively fought the tower since it was proposed. "The whole point, as we know, was for evening commuters to get to take a look, and by leaving early the commuters didn't get their chance to see it."

T-Mobile could not be reached for comment on Thursday morning but Zoning Board Member Michael Parlavecchio said he, too, came home in time to see the crane - or so he thought.

"I believed it would be until 7, as agreed to during the meeting, and visited the site at 5:30 to learn the crane was down. I have shared this with our counsel and Board Secretary, as I want to witness the crane test," he said.

When the board scheduled the crane test, it also scheduled a rain date for March 28, and Parlavecchio said he will ask about having T-Mobile come back on that date to finish the test.

Residents also said the tower was not at the full 133-foot height during the entire time, either.

"We have a picture of the measuring tape around 110 feet," Wank said. "My wife saw it, and as we said they didn't put it up at the correct height until 1:30 p.m."

The next meeting on the T-Mobile cell tower will be May 7 at 7 p.m.