OTISFIELD — The Zoning Board of Appeals will meet March 20 to vote on an appeal filed by an local resident who contends the Planning Board erred in approving a permit for a telecommunications tower off Scribner Hill Road.

At a meeting Tuesday night, the appeals board heard more than three hours of testimony on an administrative appeal submitted by John Poto, a Cobb Hill Road resident and former Planning Board member. He contends that planners failed to correctly interpret the town’s wireless telecommunications facility siting ordinance.

Town officials say the continuation of the appeals hearing will be for deliberation and voting by Zoning Board of Appeals members only. There will be no further public participation allowed unless the appeals board requests clarification from a specific party.

Interim appeals board Chairman Marianne Izzo-Morin said the board will make a decision based on testimony that proved or did not prove that the Planning Board misinterpreted the ordinances when it granted the permit Jan. 17.

The administrative appeal was made on behalf of a group called Friends of Scribner Hill, Poto said.

Construction of the 180-foot U.S. Cellular tower is set to start in June and take five weeks to complete. It would accommodate space for other cellular companies and the Otisfield Fire Department’s communication equipment.

Because more than 50 people attended Tuesday’s hearing at the Town Hall, it was moved to the larger Community Hall.

In his testimony, Poto questioned why the Planning Board did not seek information on other sites and concealment measures for the steel galvanized lattice tower.

Planning Board members said they looked at three other sites and obtained information from other towns, such as Bar Harbor, that have tower concealed towers.

“We looked at Bell Hill extensively,” Planning Board alternate member David McVety said. Putting the tower there would only provide wireless coverage for about 50 percent of the town, he said.

Bob Gashlin of U.S. Cellular, who was accompanied by a company attorney, told the appeals board that the application met the intent of the town’s ordinances. He explained why the company needed the height of the Scribner Hill site to provide coverage for the main thruways of Otisfield and to connect to existing sites on Route 26 and other areas.

“This site and height fills in the service gaps and connects to our neighboring sites,” he said.

Gashlin said the company is “barely” meeting its objectives with the requested 180-foot height request.

As to concealment, Gashlin said if they used a “fake tree” tower, as some towns such as Bar Harbor do, the width would be as much as 35 to 40 feet wide. The requested lattice tower is much narrower, he said.

Gashlin said although arguments can be made about the site, height or concealment of the proposed tower, the company met the intent of the town’s ordinances and that’s all they needed to do.

Poto and others said they believe the cellular company could have met their requirements and met the intent of parts of the town’s Comprehensive Plan by using another site, less height and concealment measures.

“I’m not standing here saying the Planning Board did something wrong. I’m standing here saying they didn’t do enough,” Poto said. He said the purpose of the ordinance is to protect the scenic character of the town.

Although Poto and others also argued that as many as 20 abutters to the project were never notified of the public hearing, Code Enforcement Officer Richard St. John said that was his fault because he only notified the abutters to the 1.5 acre lot being leased by U.S. Cellular for the tower and not the entire 63-acre parcel that is owned by a nonresident. For the appeals hearing, St. John said he notified everyone within a much larger area.

The Planning Board’s approval of the permit included four conditions:

* The company must submit a design for a fence at the bottom of the access road to prevent people from going up the hill to the tower base.

 * A bond must be submitted that would allow the town to dismantle the structure if U.S. Cellular abandoned it.

* Tests of the generators must be done Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

* The town’s public safety departments must be allowed to utilize the tower.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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