A second public hearing regarding a proposed cell tower in Addison Township has been ordered by an Oakland County Circuit Court judge.

In a Jan. 25 order , Circuit Judge Daniel Patrick O’Brien ruled the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) must “conduct a public hearing . . . solely in relationship to the issue of the ‘fall zone,’” the area around the cell tower in which it could collapse and fall.

Verizon Wireless is looking to construct a 197-foot-tall collapsible monopole on a site located at the northeast corner of Hosner and Oakwood roads in order to provide better cell coverage to the area.

The second public hearing is scheduled for the ZBA’s next meeting on Thursday, March 8 at 6 p.m. It will be held at the Addison Township Hall (1440 Rochester Rd.) in Lakeville. A public notice regarding this hearing can be found on Page 22.

“Everything was done properly on the township’s part (during the original June 8, 2017 ZBA hearing),” explained Supervisor Bruce Pearson “The problem was that Verizon’s engineer didn’t give proper specifications on the (proposed) tower’s fall zone during the hearing.”

“The remand of the ‘fall zone’ issue shall be the sole subject of a public hearing of the Zoning Board of Appeals with proper notices as required by law,” the order states.

This order is the result of an appeal filed in November 2017 by Addison residents Lawrence and Amanda Shelton, Kingsbury Country Day School and Kingsbury School, Inc. (the trust of Kingsbury).

Verizon is looking to erect a cell tower on a lot that’s approximately 5.24 acres in size and located 200 feet from the centerline of Oakwood Rd. This lot is located approximately 150 feet away from Kingsbury Country Day School, a charter public school for K-8 students.

Township zoning ordinance requires the lot size for wireless communications towers to be a minimum of 20 acres, which means Verizon requires a variance to proceed.

The ZBA held its first public hearing on this issue on June 8, 2017. During that hearing, Addison residents and concerned Kingsbury parents expressed opposition to the tower. They expressed concerns over the potential negative impact a cell tower could have on Kingsbury’s enrollment rates, the health of those near it and the surrounding environment.

Despite the opposition, the ZBA approved a variance on July 31, 2017. This prompted the appeal to circuit court.