Cohasset Conservation Commission Continues Disputed Wheelwright Park Cell Tower Hearing to May 21

COHASSET — April 16, 2026 — Cohasset Conservation Commission sends Wheelwright Park cell tower back for more information, ratifies tree-clearing enforcement order. The commission voted unanimously at its April 16 Zoom meeting to continue the contested NOI 26-03 and Stormwater Permit 26-04 application from Wireless Edge Towers — which proposes a monopole wireless communications tower at 121 Forest Ave — to May 21, citing outstanding questions about construction vehicle weights and access-path impacts, the condition of a corrugated metal stream culvert, the necessity of a utility trench through wetland buffer zones, and the status of an Article 97 land exchange appraisal. Attorney Michael Dolan of Brown Rudnick told the commission the facility would emit roughly 8 percent of the FCC allowable RF limit and argued the 1996 Telecommunications Act preempts local deliberation on RF health effects. Commissioner Sanjay Fernando questioned why the tower could not be powered by solar and battery with microwave backhaul, calling a utility trench "incredibly impactful to the resource area." Christopher Davis of 19 Heather Drive, identifying himself as a developer of roughly 200 cell towers nationally, told commissioners during public comment that an 80-ton crane would be required, that the access path would need to be widened, and that "there's no way it won't have impacts on the park." The commission also voted 6-0 to ratify and amend an enforcement order at 102 Howard Gleason Road, where a contractor clearing trees for an approved common driveway cut at least 20 trees beyond the permitted limit of work, setting a three-week deadline for a professional land survey of all cut vegetation.